Kerry James Marshall’s The Histories examines Black experience, identity, and art history through striking, richly pigmented paintings. Kerry James Marshall 2025 has been a year of discovering new (to me) contemporary artists in favourite galleries. I really enjoyed Noah Davis at the Barbican earlier in the year. There was Jenny Saville at the National Portrait […]
Artistic inspiration takes form in Kiefer / Van Gogh, exploring how the places, subjects and intentions in Van Gogh’s work have inspired Anselm Kiefer over the years. Why Kiefer / Van Gogh? The latest exhibition at the Royal Academy (aside, of course, from the Summer Exhibition) sees an interesting pairing of artists take over the […]
Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo is worth seeing not so much for the art itself, but for the way it rounds out Hugo as much more than just a famous author. Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo How much did I know about Victor Hugo before coming to this exhibition at the […]
A last minute excursion to the Royal Academy exhibition Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism introduces me to some new artists. But does it all hang together? Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism Art lovers who follow the Salterton Arts Review may have noticed there has not been a lot of art content in recent […]
The premise is interesting, the works are good, the presentation isn’t bad. So what was I missing at Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence c. 1504? Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence c. 1504 You’re going to be putting up with a few more last minute reviews in the coming weeks, I’m afraid. There was Hew Locke at the […]
Michael Craig-Martin fills the Royal Academy‘s main galleries with a riot of colour in a full-scale career retrospective. Sir Michael Craig-Martin, RA If you’re looking for an exhibition to combat the oncoming gloom of the colder months, this might just be the thing. Sir Michael Craig-Martin, a Royal Academician known for his brightly coloured paintings […]
A simple and small-scale exhibition, In the Eye of the Storm is a primer on art in Ukraine in its historic context, and a reminder of how history really does repeat itself. In the Eye of the Storm, Then and Now On a recent trip to the Royal Academy, I was delighted by their newest […]
The Royal Academy’s exhibition about one of its two founding female members, Angelica Kauffman reminds us of the difficulties faced by pioneering female artists, whilst also giving a decent overview of Kauffman’s work. Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann was born in what is now Switzerland in 1741. The only child of Austrian painter Joseph […]
This much-lauded return of one of Frederic, Lord Leighton’s final RA submissions is not quite as exciting as intended. Perhaps best to see it in Puerto Rico where it’s the star of the show? Flaming June It’s not normally the Royal Academy I come to for small, free exhibitions. The National Gallery is a more […]
A thought-provoking and deeply reflective exhibition, Entangled Pasts, 1768-now looks inwards and outwards to examine the Royal Academy‘s entanglements with British colonial history over the centuries. Entangled Pasts, 1768-now “What does it mean for the Royal Academy to stage an exhibition in 2024 that reflects on its role in helping to establish a canon of […]
