The hard road to realism: development and propagation of knowledge, how to apply it in paintings, and its benefit on visual art.
reflections
An unusual pastel, a couple of fine nocturnes, then some reflections of figures from Caravaggio and Bonnard, concluded by coy self-portraits.
Reflections seen in landscapes from Dürer’s pioneering watercolour, through Poussin and Turner to Monet, Sisley and Neo-Impressionists.
From Dürer and Poussin to Cézanne and Hodler, reflections have been important in many landscape paintings.
Live models for figures, landscape oil sketching in front of the motif, the sensuous nude, narratives with multiple readings, incredibly loose brushwork, and so much more than portraits.
Not his last great painting by any means, but his greatest and most thought-provoking. Where are the royal couple, seen only in reflection, and who is everyone looking at?
Is it just a quirky re-telling of the myth of Arachne and her weaving contest? What do the foreground and background have in common? A superb visual riddle, perhaps.
A sibyl, or an allegory of painting? Maybe the ‘maid of Corinth’ who legends says ‘invented’ painting. And are they spinners, or the story of Arachne?
Three religious paintings, including two skilfully-told narratives, a history, and the only nude of his to have survived.
Between 1905 and 1916, he often painted his models in front of a mirror, and played games with their reflections.
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