Browsing Category: 19th century

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, 1892-93

    By elevating the point of view and catching performer May Milton as she surges past, Toulouse-Lautrec captures the unsteady excitement of a late night at the Moulin Rouge. And unlike the paparazzi shots which litter today’s gossip pages, looking at this work leads to a feeling of inclusion. Perhaps that’s also thanks to the intoxicating …

    August 17, 2011

  • Review: Christen Købke – Danish Master of Light

    Exhibition: Christen Købke – Danish Master of Light, The National Gallery, London, until June 13 2010 This is an exhibition in which each painting’s title is as precise as the brushwork. View of a Street in Østerbro Outside Copenhagen, on the Right ‘Rosendal’, in the Background ‘Petersberg’ is a case in point. The picture itself …

    March 26, 2010

  • The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and his Letters at the Royal Academy

    Self Portrait as an Artist by Van Gogh is a defining image of the modern artist. The blue smock and bright palette are shorthand for genius. The red beard hints at the wildness we expect from this self-destructive master. But alongside this painting, the Royal Academy offers us Van Gogh in context as a hard-working …

    January 20, 2010

  • Bright Star tourist trail

    Here’s a piece I wrote about Keats heritage sites for Culture24, all aimed to tie in with a certain movie.

    November 15, 2009

  • Darwin at The Fitzwilliam Museum

    Published on Culture 24 Endless Forms: Darwin – Natural Science and the Visual Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, until October 4 2009 An 1838 print from The Penny Magazine shows us Jenny, sitting on a chair, wearing children’s clothes, holding a ball. It’s remarkable, because this little lady was a captive Orangutan. Jenny was one …

    July 24, 2009