Culture

Culture

Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo

The hidden talent of France’s greatest novelist

Vincent van Gogh once described the drawings of Victor Hugo as “astonishing things”, and people seeing the Frenchman’s artwork for the first time today may well be equally astounded. The exhibition Astonishing Things at the Royal Academy London is the first time in more than half a century that the public will be able to admire Victor Hugo’s haunting ink and wash drawings.

Although Hugo was globally renowned as a writer, responsible for such timeless novels as Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, what is less well known is that he was also a gifted artist.

Displaying more than 70 pieces from major European collections, Astonishing Things traces Hugo’s fascination with drawing, from his early caricatures and travel sketches to his landscapes infused with high drama and his magnetic, abstract experimentations.

Victor Hugo’s ink and wash drawings evince a captivating, often wild imagination, and yet they were hardly ever exhibited during his lifetime. Despite this, his art proved an inspiration to Symbolist poets and many painters, from the aforementioned van Gogh and Surrealists André Breton and Max Ernst, to contemporary artists such…

Culture

Immortalising a Century

Iconic moments from Leica’s most celebrated photographers

Throughout most of the 20th century, the ability to view the world was not at the touch of a screen but through the pages of magazines that used photographers to bring events into your home. From wars to the first astronauts, to life in another society, those moments were captured by the correspondent photographer, the […]

Culture

Angelina Jolie

“I’m going to be eccentric when I get older”

Despite the general acclaim by critics and public alike, Angelina Jolie missed an Oscar nomination for her  performance in the biopic Maria. In this interview with Jenny Davis, the two-time winner of an Academy Award speaks candidly about how much this role meant to her and how she poured her own pain into her character. […]

Culture

The BMW Art Car World Tour

Motoring through 50 years of art history

Featuring work by such acclaimed artists as Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Jeff Koons, the BMW Art Car Collection is revving up for a world tour to mark its 50th anniversary.

This unparalleled collection represents a snapshot of the history of art since 1975. A fleet of astounding, artistically designed BMWs, it takes in such diverse movements as minimalism, pop art, magical realism, abstraction, conceptual art and digital art.

Each of the twenty automobiles is created in the artist’s own individual style. Over the next few months, these eclectic, charismatic “rolling sculptures” will be on show in all five continents. They will be calling at Johannesburg, Vienna, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, Zürich, Taiwan, Bratislava, Stockholm, Lake Como, Munich, Båstad, the Hague and Istanbul.

Alexander Calder was inspired by the French auctioneer and racing driver, Hervé Poulain,
to produce the first ever BMW Art Car in 1975.

Ilka Horstmeier, Board Member for Human Resources and Real Estate at BMW Group, explains the significance of the anniversary tour. “The BMW Art Car Collection celebrates 50 years of artistic freedom and visionary design. The 20 vehicles have become international icons, telling stories of society, technology and performance. We are continuously developing the collection and bringing art and automotive culture together in a unique way.”

The BMW Art Car Collection began on 14th June 1975, when a BMW 3.0 CSL, brilliantly conceived by the American sculptor Calder, pulled up at the grid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

On the start line, Calder reminded his racing driver Hervé Poulain that he was piloting a work of art: “Hervé, win! But drive carefully!”

Left: Cao Fei reinterpreted the BMW M6 GT3 in 2016 to express the changes in Chinese society, establishing parallelisms with the speed of racing cars. Right: In 1999, Conceptual artist Jenny Holzer expressed her criticism of western society by covering the BMW V12 LMR racing car with provocative messages such as “Protect me from what I want” and “The unattainable is invariably attractive.”

Since then, 19 other globally renowned artists have enthusiastically embraced the concept. Rauschenberg, for instance, who crafted BMW Art Car #6 in 1986, declared: “This car is the fulfilment of my dream. I would like to do ten more!”

Meanwhile, Cao Fei, who designed BMW Art Car #18, in 2016, underscored the emotional side of the work: “The car should not only race in a physical way, but also in the heart.”

And when Jenny Holzer was invited to create BMW Art Car #15, in 1999, she joked: “I thought it would be nice if women could participate other than standing around in bikinis!”

The good news is, the BMW Art Car Collection World Tour schedule is still developing and will continue throughout 2026.

So wherever you are in the world, strap in for a truly memorable artistic ride.

