Visual Arts Reviews

Russia and the Arts, National Portrait Gallery

Tom Birchenough Monday, 21 March 2016

A good half of the portraits in Russia and the Arts are of figures without whom any conception of 19th century European culture would be incomplete. A felicitous subtitle, “The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky”, provides a natural, even easy point of orientation for those approaching Russian culture, and with it the country’s history and character, without particular advance knowledge.

Paul Strand, Victoria & Albert Museum

Sarah Kent Saturday, 19 March 2016

Once you’ve seen him, you can’t forget him. Taken in 1951, Paul Strand’s black and white portrait of a French teenager sears itself onto your retina. He stares unflinchingly back, and looking into his eyes, you feel almost scalded by his exceptional beauty and the piercing intensity of his gaze.

In the Age of Giorgione, Royal Academy

Florence Hallett Saturday, 12 March 2016

Much is made of the mystery surrounding Giorgione, a painter of pivotal influence, about whom, paradoxically, we know almost nothing beyond the manner of his death. He died in a Venetian plague colony in 1510 aged about 33, and was as elusive in the 16^th century as he is today, his paintings highly sought after but hard to come by, and by the time of his death already invested with mythic status.

Andsnes and Friends at the Astrup Exhibition, Dulwich Picture Gallery

David Nice Tuesday, 08 March 2016

It's rare that a sponsor does more than stump up the money for culture and sometimes request a mention in a review (usually ignored).

Botticelli Reimagined, Victoria & Albert Museum

Florence Hallett Sunday, 06 March 2016

A gallery chock-full of Botticellian lips and tits is no place to start disputing the central premise of this show, that the Florentine artist’s paintings are woven into the fabric of our collective visual consciousness. From tuppenny ha’penny statuettes to a Dolce & Gabbana trouser suit printed with fragments of the Birth of Venus, Botticelli’s most famous paintings, whether in spirit, pastiche or frank reproduction, are everywhere.

Hilma Af Klint, Serpentine Gallery

Sarah Kent Saturday, 05 March 2016

Celebrating the four ages of man, eight huge, semi-abstract paintings create a carnival atmosphere in the Serpentine’s central gallery. The freshness of Childhood is characterised by flowers, petals and stamens floating on a blue ground. The passions of Youth warrant a ground of hot orange crammed with circles and spirals jostling for space like amoeba in a petrie dish.

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Genius, Science Museum

Veronica Lee Tuesday, 01 March 2016

Was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who straddled the arts and science in such a unique way, several hundred years before his time? Did the painter-inventor-engineer really draw the prototypes for, inter alia, the aeroplane, the motor car, the helicopter and the submarine, or were they doodles to which history has ascribed more genius than they are due?

Avedon Warhol, Gagosian Gallery

Marina Vaizey Thursday, 25 February 2016

It is an inspired pairing: iconic images by the American photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004) and the painter, printmaker and filmmaker Andy Warhol (1928-1987), almost all of whose mature work was based on the photographic image. They are together in a large exhibition at Gagosian, Britannia Street, itself one of the largest and most elegant commercial art spaces in London, designed by that cultural architectural duo Caruso St John.

Botticelli and Treasures from the Hamilton Collection, Courtauld Gallery

Florence Hallett Tuesday, 23 February 2016

In Hell, the souls of the damned endure cruelly imaginative punishments for all eternity. Corrupt churchmen are buried headfirst in the ground with their feet set on fire, and soothsayers, who in life presumed to be able to see into the future, have their heads turned 180 degrees and are forced to walk around looking backwards. Drawn in metalpoint strengthened here and there with ink, Botticelli’s lines are as fine as spider’s silk.

Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern

Sarah Kent Saturday, 20 February 2016

The earliest known selfie is as old as the medium itself – literally. Hippolyte Bayard, one of the inventors of photography, pictured himself as a drowned man. His technique of photographic printing on paper had been upstaged by the daguerrotype, a metal plate alternative developed at the same time (1839) by Louis Daguerre.