In 1886, tiring of the city, Johannes Brahms left his home in Vienna for a summer holiday on Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland with a new companion, the contralto Hermine Spies. What a time it was. A combination of infatuation, delight in his surroundings, and the...
Mark Rothko, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 18 October 2023 – 2 April 2024 Ten very hazy days ago, bright eyed and bushy tailed, I set off from my studio in sleepy France Profonde for the bright lights. I have lived in Paris on and off, through thick and thin,...
Illustrations from left: Andy Warhol, 1970; Self-Portrait, 1980; Carmen and Judy, 1972 Hot off the Griddle, Alice Neel at The Barbican Centre, London, 16 Feb – 21 May, 2023 I always hope to keep an open mind when I see an exhibition, but I am...
Giorgio Morandi Masterpieces from the Magnani - Rocca Foundation, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, January 6 - April 30. I have the good fortune to live in a great city. Right now, London is a city besieged by public sector strikes and terrible cost...
Cornelia Parker at Tate Britain, William Kentridge, Royal Academy or Arts, London. Lately, I’ve been thinking about learning. During the pandemic, I found that the absence of the exhibitions that sustain me and that I write about in these blogs was a woeful...
The last place I lived in America, before moving to Europe at the beginning of the 1960’s, was a lovely small town, just 12 miles outside of Boston. It was a fantasy place – a pleasant dormitory town for MIT and Harvard. Nothing seemed too sinister in the garden. Yet....
The World of Stonehenge: British Museum 17 Feb – 17 July 2022. What is Stonehenge? Is it an altar to the sun? Is it a temple honouring an ancient god? Is it a shelter? A shrine? A monument to a great chieftain? Is it a place of sacred worship? A work of art? Is...
Life between Islands: Caribbean-British Art, 1940s - now Tate Britain. There must be something in the stars. In the very week that this landmark show opens in London, Barbados has become a Republic. In handing over the keys to the Kingdom, Prince Charles has...
From the rain in Spain to the soggy Thames. The last two years have convinced me that the greatest luxury in life is choice. The ability to make a decision is not one afforded to everyone, and in my privileged bubble I do know this. To question the why’s,...
Poussin and the Dance, National Gallery, London, 9 October 2021 - 2 January 2022. Robin Richmond, October 9, 2021. When I was studying for my MA, a few centuries ago, my professor sat me down in front of a reproduction of a Poussin painting, The Triumph of Pan,...