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.
Graham Buchan
![Piet Mondrian, Composition in colour B, 1917. Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 45 cm. Collection Kröller-Müller Museum[48965]](https://londongrip.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Piet-Mondrian-Composition-in-colour-B-1917.-Oil-on-canvas-50.5-x-45-cm.-Collection-Kroller-Muller-Museum48965-180x200.jpg "Piet Mondrian, Composition in colour B, 1917. Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 45 cm. Collection Kröller-Müller Museum[48965]")
Empire of Light. Review by Graham Buchan. A very reliable rule in most film-making is that an excellent script can still be turned into a bad film, but a poor script will never be turned into a good film.
Tár. Review by Graham Buchan. Tár is a mesmerizing and complex tale of a jet-setting star orchestral conductor, Lydia Tár, and her past transgressions, her failings and her fall from grace.
Lucien Freud, New Perspectives. Review by Graham Buchan. The National Gallery has a big, comprehensive exhibition – over 60 paintings – to mark the centenary of Lucien Freud’s birth and to document the whole range of his seven-decade painting career.
Milton Avery. Royal Academy. Review by Graham Buchan. Milton Avery must be considered as a bridge between art movements rather than a singular trail-blazer for any particular group.
The Duke. Review by Graham Buchan. In The Duke the director Roger Michell establishes exactly the right tone from the outset and maintains it steadily right up to the film’s very satisfying conclusion.
Francis Bacon: Man and Beast. Review by Graham Buchan. “Life is suffering”. If you need visual confirmation of that, look no further than this great exhibition of Francis Bacon’s work.
West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg In the new West Side Story Leonard Bernstein’s magnificent music and Stephen Sondheim’s incisive and witty lyrics have all been preserved and bring as much pleasure as before.
Late Constable, Royal Academy. Review by Graham Buchan. Frankly, I find it hard to imagine anyone liking the bulk of Constable’s works more than the bulk of Turner’s. The two painters, almost exact contemporaries, differed in their backgrounds and their approaches to their art.
Spencer. Review by Graham Buchan. Pablo Larrain’s Spencer achieves a great deal that the other major bio-pic, Diana, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and released in 2013, did not.
Leopoldstadt Wyndham’s Theatre until October 30th 2021 Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt would have been better as a TV mini-series rather than this sprawling, over-populated two and a quarter hour play without an intermission. It is a long watch and although eminently worthwhile, feels too much like a history lesson.
Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden. Review by Graham Buchan. Two years ago Tate Britain mounted a major retrospective of Paula Rego’s work and it was a great exhibition. Now the National Gallery shows a single piece of Rego’s work, albeit a big one: Crivelli’s Garden is nearly ten metres wide and two metres high.
By Graham Buchan • art, exhibitions, painting, year 2023 • Tags: art, exhibitions, Graham Buchan