The Week’s Muse: 15 November

A round-up of recent news and comment from the Muse Room

The power of First World War cartoons

Cartoons from the F 'There Was a Young Man of Cologne.' (I've forgotten the rest of the poem, but it's something about "a bomb" and "If only he'd known."), Bruce Bairnsfather from 'Fragments From France' ront proliferated during the First World War. Their black humour and often shocking subject matter came closer than almost any other form of art or journalism to describing the grim realities of the conflict, argues Thomas Gayford.

Perenchio’s $500 million gift to LACMA

The businessman and philanthropist A. Jerrold Perenchio took to the limelight this week to announce a major gift to LACMA. Works by Monet and Manet, Pissarro, Picasso and Chagall (among others) will transform the museum’s collection.

Nick Miller wins inaugural Hennessy Portrait Prize

Miller, who was selected from a shortlist of 12 artists, wins €15,000 in prize money and a further €5,000 to create a new work for the National Gallery of Ireland. The prize encourages Irish artists to engage with portraiture as a genre.

Can art keep up with the digital revolution?

The Hayward Gallery show ‘Mirrorcity’ looks at the ‘challenges, conditions and consequences of living in a digital age’. But are artists up to the challenge of communicating those issues through digital means?

Highlights from Paris Tableau

Paris Tableau’s annual showcase of Old Master paintings is underway. We spoke to two of the exhibitors, Matteo Grassi and Georges de Jonckheere in advance of the fair, and picked out a few of the likely highlights at the Palais Brongniart.