Reviews

Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square (still detail; 1967–68), Bruce Nauman. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York; © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020

From the ridiculous to the sublime – Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern, reviewed

This career-spanning survey presents an artist whose work consistently teeters between the absurd and the poetic

2 Dec 2020
A Young Lady with a Parrot (detail; c. 1730), Rosalba Carriera.

Fruitful pastels – the colourful career of Rosalba Carriera

A new study examines the 18th-century artist’s pioneering use of pastel and her capacity for self-promotion

27 Nov 2020
Chapel of St John the Baptist, Matlock Dale, Derbyshire, designed by Guy Dawber and constructed in 1897

Pulpit masters – the best of Arts and Crafts churches

Two welcome volumes survey how the movement made its mark on religious buildings across the UK

26 Nov 2020
Ship with seven men, net and gull (n.d.), Alfred Wallis.

Ship shapes – the nautical art of Alfred Wallis

Kettle’s Yard shows off its unrivalled collection of work by the mariner-turned-painter, for whom every boat had ‘a beautiful soul shaped like a fish’

24 Nov 2020
Lionel Hampton Big Band concert, Houtrusthallen, The Hague (1956), Ed van der Elsken. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

From street parties to state visits – around the world with Ed van der Elsken

The globe-trotting Dutch photographer was always on the lookout for a good picture – and took some 100,000 of them

24 Nov 2020
Installation view of 'Bergama Stereotip' by Cevdet Erek, Arter, Istaanbul, 2019–20.

Stereo sound – echoes of the Pergamon Altar return to Turkey

A sound installation by the Istanbul-based artist Cevdet Erek draws on the complex history of the ancient monument

18 Nov 2020
The reconstructed ‘rose window’ at the archaeological site of Khirbat al-Mafjar (Hisham’s Palace), near Jericho (photo: 2017). Photo: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

Model buildings – when European architects looked to the Middle East

Diana Darke’s new book makes the case for the widespread influence of Islamic architecture on European buildings. But how convincing are her claims?

17 Nov 2020
Agnes and Catherine Gund.

How Agnes Gund became an art-world hero

A documentary directed by her daughter sets out just why the collector and philanthropist is beloved by so many

16 Nov 2020
Image courtesy IFC Films

Ottolenghi’s French fancies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A film about the Versailles-inspired desserts the chef makes for an event at the museum is a visual treat – albeit one with a bitter aftertaste

12 Nov 2020
Rose Horizontal (2018), Bridget Riley.

Lines of continuity – learning from Bridget Riley’s prints

An expanded catalogue raisonné of the artist’s prints sheds new light on her pioneering approach to colour and composition

11 Nov 2020
Langlands & Bell in the Library-Dining Room with Grand Tour (2020). Photo: Gareth Gardner

‘They show where the bodies are buried’ – Langlands & Bell at the Soane, reviewed

The duo’s wry installations uncover the realities architecture often hides – and examine how buildings can manipulate people

9 Nov 2020
Becoming Alluvium (2019), Thao Nguyen Phan. Installation view at Chisenhale Gallery, London, 2020.

A voyage along the Mekong River with Thao Nguyen Phan

A film and a series of watercolour-on-silk paintings at Chisenhale Gallery reflect on the ‘beauty and suffering’ of the Mekong River

3 Nov 2020
Untitled (n.d.), JB Blunk. Photo: Diego Flores; courtesy JB Blunk Collection and Kasmin

The mischievous and mysterious art of J.B. Blunk

After a lifechanging encounter with Isamu Noguchi, J.B. Blunk dedicated himself to carving out his own path

30 Oct 2020
'Me and Dali in New York', 1972, David Bailey.

Exposure time – David Bailey’s autobiography, reviewed

A memoir as raw and unfiltered as the photographs that made Bailey’s name at Vogue, this curious book offers up some brilliant anecdotes but ultimately lacks focus

29 Oct 2020
Self-Portrait as a Lute Player (detail; c. 1615–17), Artemisia Gentileschi. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford

Role model – ‘Artemisia’ at the National Gallery, reviewed

This much-anticipated exhibition does justice to the restless creativity of Artemisia Gentileschi in her many guises

26 Oct 2020
Anti-racism sit-down protest, Bethnal Green, London, 1978.

The photographers who wanted their subjects to be heard as well as seen

Radical collectives in the 1970s were keen to make documentary photography more democratic

22 Oct 2020
Untitled #22 (1976), from the series 'Christopher Street', Sunil Gupta.

From rural India to Greenwich Village – life through the lens of Sunil Gupta

The photographer’s first UK retrospective explores his abiding interest in the experience of outsiders in society

21 Oct 2020
Bal au château des Noailles (c. 1929), Man Ray. Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, dist. Rmn-Grand Palais/Guy Carrard; © Man Ray 2015 Trust/Adagp, Paris 2020

À la mode – Man Ray’s forays into fashion photography

The artist was a reluctant photographer – yet from the 1920s to ’40s, the Surrealist vision he brought to fashion photography helped elevate it to an art form in its own right

20 Oct 2020
In Tangier (1987–90), Howard Hodgkin.

Recollected works – ‘Howard Hodgkin: Memories’, reviewed

In these paintings from the 1980s and ’90s, Hodgkin found a way to depict that ‘almost impossibly nebulous subject’ – his own past experiences

16 Oct 2020
Left: Head of Saint John the Baptist (1877/78), Auguste Rodin. Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Right: La Portinaia (1883/84), Medardo Rosso. Collection PCC, Lugano

What did Impressionism mean for sculpture?

A survey of artists inspired by the movement considers how successfully sculpture can convey a sense of transience

14 Oct 2020
John Simmons (detail; 1847), artist unknown.

The Black sailors who served in the British navy come out of retirement

An exhibition at the Old Royal Naval College tells the stories of the Black pensioners who lived there in the 18th and 19th centuries

9 Oct 2020
Installation view of ‘The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue’ at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 2020. On the right is Ramberg’s Black Widow (1971).

The bound and fragmented bodies of Christina Ramberg

The artist’s strange, Surrealist-inspired paintings have in turn inspired more recent explorations of gender and body image

9 Oct 2020

‘Her canvases breed uncertainty from certainty’ – the art of Carmen Herrera

Still working at the age of 105, the Cuban-born artist has had an unusually long career – and the results repay close attention

7 Oct 2020
Black Water (1964), Armando. Installation view at the Kunstmuseum den Haag, 1964.

Murky waters – Armando and the art of moral ambiguity

An opaque installation by the Dutch artist raises difficult questions about ethics and interpretation

6 Oct 2020