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...
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The Stillest of Lives
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...
Three Red Balls
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...
America at War with Itself
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....
Stone Worlds
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...
The Art of Travel
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,...
A Dance to the Music of Time
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,...
The Notes You Don’t Play
Jean Dubuffet: Garden, mid 1950s. David Hockney: Main Gallery, Royal Academy London Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty at the Barbican Art Gallery, London David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020, at the Royal Academy London. Robin Richmond May 24, 2021....