New Art Examiner Without Fear or Favor

SUMMARY: The Museum of Modern Art’s “Berlinart: 1961-1987” is marred both by serious omissions and the inclusion of too many artists. Nevertheless, the show is important and worth seeing because the art produced in that unique city reflects the role of political, social and cultural issues in the development of art in the 20th century. The moment you enter it, …

I’m Hyperallergic to Francis Bacon. I never thought highly of Bacon, a one-trick pony who could have gone so much  further. This painting doesn’t differ that much from his other work. It has the shading and transparency of Bacon’s style, is equally unpleasant, yet looser because incomplete.  Bacon didn’t like it, so he gave the canvas to a painter friend …

At Christmas the Diocesan Museum of Milan traditionally exhibits a masterpiece, and this year the choice has fallen on The Adoration of the Magi by Artemisia Gentileschi. The painting comes from the Cathedral of Pozzuoli, near Naples. Born in Rome in 1593, the daughter of the painter Orazio, she became acquainted with the Rome art scene at a young age. …

Among the many Italian artists who lived in the past century, the painter Giorgio de Chirico was undoubtedly one who always managed to stir up emotions and astonishment, as well as much criticism. In order to celebrate this 20th-century master, Palazzo Reale organized a retrospective exhibition which includes hundreds of artworks, including juvenile paintings, portraits and mannequins, all displayed in …

During a recent visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London I saw an exhibition showcasing 12 women who form part of what the organisers of this show call the hidden Pre-Raphaelite Movement. It is curated by Dr Jan Marsh, art historian and writer, who has a particular interest in 19th and early 20th-century painting by women. The director of …

These paintings are boldly outlined pop-art style images, easily recognisable with flat contrasting colours. They are unusual at the moment, especially in Penzance – not evoking the atmospheric landscape, not gestural or abstract, not lusciously painterly. There’s a portrait of his wife Nicole, very like her despite its simplifications – arresting in its impact. There’s a tin of mackerel on …

Lesley Hale, who is involved with the project to invest in community housing in the building that is being used for this show, had the very bright idea of suggesting it to Joseph Clarke of Anima Mundi. He has taken the opportunity to show 19 of his stable of artists in this alternative place, a dilapidated building. Lesley has largely …

At Penlee House an interesting show explained the founding of the Penwith Society and included documents such as one where Ben Nicholson defends modern art as a new language. Also included were the controversial minutes of the Penwith Society when three categories of art were instituted: traditional, abstract and craft. Centre stage as visitors entered was Marian Hocken’s The Hollow Men …

Are all the senses actively taking part in the fruition of an aesthetic experience so that we can be said to ‘benefit’ from a work of art? The almost compulsive institutionalising of art objects into museums has weakened the cultural relationship between the viewer and the work of art: the eyes have become the privileged interlocutor of the brain while …

The four artists had not met before June 2019, but then decided to declare themselves a collective and were allowed to accept the prize for the four of them. Tai Shane wore a pendant at the presentation that said ‘Tories Out’ just before the December election. The other three comprised Oscar Murillo, Helen Cammock and Laurence Abu Hamden. I saw …