wed 15/10/2025

Visual Arts Reviews

Nicolaes Maes: Dutch Master of the Golden Age, National Gallery review – beautifully observed vignettes

Sarah Kent

A young woman sits sewing (pictured below right: Young Woman Sewing,1655). She is totally immersed in her task, and our attention is similarly focused on her and every detail of her environment. The cool light pouring though the window illuminates her work and also gives us a clear view.

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Bill Brandt/Henry Moore, The Hepworth Wakefield review - a matter of perception

Katherine Waters

Bill Brandt’s photographs and Henry Moore’s studies of people sheltering underground during the Blitz (September 1940 to May 1941) offer glimpses of a world that is, thankfully, lost to us.

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David Hockney: Drawing from Life, National Portrait Gallery review - an anatomy of love

Florence Hallett

For David Hockney, drawing is born out of familiarity: his portraits both express and fulfil the urge to know someone deeply and well.

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Masculinities: Liberation through Photography, Barbican review – a must-see exhibition

Sarah Kent

The exhibition starts on the Barbican’s lift doors, which are emblazoned with photographs from the show. They include one of my all-time favourites: Herb Ritts’s Fred with Tyres 1984 (pictured below right), a fashion shoot of a young body builder posing as a garage mechanic, in greasy overalls. Despite his powerful muscles, he looks tired and petulant.

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Steve McQueen, Tate Modern review – films that stick in the mind

Sarah Kent

The screen is filled with the head and shoulders of a man lying on his back; he could be dead in the morgue or lying on the analyst’s couch. He doesn’t move (it’s a still), but we hear his voice recounting the terrible story of the day he accidentally killed his brother. 

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Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Whitechapel review - ten distinctive voices

Sarah Kent

“From today, painting is dead.” These melodramatic words were uttered by French painter, Paul Delaroche on seeing a photograph for the first time. That was in 1840 and, since then, painting has been declared dead many times over, yet it refuses to give up the ghost.

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Darren Waterston: Filthy Lucre, V&A review - a timely look at the value of art

Sarah Kent

It looks as if vandals have ransacked Whistler's Peacock Room. The famous interior was commissioned in the 1870s by shipping magnate, Frederick Richard Leyland to show off his collection of fine porcelain. The specially designed shelves have been broken and their contents smashed; shards of pottery lie strewn across the floor.

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Imran Perretta, Chisenhale Gallery review - a deeply affecting film

Sarah Kent

“I forgive you,” he said. “I forgive you… for the bombs.” Spoken by a young Muslim in measured tones that can’t hide his fear, these chilling words recall a random encounter with a stranger. 

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Picasso and Paper, Royal Academy review - the most versatile of materials

Florence Hallett

Even more than most, Picasso exhibitions need a focus: he was so prolific and diverse that the alternative is neither practical nor comprehensible.

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Best of 2019: Visual Arts

Florence Hallett

Notable anniversaries provided the ballast for this year’s raft of exhibitions; none was dead weight, though, with shows dedicated to Rembrandt, Leonardo and...

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