St John’s Hospital in Bruges, dating from the 12th-century, has a history of healing focused on the soul rather than the body. By the time Hans Memling arrived in Bruges in the second half of the 15th-century, that meant the hospital had a clear role for the man who was described at the time of his death in 1494 as “the most accomplished and excellent painter of the whole Christian world”.
painting
Claudette Johnson’s exhibition Presence. Review by Jenny Vuglar. Johnson first came to attention in 1982 while a student at The Polytechnic Wolverhampton. Britain’s ‘black cultural renaissance’ began, not in the famous institutions of London but in the Polytechs of the north: Wolverhampton, Trent, Sunderland.
Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life. Review by Graham Buchan. I recommend this show because any exhibition which redresses the balance in favour of a neglected artist is to be commended even if, as I think, af Klint’s work is not altogether good.
Spain and the Hispanic World. Review by Carla Scarano. We are lucky that the Hispanic Society Museum and Library in Upper Manhattan is closed for refurbishing so that the collection that the philanthropist Archer M. Huntington accumulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries can travel the world on loan.
Pasolini Painter. Review by Carla Scarano. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s complex personality and multifaceted creativity are displayed in full at the exhibition Pasolini Pittore at Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Rome.
Lucian Freud: New Perspectives. Review by Carla Scarano. The exhibition thoroughly explores Lucian Freud’s artistic career, displaying an extended range of paintings.
John Craxton: A Modern Odyssey. Review by Barbara Lewis. John Craxton managed to emerge from school without passing a single exam, not even in art. Instead, charm, daring, connections, irrepressible talent and luck served him better than any merely formal qualifications.
By Barbara Lewis • art, exhibitions, painting, year 2024 • Tags: art, Barbara Lewis, exhibitions, painting