The Easel

21st October 2025

Renoir’s drawings showcased in major exhibition, the first of its kind in over a century

Jane Levere | CNN Style | 17th October 2025

Berthe Morisot thought Renoir’s drawings were great, but Gauguin was less enthused. The difference might be because Renoir had a casual view of his drawings. Some were preparatory studies for a painting but others were spontaneous and more finished. They profile his evolution, from early drawings that show his “rigorous academic training “ to subsequent “brisk on-the-spot” sketches and finally softer, more intimate works.  A “distinguished collection” says one writer. A detailed view of ten drawings is here.

New York’s Biggest Monet Show in 25 Years Is a Revelation

Alex Greenberger | ARTnews | 10th October 2025

Brooklyn Museum has been castigated for its superficial exhibitions. A show of Monet’s paintings from a reluctant visit to Venice in 1908 gets a more positive reception. Monet, noticing the changing autumnal weather and shifted “closer to abstraction”. The real consequence of that was evident when, on returning to France, he resumed work on the Water Lilies series he had been unable to finish. Feeling renewed, his lilies became swirls of pink and red paint, ever “farther from legible figuration”. Critics were delighted.

14th October 2025

Calder Gardens, a Stunning New Tribute to Alexander Calder, Opens in Philadelphia

Chloe Schama | Vogue | 16th September 2025

Calder Gardens, just opened in Philadelphia, apparently wants to be a museum without being a museum. It has been designed by a ‘starchitect’ but is a small, “camouflaged” structure that is mostly underground and “too small to fail”.  It will not have its own collection, relying instead on loans from the Calder Foundation that controls a “vast trove”. Integral to the design is the surrounding garden that will be popular with those who generated most of Calder’s copious fan mail – children.

The sublime and silly art of Sèvres

Rachel Hunter Himes | Apollo | 9th October 2025

China had a monopoly on fine, durable porcelain until around 1710 when Meissen cracked its secrets. Sèvres was close behind. To secure Sèvres’ know-how, Louis XV made it a royal enterprise and it has since become a byword for refined taste. Curators regard its high-end pieces as sculpture – no surprise given that they were intended for the tables of imperial clients. These were items of exquisite taste as well as a projection of French state power. Eye candy of the highest order. More images are here.

Rauschenberg’s New York and the problem of seeing only surfaces

Samuel Abrahms | newgeography | 26th September 2025

A spate of exhibitions mark Rauschenberg’s 100th anniversary. The fact there are so many shows is testimony to his diversity – painting, photography, collage, assemblage. Not all this work was of high quality, but it was always inventive. His photography, for example, was skilful but really stood out when incorporated into his complex, layered work. In that aspect, Rauschenberg was prescient, his fragmented urban imagery anticipating today’s “civic crisis”.

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