More information and details about locations, HERE.

Author: James Rampton

Culture

Liaigre: 12 Projects

The elegance of simplicity

The late French designer Christian Liaigre was considered a great minimalist. The simple elegance of his designs, whose uncluttered, fluid lines allow the natural grace of a piece to shine, is captured in his ravishing book, Liaigre: 12 Projects.

Published by Flammarion Press, this highly collectable re-issue illustrates that, in melding discretion with subtle luxury, Liaigre mastered the art of understatement.

This splendidly-produced volume, which features more than 600 breathtaking photographs, focuses on 12 of Liaigre’s most memorable projects from around the world. These include private and public interiors from Nantucket to Malibu, from Athens to Korea, and from the Caribbean to London.

In this large-format book, readers are introduced to Liaigre’s world of impeccable refinement. The tome covers the full gamut of his gifts as an interior designer and furniture maker.

A beach home in St. Barts by Christian Liaigre

A retreat in Athens by Christian Liaigre

Left: A beach home in St. Barts (p.16) © Jean-Philippe Piter. Right: A quiet retreat in Athens (p.177) © Mark Seleen.
Both photographs from Liaigre: 12 Projects, Flammarion.

Liaigre has created a realm where he makes stunning use of light and space and nothing happens by accident, from the siting of a window to the positioning of a table.

The designer, who died in 2020, knew that God is in the details. He understood the importance of, “Placing that perfect, soft rug beneath the tread of a bare foot first thing each morning and ensuring a door handle, grasped time and again, is designed as much for its elegance as the pleasure it imparts when touched.”

As reflected in the entrancing 360 pages of Liaigre: 12 Projects, the designer profoundly believed that design was another artform. “Our surroundings should function like a work of art, appealing to our emotions, swathing us in security as we cross the threshold.”

Liaigre, who had an exquisite eye and designed the Mercer Hotel in New York and La Societé restaurant in Paris, added, “Sometimes, we take inspiration from the Dutch Masters, flooding our interior with natural light. Early man ‘decorated’ his caves, responding not to an urge to impress, but to a psychological need to make the occupied space his own, as an expression of identity.“ Interior architecture and design are, on occasion, synonymous with timelessness, beauty, harmony, understated luxury. But every interior should be this way. Beauty calms the human spirit and brings people together.”

A Caribbean home (p.334–335) © Jean-Philippe Piter, from Liaigre: 12 Projects, Flammarion.

As his gorgeous volume reminds us, Liaigre realised the joy of living in world filled with beautiful things. “Like a great painter or writer, the creative decorator must rise above his private tastes and adapt, so that people will say, ‘My, how good we feel here!’”

Author: James Rampton

Liaigre: 12 Projects
by Flammarion
360 pages. Hardcover.
From Browns Books at £60.
At other retailers, prices may vary.

Lead image: Trinity Country Club Lobby Lounge, Yeoju, South Korea (p.192–193). © Cheolhee Lee, from Liaigre: 12 Projects, Flammarion

Culture

Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350

When drama was introduced into art

If you’re a fan of great 14^th century Italian art – and who isn’t? – you might want to consider camping outside the National Gallery for one of the most eagerly anticipated cultural events of the year.

Marking the 200th anniversary of the National Gallery and paying tribute to the earliest pictures in its collection, Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300 – 1350 is a seriously impressive exhibition. It reunites many of the greatest works in all of Western painting – some for the first time in centuries. A number of the most groundbreaking pictures in the history of art, many of which formed part of larger ensembles before being dismantled, are being brought back together at this rarely- staged exhibition.

These highly prized, enormously influential and innovative paintings, many in gold ground, will be on display at this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of Sienese art from the first half of the 14th century. The exhibition of approximately one hundred works illustrates how the status of painting developed during that period and underscores the central role that Sienese artists took in that story. For the first time in history, faces showed emotion, bodies expressed movement, drama, in short, was introduced into painting.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà – Panels, 1308-11. The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà – Panels, 1308-11. Left: Christ and the Woman of Samaria. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. © Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Right: The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

The most exciting news is that in this show, several surviving panels from the gigantic double-sided masterpiece known as the Maestà (Majesty) have been reassembled for vistiors to admire. Painted by Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna (active 1278, died 1319) for the city’s cathedral in 1308, this sublime work is the first double-sided altarpiece in Western art. Broken up in the 18th century, this astoundingly complex, monumental piece represents a seismic shift in narrative art.

