Lidt sent: I fredagens bogtillæg til Information kunne/kan man læse min anmeldelse af Anne Mette Kjærulf Lorenzens grafiske romandebut, om at springe ud som lesbisk sent i livet. Udmærket, om end ikke voldsomt original bog, men imponerende sikkerhed fra en debutant. Læs her, men €€.
I denne uges bogtillæg til Information kan man læse min anmeldelse af den nys udsendte, nyfarvelagte udgave af Tintin i Sovjetunionen — den første historie om den unge reporter og hans hund, og den eneste i hvilken man ser ham skrive reportage! Jeg har altid synes at det album er undervurderet — det har en helt usædvanlig energi over sig, udført med overskud og er samtidig effektivt, grovkornet satirisk på den gode måde. Nyfarvelægningen er desværre totalt unødvendig og tjener kun til at dæmpe dynamikken i Hergés tegninger, der jo er udført med henblik på sort-hvid. Et tungnemt cash grab fra den belgiske forlægger Castermans side. Anyway, læs her (men: $$).
For the past couple of years I’ve been working with Miguel Falomir, director of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, and Professor Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo of the University of Verona, to bring you this exquisite exhibition of one of the greatest portraitists of the Western tradition, Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1557). It gives me great pleasure finally to see it open in Madrid tomorrow, where it will remain till 30 September before travelling to London for a more concise showing between 5 November and 10 February. It includes a large, varied selection of his portraits as well as a number of objects of the kind he depicted with such care in them — jewellery, books, sculptures, clothing, carpets… — for what I hope will function as an extension of portraiture and our understanding of it into so-called material culture.
Lotto is one of the great idiosyncratic artists of the Renaissance, painting like nobody else. His religious paintings are full of energy, humour, and a striking down-to-earth pathos, as are his portraits which are amongst the most varied and empathetic of the period. Itinerant for most of his life, he found the greatest success in his early career in Treviso in the first decade and especially Bergamo in the second, though he continued to produce fascinating, personal work through his late, depressed years.
Rarely able to attract the kind of elite clientele that was available to his great contemporary Titian, he distinguished himself for posterity by painting mostly the emerging bourgeoisie, the demographic that would increasingly dominate European politics, economy and culture down to the present day. His portraits seem remarkably frank, warts-and-all without being ostentatious about it, and as mentioned deeply empathetic. His sitters always invariably appear interesting to us, as if the artist is bringing forward their unique qualities for us to contemplate, not just on their behalf but on the behalf of humanity.
Conceived by Miguel and consolidated by Enrico, who is one of the premier Lotto specialists working today, the exhibition is one to which I’ve contributed mostly as a junior partner, but I am proud of the results, also of my own labour on it. The Prado has produced the catalogue, which we hope will stand as a significant contribution to Lotto scholarship, as well as an easy to access introduction to his activities as a portraitist and the historical and social context within which he worked. I’ve contributed the entries on the portrait drawings and the National Gallery’s three Lotto portraits, among other things. Do seek it out if you’re interested, and most importantly go see the exhibition. Please note that the exhibition is significantly larger at the Prado, which is definitely the place to see it for completists and specialists, while it will be more select, but hopefully no less beautiful and poignant at the National Gallery.
Enjoy!
I den forgangne weekends bogtillæg til Information har jeg skrevet en anmeldelse af Taschens nyudgivelse af kunsthistoriker Frank Zöllners monografi og oeuvrekatalog over Leonardo da Vincis malerier fra 2003. Den nye udgave udmærker sig ved et nyt forord, der giver en overflyvning af den bemærkelsesværdige udvikling, der er sket i Leonardo-forskningen siden da, først og fremmest med en grundig gennemgang af Verdens Dyreste Kunstværk (TM), Salvator Mundi (ovenfor), der som bekendt blev solgt på auktion sidste år for $450 millioner og efter sigende snart vil blive udstillet på det nyåbnede Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Grundlæggende er bogudgivelsen en opportunistisk, om end en som altid smukt illustreret, lappeløsning fra Taschens side, men den giver anledning til nogle overvejelser netop over hvor vi er i Leonardo-forskningen, samt nogle tanker om hvorfor Leonardo er verdens mest berømte kunstner. Læs bag paywallen her.
A little late this year perhaps, but I’ve now contributed my selection of last year’s best Danish comics to Paul Gravett’s annual international year in review feature. Go check out his full list, with the first part here and the second here, or peep my choices right here:
Kvinde i rød lænestol, 1932, Paris, Musée Picasso
Ovenfor har jeg reproduceret et af de billeder, jeg beskriver i detaljer og som redaktøren ikke kunne finde plads til. Supplement!
Forside til Fiesta nr. 4 af Peter Kielland efter koncept af Mårdøn Smet
PS — mere om forsiden ovenfor på Peter Kiellands blog.
I denne weekends krimitillæg til Information kan man læse min anmeldelse af Fahrenheits danske udgave af Chris Miskiewicz’ og Palle Schmidts fantasy-noir Thomas Alsop. Jeg synes serien har gode takter, samt franchisepotentiale, men den er samtidig lidt upersonlig og ikke tæt nok plottet. Der er plads til forbedring med andre ord. Stadig, værd at kaste et blik. Læs her, bag paywallen.
Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434
Så er jeg her igen. Endnu en tegneserieanmeldelse i Informations bogtillæg. Denne gang omhandler det Nina Hemmingssons Du vil ha’ mig, hendes danske debut her, godt et dusin år efter hun brændte igennem i Sverige. Jeg gør mig lidt tanker om hvorfor det har taget så lang tid, men bruger mere tid på at forsæge at indkredse hendes fandenivoldske humor. Læs her, men der er som sædvanlig paywall.