Laura Cumming

How to draw a bird | The Observer There is a dilemma at the heart of art’s fascination with these restless creatures: a draughtsman can never let them take wing

Beautiful words, stunning art…

@lauracummingart.bsky.social

How to draw a bird observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

How Seurat found peace by the sea | The Observer Britain’s first show of the artist in nearly 30 years reveals his mastery of light and detail in calm, captivating seascapes. Plus, Lucian Freud’s graphic works sit beside his portraits

And @lauracummingart.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Thank you so much!

Carel Fabritius born #OTD 1622 Dutch artist, with little surviving work which includes The Goldfinch, currently 'co-curating' an exhibition with Simon Schama @mauritshuis.bsky.social . If you can't get there read @lauracummingart.bsky.social magnificent Thunderclap www.mauritshuis.nl/en/what-s-on...

Tracey Emin at Tate Modern review: return of the riotous queen of candour Forty years of Tracey Emin’s tortured, trailblazing work is gathered in a major retrospective that finds the artist in search of past glories

“Like her hero Edvard Munch, another energetic miserabilist, Emin favours exaggeration in the service of truth” @lauracummingart.bsky.social on Tracy Emin at Tate Modern.

observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

It's publication day! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this book into being, and to the booksellers who are getting behind it now @unboundsocials.bsky.social

A screenshot of a page from The Bookseller Magazine describing The Tattooed Hills as 'Alluring.'

Delighted that excellent nonfiction editor at @thebookseller.com , @carosanderson.bsky.social has chosen The Tattooed Hills as one of her Top Ten April books, with blush inducing comments.

Preorder link in bio etc.

@quartobooksuk.bsky.social

A Hawaiian royal spectacle | The Observer The Pacific island’s king and queen were the talk of London when they visited in 1824. Then disaster struck. A tremendous show of treasures at the British Museum relives their trip

Written largely in the present tense, this superb critique by @lauracummingart.bsky.social @theobserveruk.bsky.social should be an object lesson in art reviews. A Hawaiian Royal Spectacle has a unique immediacy, is full of fascinating detail & concludes magnificently.
observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Thank you so much!

Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer

As usual the best review is by @lauracummingart.bsky.social (imho, obvs). The show was moving and not, in retrospect, the head-to-head matchup I’d expected. I left feeling that they’d made each other stronger artists than they could ever have been alone. observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Stonehenge not in show alas

Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer

"This is one of the most exhilarating shows I’ve ever seen."
Wonderful piece, by @lauracummingart.bsky.social, on the Tate's new Constable and Turner exhibition. Does anyone know if their Stonehenge pictures are in this show? observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer

World-famous masterpieces and rarely exhibited works by Turner and Constable are put side by side in this monumental, thrilling show at Tate Britain, writes @lauracummingart.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/3XmjD8E

Absolutely loved this 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟show @tate @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Self Portrait with a Palette

Self Portrait with a Palette

Vase of Peonies on a Small Pedestal

Vase of Peonies on a Small Pedestal

Carel Fabritius 1622-1654 A View of Delft 1652 The focus of this townscape is the New Church of Delft. The exaggerated perspective and strongly foreshortened viola da qamba are clues that it was originally part of a perspective box On the back of the canvas are traces of copper. This suggests it was once mounted on a concave copper plate to bend the image and correct its perspective. Viewing it through the peephole of a small perspective box would have enhanced the illusion.

Carel Fabritius 1622-1654 Young Man in a Fur Cap 1654 Although there are no documented portraits of Fabritius, this is generally accepted as a self portrait. He has painted himself in military dress, just as his teacher Rembrandt had done in his portraits of the 1630s. Neither artist had any direct military connections. The picture was painted in the vear Fabritius died prematurely in a vast gunpowder explosion in Delft, the aftermath of which is depicted in a small painting by Egbert van der Poel hanging nearby

Pieter de Hooch 1629-after 1684 A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard about 1660/1 A maid is lifting a fish from a cooking pot while her mistress looks on. Such scenes of ordinary women at home became popular in Holland from about the 1640s.De Hooch's paintings on this theme are particularly evocative The courtyard view is almost certainly invented but he has made it look as if it could be a scene from real life

I had always walked past the Dutch rooms at the National Gallery to visit the Italians But recently read the fantastic Thunderclap by @lauracummingart.bsky.social which made me realise they are much more interesting than I assumed at first.

Constance Talbot, early photographer and lifelong artist Talk by Rose Teanby — Photo Oxford Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, The Bodleian Library Wednesday, 5 November

One week to go to my Photo Oxford talk at @bodleianlibs about the photographic and artistic life of Constance Talbot. Hear about her witnessing the birth of #photography and maintaining a love of art throughout her life. 5th November 1-2pm Weston Library:

photooxford.org/events/const...

Still life with melon and peaches

Still life with melon and peaches

Head of Jean-Baptiste Faure

Head of Jean-Baptiste Faure

A matador

A matador

Plum

Plum

Must detour to see this #BehindBlueEyes

@lauracummingart.bsky.social At last! Got today’s Observer quiz

This is vital reading from Sam Freedman …@wesstreetingmp.bsky.social

Arthur Jafa is a sound-and-vision genius | The Observer The multimedia artist creates hypnotic, cinematic forms of homage to music greats from Pete Townshend to Prince. Plus, Karimah Ashadu’s meditation on men

Pete Townsend and Prince in this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ show from the great Arthur Jafa at Sadie Coles HQ and Karma Ashadu at Camden Arts Centre...loved these shows @theobserveruk.bsky.social @timadamswrites.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Arthur Jafa is a sound-and-vision genius | The Observer The multimedia artist creates hypnotic, cinematic forms of homage to music greats from Pete Townshend to Prince. Plus, Karimah Ashadu’s meditation on men

Pete Townsend and Prince in this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ show from the great Arthur Jafa at Sadie Coles HQ and Karma Ashadu at Camden Arts Centre...loved these shows @theobserveruk.bsky.social @timadamswrites.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

The stained glass of hell, to quote my friend Alan Parker - G&G as per usual. Go instead to Nordic Noir @BritishMuseum observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

The stained glass of hell, to quote my friend Alan Parker - G&G as per usual. Go instead to Nordic Noir @BritishMuseum observer.co.uk/culture/art/...