Thanks to loans from around the world, the National Gallery’s own three panels from the Maestà will once again hang next to several other paintings from this exquisite ensemble depicting episodes from the life of Christ. It’s a thrilling prospect.

If I were you, I would start pitching your tent in Trafalgar Square right now.

Author: James Rampton

Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350
8th March-22nd June 2025
The National Gallery
More information and tickets, HERE.

Lead image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Triptych with the Crucifixion and other scenes, c. 1302-8. The Royal Collection / HM King Charles III. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024. Image cropped from the original due to formatting restrictions.

Read about other unmissable exhibitions this season: The Oskar Reinhart Collection, at The Courtauld, London; Anselm Kiefer: Early Works, at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and Arpita Singh: Remembering, at the Serpentine North, London.

Culture

Arpita Singh: Remembering

Memory, Womanhood, and the Art of Resilience

Remembering is the first institutional solo exhibition of her work in Arpita Singh’s six-decades-long career. Showing at Serpentine North in London, the exhibition features art curated in partnership with 87-year-old Singh, who has been long hailed as one of the most consequential artists to break through in the wake of Indian Independence.

Singh was born in Baranagar in 1937, the artist first attracted attention in the 1960s, evolving a style that bridged Surrealism, figurative work and Indian Court painting narratives. Melding this with bursts of abstraction, Singh utilised pen, ink and pastels to create kinetic lines and dramatic textures.

Remembering investigates the artist’s tireless experimentation with mark-making and colour as a means of expressing emotion in response to political unrest and international humanitarian crises. Alongside such themes as gender, motherhood, feminine sensuality and vulnerability, Singh interrogates violence and political upheaval in India and across the world.

Arpita Singh, Buy Two, Get Two Free, 2007

Left: Arpita Singh, Devi Pistol Wali, 1990. Courtesy of Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru, India. © Arpita Singh.
Right: Arpita Singh, Buy Two, Get Two Free, 2007. Private Collection. © Arpita Singh.

Her work possesses a singular ability to merge the private with the public. Bettina Korek, CEO of Serpentine Galleries, says, “Through a practice that blends Bengali folk art with modernist explorations of identity, Singh vividly portrays scenes of life and imagination, stories and symbols, uniting the personal and the universal.”

Among her most memorable pieces is 1990’s Devi Pistol Wali, painted in oil on canvas. The artist conjures up an image of the many-armed Hindu goddess Devi wearing a white sari while standing on a prone man. Against an absurdist backdrop of floating cars, turtles and aeroplanes, the goddess holds a pistol, a vase of flowers and a mango. This captivating picture draws on Indian myths to reflect the difficulties encountered by women negotiating public spaces.

The critic Ella Datta sums up how central Singh is to modernist Indian art. “The price of Singh’s paintings has been climbing steadily, but the monetary value of her paintings is not of such critical importance. What is most significant is that Singh has left a mark on the visual imagination of generations.”

Author: James Rampton

Arpita Singh: Remembering
Serpentine North
Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA20
Free entry.
More information, HERE.

Lead image: Arpita Singh, My Lollipop City: Gemini Rising, 2005. Vadehra Art Gallery © Arpita Singh. Image cropped from original due to formatting restrictions.

Culture

Mid-Century Modern Designers

Style and aesthetics that transcended generations

Eighty years after it was first identified as a movement, our fascination with mid-century modern design (MCM) is stronger than ever before. Phaidon’s Mid-Century Modern Designers brings together the philosophy of the movement that made design a real profession, as well as the work of its most significant representatives. MCM prioritised function over ornament, emphasising accessible, thoughtfully crafted products that improved everyday life, it was a period when design as a profession came into its own.

Attractive, versatile and with a staying power; the designs of this period are good for small spaces (which makes sense in today’s increasingly urban population), the shapes are classic, and the styles go with almost everything. This suggests that mid-century design is less a “style” or “era” of design as it is a byword for “design” itself, as opposed to spaces and products that were not “designed” at all.” So, at a time when we are celebrating the launch of Corbet’s epic film, The Brutalist, this fascinating book by Dominic Bradley for the MCM enthusiast or inquisitive, seems timely.

