Whited sepulchre
Michelangelo’s Tomb for Pope Julius II: Genesis and Genius edited by Christoph Luitpold Frommel, translated by A. Lawrence Jenkens JrYale,…
Seeing everything in black and white
Two divergent approaches to printmaking are on view in an exhibition of graphic work by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud…
Whited sepulchre
‘How often’, wrote Sigmund Freud in 1914, ‘have I mounted the steep steps from the unlovely Corso Cavour to the…
The only way is up
Michael Andrews once noted the title of an American song on a scrap of paper: ‘Up is a Nice Place…
The only way is up
Michael Andrews once noted the title of an American song on a scrap of paper: ‘Up is a Nice Place…
Great leaps forward
In the 1940s Lucian Freud took another young painter, Sandra Blow, up to the top of a bombed church in…
Great leaps forward
In the 1940s Lucian Freud took another young painter, Sandra Blow, up to the top of a bombed church in…
Shape shifter
Victor Pasmore once told me how he greeted Pablo Picasso at Victoria station. The great man had come to Britain…
Shape shifter
Victor Pasmore once told me how he greeted Pablo Picasso at Victoria station. The great man had come to Britain…
Back in the USSR
For much of 1517 Michelangelo Buonarroti was busy quarrying marble in the mountains near Carrara. From time to time, however,…
Back in the USSR
For much of 1517 Michelangelo Buonarroti was busy quarrying marble in the mountains near Carrara. From time to time, however,…
O come, let us adore him
On 27 July 1613 a man prostrated himself in the church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo, having first made…
O come, let us adore him
On 27 July 1613 a man prostrated himself in the church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo, having first made…
Trivial pursuits
Robert Rauschenberg, like Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale, was a ‘snapper-up of unconsidered trifles’. Unlike Shakespeare’s character, however, he made…
Trivial pursuits
Robert Rauschenberg, like Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale, was a ‘snapper-up of unconsidered trifles’. Unlike Shakespeare’s character, however, he made…
The beast in man
Ernest Hemingway loved going to the zoo, but not on Sundays. The reason, he explained, was that, ‘I don’t like…
A choice of art books
Suitably for a year so full of cataclysms and disturbing portents, 2016 is the quincentenary of the death of Hieronymus…
The beast in man
Ernest Hemingway loved going to the zoo, but not on Sundays. The reason, he explained, was that, ‘I don’t like…
Enigma variations
On 2 August 1933 one of the more improbable meetings of the 20th century took place when Albert Einstein had…
Enigma variations
On 2 August 1933 one of the more improbable meetings of the 20th century took place when Albert Einstein had…
Romantic modern
In 1932 Paul Nash posed the question, is it possible to ‘go modern’ and still ‘be British?’ — a conundrum…
Romantic modern
In 1932 Paul Nash posed the question, is it possible to ‘go modern’ and still ‘be British?’ — a conundrum…
Shady past
David Hockney: It is a kind of joke, but I really mean it when I say Caravaggio invented Hollywood lighting.…
Face time
As a chat-up line it was at least unusual. On 8 January 1927, a 46-year-old man approached a young woman…
Face time
As a chat-up line it was at least unusual. On 8 January 1927, a 46-year-old man approached a young woman…
