Lorenzo Lotto: Last Days

journal, pictorial arts


The Lorenzo Lotto Portraits exhibition at the National Gallery, which I co-organised with Miguel Falomir and Enrico Maria Dal Pozzolo, is now in the last days of its run. It’s been a great season for Lotto, what with us putting Lotto on at two of the major art museums of the world, the Museo del Prado in Madrid and The National Gallery, and with the concurrent Lotto initiative, inspired in part by our exhibition, in the region of the Marche, which has included an additional, more specialist-oriented exhibition in Macerata as well as the introduction of a joint ticket for visitors wanting to go on the Lotto trail through the region. Something which I’ve done and highly recommend — not only does it feature some of the artist’s greatest altarpieces and other paintings, the Marche is also a beautiful part of the world, mercifully free of tourists. Now, with tours, academic conferences, study days and other activities behind me, I can only say that I’ve become even more devoted learning about to this astonishing artist. I hope you have too.

Encouragingly in that regard, the London iteration of the exhibition, smaller but arguably more focused than the magnificent Madrid one, has been a success. It is heartening to see so many people show an interest in a great artist who is virtually unknown outside Italy. I attribute it to Lotto’s very direct, intimate and relatable approach to his subject matter — he is an artist of great empathy who cannot but invest a lot of himself in his work, and it shows. If you haven’t seen the show yet and are in London, I hope you might be able to find the time. It’s open till Sunday. Check my introduction to the show above.

KrigsSplint i Information

comics and cartooning, commentary and criticism, hype & linkage


I fredagens bogtillæg til Information kan man læse min anmeldelse af første bind af Émile Bravos episk anlagte Splint & Co.-fortælling, L’Espoir malgré tout, eller Håbets tid på dansk. Den sender her i seriens 70-jubilæumsår den heltemodige piccolo midt ud i anden verdenskrig, i fortsættelse af de vellykkede enkeltstående album fra 2008 Journal d’un ingénu, dansk titel Portræt af helten som troskyldig ung mand (dansk udgave 2013). Jeg er ikke helt overbevist om at der er tale om en god idé:

Det er ambitiøst, men rejser det velkendte spørgsmål om, hvorvidt børnelitteraturens klart tegnede fantasifigurer tåler et så direkte virkelighedstjek.

Læs mere her, hvis du har abonemment.

Flashback: In Conversation about Sebastiano & Michelangelo

commentary and criticism, hype & linkage, pictorial arts

Michelangelo & Sebastiano, with Dr Matthias Wivel and Dr Piers Baker-Bates from Colnaghi Foundation on Vimeo.

It’s Christmas time, so here’s a treat for the two and half people who might care. I was searching for something else and happened upon this video through the Colnaghi Foundation website. It records a conversation I had at their premises in London in the spring of 2017 with my colleague Piers Baker-Bates on Sebastiano del Piombo, his relationship to Michelangelo and his fortuna critica in Spain (a particular specialty of Piers’). Of course the impetus was the exhibition I had organised at the National Gallery, to which Piers had provided invaluable assistance.

I was aware at the time that it was being filmed but forgot all about it, so it’s nice to see it’s been online for a while. It’s very nerdy, but that was also kind of the brief, and frankly a relief at a time when I was doing many more general — and also enjoyable! — introductions to the subject. Plus, it’s always nice to chat with Piers. Enjoy!

Stan Lee RIP

comics and cartooning, commentary and criticism, film, tv, video, hype & linkage


I Information, i fredagens bogtillæg, stod min nekrolog over Stan Lee at læse. Den kan også granskes her, hvis man betaler. Desværre var billedredigeringen mildest talt lemfældig og det endte med en tilfældig række forsider, to af hvilke intet havde med Lee at gøre. Men sådan går det jo en gang i mellem, når avisen skal på gaden. Tak alligvel til Information for at trykke en nekrolog over The Man.

For folk der kender min indstilling til Lee, er det nok ikke overraskende, at teksten fokuserer på det kreative samarbejde mellem Lee, Kirby og Ditko og førstnævntes efterfølgede uproportionale anerkendelse og belønning. Her et lille uddrag:

Ditko forlod i frustration Marvel i 1966, Kirby fulgte ham fire år senere. Andre kræfter kom til, men det blev aldrig det samme. Det er sigende, at mens Ditko og Kirby begge fortsatte distinkte og dybt originale kunstneriske livsbaner, skabte Lee hverken før eller siden noget, der kommer i nærheden af det, de lavede sammen. Samtidig er det imidlertid klart, at netop den kemi og den spænding, de to meget forskellige kunstnere opnåede i samarbejdet med Lee udmundede sig i værker af en ganske sjælden vitalitet.

Nåja, og så har jeg her muligheden for at supplere artiklen med en virkelig fed — og både for Lee og Kirby repræsentative splashside fra Fantastic Four #57 (1966). Hvil i fred!