Tall, thin and tragic, the ultimate dandy of his day, Aubrey Beardsley produced a prodigious amount of distinctive artwork in his short working life and died of TB at 25. Yet his work continues to inspire and influence artists, as this dazzling show at Tate Britain shows.
A charming glimpse of the ‘Golden Age’ of Dutch art is there for all to see with the first major show of works by Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693) at the National Gallery.
UNBOUND:Visionary Women Collecting Textiles is a charming and enlightening show at Two Temple Place which shows highlights from the collections of seven pioneering women who recognised the importance and craft heritage of textiles, embroidery, clothing, costumes and fabric. It’s a great tour through the pieces which were painstakingly accumulated by collectors who understood how these handmade items could easily have been lost to world.
The London Art Fair, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, is always a joy to visit. Keeping an eye on the contemporary art market is good for artists who spend most of their time tucked away in studios. It’s great for collectors to find a manageable show to visit in search of new talent And it’s an opportunity to see what’s what, who’s who and check out the art of the moment.
Picasso and Paper – a blockbuster show at the Royal Academy which celebrates his extensive use of paper in his art. For sketching, doodling, printing, collages and creating paper as form, this show provides a dazzling insight into Picasso’s work practice and prodigious use of the material in so many creative ways. Fabulous.
Thousands of little faces gaze out of group photos of Year 3 Classes and fill the main hall at Tate Britain with glorious smiles, pulled faces, quizzical expressions and the promise of all their futures. Artist Steve McQueen has initiated a wonderful project with Tate, Artangel and A New Direction to capture some 76,146 of London’s seven and eight year olds. It’s fabulous.
LEONARDO – experience a masterpiece – is a very clever and beguiling guide to the creation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. The painting took 25 years to create and this ‘experience’ draws you into Leonardo’s studio, the light he might have used to illuminate models, the composition, materials, early use of oil paint and the fabulous atmosphere of this extraordinary painting which is on show at London’s National Gallery.
A focus on Freud. Lucian Freud recorded his own face and body throughout his artistic career. A fascinating show at the Royal Academy, London, collates some of the best – from early pencil sketches made in his confident youth to reflective soul-bearing and the impasto features of a very private artist, striving to understand what he sees, made right at the end of his life.
