Here sits a young boy absorbed in his reading, perhaps slowly working his way through the pile of books on the shelf next to him. The boy is the young orator and writer, Cicero, identifiable by the engraving on the stone bench behind him. His face appears to be calm with a hint of quiet …
Continue reading Spotlight / Vincenzo Foppa’s ‘The Young Cicero Reading’
Constance Marie Charpentier, Melancholy, 1801, oil on canvas, 130 x 165cm, Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France. The above shows the best-known painting of nineteenth-century French artist Constance Marie Charpentier. Her work resonates inspiration from the Neo-Classical movement, popular amid French painters of the time. Charpentier was considered one of the finest portrait painters of the …
As Coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spread across the globe, galleries and museums worldwide have begun to take precautions and close to the general public in an attempt to limit the spread of the disease. As fear and tensions across nations have increased, so has the advice from governments to self-isolate and limit social activity. A …
Continue reading Cancellations, Closure, and Covid-19: What’s Next?
The climate crisis is a phrase that has quickly become a widely used term to describe the heightened state of emergency the planet is now faced with. The world is starting to become aware of our implications on the earth, with activists desperately trying to encourage faster action to be taken. But how does the …
Continue reading The Climate Crisis: What Can the Art World Do?
Workshop of Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Woman, 1475, tempera on wood panel. Anyone who is familiar with the work of famous fifteenth-century Italian artist Sandro Botticelli will have no doubt spotted the similarity of a certain face in his paintings. From the famous Nascite di Venere, or, Birth of Venus, to his numerous variations …
For many artists, paper has long been used to explore ideas and progress their technique. Preliminary sketches are often a foundational step towards a larger piece, and can be mistakenly forgotten in favour of the finished, final product. Picasso and Paper showcases Picasso’s processes that were at the forefront of his enigmatic production and reminds …
Raphael, Bindo Altoviti, oil on panel, c.1515, 59.7 x 43.8 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington Shown here is Raphael's portrait of papal banker and aristocrat Bindo Altoviti. Bindo's connections and friendships with artists including Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari meant he became a reputable and influential patron of the arts amid the first half of …
Recent figures released by the UK’s Higher Educations Statistics Agency (HESA) confirm a significant dip in students choosing to study art history at university. Earlier this month, The Art Newspaper cited a 17.5% decline in the last ten years, with the most significant drop in students taking art history at undergraduate level at 28.5%. More …
Continue reading Art News / Art History: Profession or Pastime?
I recently came across an article written in celebration of last year’s Women’s History Month. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that the entire month of March is dedicated to the history of remarkable women is a very good thing, but it somehow feels like a backhanded compliment. "Fear not women everywhere, you get one …
For my first blog post I thought I would address the most commonly asked question I get asked: Why Art? This question often comes about with further queries about what its like to work in the art world, and what on earth made me choose to centre my life around it in the first place. …
