20 June 2019 Natalia Goncharova Tate Modern (6 June – 8 September 2019). Reviewed by William Morton Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) was born into an aristocratic Russian family which owned a textile business. She was brought up first at their country estate, which she continued to visit after the family moved to Moscow when she was… Continue reading Issue 207: 2019 06 20: Natalia Goncharova
Article Category: Review
Issue 203: 2019 05 23: Long Shot
23 May 2019 Long Shot A film by Jonathan Levine reviewed by Frank O’Nomics Star rating: **** Is there really any more mileage in the rom-com? Boy meets girl, they fall in love, issues or misunderstandings come between them, only for it all to be resolved in the final frame. Updating the settings, reversing the… Continue reading Issue 203: 2019 05 23: Long Shot
Issue 202: 2019 05 16: Van Gogh and Britain
16 May 2019 Van Gogh and Britain Tate Britain (27 March – 11 August 2019). By William Morton This Exhibition focuses on the time between 1873 and 1876 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) spent in Britain and the influence it had on him and his own influence on British artists. In doing so, it brings out… Continue reading Issue 202: 2019 05 16: Van Gogh and Britain
Issue 197: 2019 04 11: Sorolla
11 April 2019 Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light The National Gallery 18 March – 7 July 2019 Reviewed by William Morton Before going, I was somewhat dubious about this Exhibition. Knowing little about the Spaniard, Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923), except that he painted beach scenes, it seemed possible that his work might be like that of… Continue reading Issue 197: 2019 04 11: Sorolla
Issue 196: 2019 04 04: Top Girls
04 April 2019 Top Girls A play by Caryl Churchill, at the National Theatre Reviewed by Adam McCormack Star Rating: *** If you could sit next to any great figures from history at a dinner party who would they be? This was a standard question on a graduate application form for many years and the… Continue reading Issue 196: 2019 04 04: Top Girls
Issue 194: 2019 03 21: Dorothea Tanning
21 March 2019 Dorothea Tanning Tate Modern (27 February – 9 June 2019) Reviewed by William Morton Dorothea Tanning (1910 – 2012) was an interesting character. She was good-looking with an attractive personality and a sense of humour. Brought up in an uninspiring small town in Illinois, she gravitated to the artistic world of New… Continue reading Issue 194: 2019 03 21: Dorothea Tanning
Issue 191: 2019 02 28: The Power of Seeing
28 February 2019 The Power of Seeing Ruskin at Temple Place. By William Morton John Ruskin (1819-1900) was an accomplished artist and draughtsman and this Exhibition includes some charming watercolours, and flower and architectural paintings and drawings, by him. However, he is famous not so much as an artist as for his enormous influence on… Continue reading Issue 191: 2019 02 28: The Power of Seeing
Issue 189: 2019 02 14: Pierre Bonnard
14 February 2019 Pierre Bonnard – The Colour of Memory Tate Modern (23 January – 6 May 2019). Reviewed by William Morton Nothing particularly staggering happened in Pierre Bonnard’s life (1867- 1947). He dabbled with women a bit but eventually married his long-term partner, Marthe de Méligny, to whom he seems to have been genuinely… Continue reading Issue 189: 2019 02 14: Pierre Bonnard
Issue 185: 2019 01 17: Richard II
17 January 2019 Richard II The Almeida reviewed by Adam McCormack Star Rating *** Richard II is one of Shakespeare’s more difficult plays. Even contemporaries were hard pressed to categorise it (it was initially regarded as a history rather than a tragedy) and it is a period of English history that few are familiar with. … Continue reading Issue 185: 2019 01 17: Richard II
Issue 185: 2019 01 17: Stan and Ollie
17 January 2019 Stan and Ollie A film by Jon S Baird reviewed by Adam McCormack Star rating: ***** There was a time when comedy wasn’t based on just innuendo and profanity. Laurel and Hardy became the biggest comedy stars of their generation with routines based largely on visual humour and exquisite timing. Set mostly… Continue reading Issue 185: 2019 01 17: Stan and Ollie
Issue 182: 2018 12 13: Oceania
13 December 2018 Oceania At the Royal Academy. Reviewed by Lynda Goetz It was somehow fitting that 250 years after Lieutenant (later, of course, Captain) James Cook set sail from Plymouth in HMS Endeavour to explore the Southern Hemisphere for the Admiralty and to track the transit of Venus in Tahiti, and 250 years after… Continue reading Issue 182: 2018 12 13: Oceania
Issue 181: 2018 12 06: Mantegna and Bellini
06 December 2019 Mantegna and Bellini The National Gallery (until 27 January 2019). Reviewed by William Morton Time for two major Old Masters, who were contemporaries, court painters and related by marriage. Andrea Mantegna (c.1431- 1506) studied in Padua under a painter called Squarcione, who passed on to him an interest in Roman sculpture and… Continue reading Issue 181: 2018 12 06: Mantegna and Bellini
Issue 181: 2018 12 06: Oceania
06 December 2018 Oceania The Royal Academy Reviewed by Adam McCormack Oceania is a vast area of the globe covering, depending on the definition used, as much as one third of the earth’s surface. It extends as far north as Hawaii, south to New Zealand, west to Australia and east to the Pitcairn Islands and… Continue reading Issue 181: 2018 12 06: Oceania