Category: realism

Quentin Bell, May Day Procession with Banner (1937)

For many on the Left, the Spanish Civil War may have been a somewhat romantic affair. But it soon turned into an epic disappointment. It was a disappointment on the scale of WWII. Pallant House in Chichester is currently showing the first exhibition devoted to British artists during the Iberian…

Gordon Matta-Clark, Reality Properties: Fake Estates (1973)

Reality can seem a debatable term. But is worth considering that the word came into use in the 1540s as a legal reference to a fixed property. Of course, the word realty still means possession. So you could make a case for Fake Estates being a realist artwork par excellence.…

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…