Modigliani – A Major Retrospective at Tate Modern: 23 November 2017 – 2 April 2018

Amadeo Modigliani Nude, 1917 Private Collection (detail) Amedeo Clemente Modigliani 1884 – 1920 moved from Italy to Paris at the age of 22 where he lived until his death from tuberculosis at the age of 35.  Best known and admired – posthumously – for his portraits and female full figure nudes, this huge Exhibition brings together […]

Tintin Indian ink drawing sold at Paris auction..

Tintin with his faithful dog Snowy, 1939 from the comic album King Ottokar’s Sceptre .. sold for almost $500,000 at auction in Paris, from a collection of  Hergé books, sketches and drawings. Tintin is one of the most well-loved comic book characters with the albums recognised for the clean, expressive drawings in ligne claire (‘clear line’) style, swashbuckling adventures, slapstick humour and […]

Red Star over Russia – a Revolution in Visual Culture, 1905–55 – Tate Modern until 28 February 2018

Adolf Strakhov, Emancipated Woman – Build Socialism!  1926.  Lithograph on paper.  The David King Collection, Tate  The Exhibition includes propaganda posters, prints and photographs from the vast collection of David King, photographer and graphic designer, who died last year, including works by El Lissitzky, Gustav Klutsis, Dmitri Moor, Aleksandr Deineka, Nina Vatolina and Yevgeny Khaldei.  The collection covers the […]

Impressionists in London, French Artists in Exile (1870 – 1904) at Tate Britain from 2 November 2017

Giuseppe De Nittis Westminster, 1878 Featuring works by Tissot, Pissarro, Dalou, Sisley, Derain, Legros and, most famously, Monet, the exhibition draws together the works of the French artists who fled France in the 1870’s to escape war for refuge in England.  Featuring works painted over a 30 year period, the exhibition provides “a fascinating insight into how London […]

Soutine’s Portraits: “Cooks, Waiters & Bellboys” at The Courtauld until 21 January 2018

Soutine, The Groom  – or –  The Bellboy, 1925-6 (98cm x 80cm) (Detail) A small, but fascinating, collection of the portraits of Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943) – close friend of Modigliani (1884-1920) and often described as the ‘heir’ to Vincent van Gogh – of the cooks and waiting staff of French hotels and restaurants in Paris in the 1920s […]

da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’) – offered for sale by Christie’s in New York, November 2017

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’), c.1500.  Oil on walnut panel (c. 64 x 45 cm). (Detail) Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest artists ever to have lived.  He left fewer that 20 completed paintings, so the authentication of a newly “discovered” painting in 2011 – Salvator Mundi, (Saviour of the World) – was […]

Two new Banksy murals– an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show

‘Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the Metropolitan Police – an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show.’  (Banksy) The two new Banksy murals have appeared near the Barbican Centre to mark its opening this week of an exhibition of work by American Graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat – Boom for Real. Banksy has published an […]

Bacon Papal portrait Head with Raised Arm – offered for auction: October 2017

Francis Bacon, Head with Raised Arm, 1955. Oil on Canvas. 24″ x 20″ © The Estate of Francis Bacon Bacon worked on his Pope portraits (more than 50 canvases) for over twenty years until the mid-1960s. Although subsequently Bacon announced that he thought the works ‘silly’ and wished he had never done them, Bacon’s Pope portraits are […]

Jasper Johns: ‘Something Resembling Truth’ – Royal Academy: 23 September – 10 December 2017

Jasper Johns, False Start, 1959 Best known for his early use of imagery from popular culture, Johns – now in his late 80’s – continues to remain at the forefront of the American art scene with works represented in nearly every major museum collection. Considered to having laid the foundation for both Pop Art and Minimalism, he is often described as a Neo-Dadaist, rather […]

Chris Ofili: ‘The Caged Bird’s Song’, Sunley Room, National Gallery until 28 August 2017

Chris Ofili, The Caged Bird’s Song, 2014–2017 (detail). Wool, cotton and viscose © Chris Ofili. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London,The Clothworkers’ Company and Dovecot Tapestry Studio, Edinburgh. Designed by the artist, handwoven by Dovecot Tapestry Studio, this spectacular and huge – over seven metres wide and three metres high – tapestry, The Caged Bird’s Song, captures the […]