Walter Dorwin Teague, Boeing 707, interior design, 1956. © Teague (page 304).

Paying tribute to the design pioneers who helped to shape the mid-century aesthetic inside properties, Mid-Century Modern Designers focuses on the products and people behind iconic creations of that era that have become household staples for modern lifestyles, from the furniture that seduces with its ergonomic character, to the textiles that draw us in with their colourful and joyful patterns and the fascinating sculptured glassware and ceramics. The book also includes innovative consumer goods from this extraordinary creative period, which still resonate, making it a terrific starting point for further exploration and a coffee table pleasure.

Mid-Century Modern Designers highlights the importance of the global reach of the mid-century modern movement and regional design, showcasing contributions from Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Europe, Scandinavia, and North America.

Featuring the work of visionaries such as Alvar Aalto, Lina Bo Bardi, Lucienne Day, Tony Duquette, Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Carlo Mollino, Charlotte Perriand, Lucie Rie, and Sori Yanagi, as well as many lesser-known heroes of the movement; Mid-Century Modern Designers is an expansive compendium providing a visual A-Z journey and a tribute to the international impact of this transformative design era.

Left, Ricardo Fasanello, Esfera Lounge Chair, 1968. © Atelier Tamowski Fasanello (page 109). Right, Mona Morales-Schildt, Ventana Vessel, 1950s. © Fiskars Finland Oy Ab. Photo Bukowskis Auctions (page 216).

Bradley introduces the book by saying, “One of the most striking aspects of mid-century modern design is how current it feels today.” He rightly outlines the importance of the opportunities this era afforded, when the demands and desires of consumers globally encouraged the rapid evolution of the design industry and how many of our modern patterns of living were pioneered in the postwar period, providing the foundations for twenty-first century lifestyles. I think it will be a long time before we see another style that has the ubiquity and staying power of mid-century modern and this beautifully, thoughtful book is an excellent homage to the era.

Mid-Century Modern Designers
by Dominic Bradley
Published by Phaidon
Hardback £69.95.
Available from 10th April.

Dominic Bradley is a writer and freelance journalist specialising in architecture and design. He has written many books including, Atlas of Interior Design, The Fife Arms, the Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces, and the Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses. He also contributes to many newspapers and magazines in the UK, US, and internationally.

Author: Linda Hunting

Lead image: Arne Jacobsen, SAS Royal Hotel including the Egg Chair, 1966. © Paul Warchol (pages 158-159).

Culture

The House of Wonders

Audemars Pigues launches its 150th anniversary tour at its museum in Switzerland

If you harbour enough interest in horology to be absorbing these words but have never made the pilgrimage to the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, now is the time to hike it to the top of your bucket list. To mark the occasion of its 150^thanniversary, the brand is launching a new exhibition titled The House of Wonders, which will seriously enhance your visit.

For five years now, the story of how a manufacture founded by childhood friends Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet became one of horology’s Holy Trinity (alongside Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin), and the most decorated by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, has been brought to life by tours of this sublime, spiral-shaped architectural marvel – which nestles next to the brand’s original workshop in Le Brassus, and was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

Outside of the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Switzerland.

The spiral-shaped Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet reminiscing of a watch spring

The traditional tour involves a clockwise jaunt around the building, as if following the contours of a giant watch spring. At the centre of the spiral sits the Universelle: Audemars Piguet’s most complicated watch (think split-second chronograph, jumping seconds and deadbeat seconds, grande strike, minute repeater, alarm, perpetual calendar), which was made in 1899. As well as examining, close-up, tantalising pieces from the manufacture’s history, visitors can also see artisans engaged in satin brushing, circular graining and other artisanal activities associated with the brand.

The House of Wonders exhibition comprises seven stages in which visitors can learn in detail about not only the greatest watches in the history of Audemars Piguet, but also the men and women who made them possible.

The House of Wonders – an exhibition, running until 2026 – will further enrich that narrative over seven stages, embellishing the story with even richer detail about the men and women who have literally made Audemars Piguet tick over the years. There will also be masterclasses for children and adults, which enable participants to try their hand at movement and case assemblage as well as the decorative techniques which grace the likes of the Royal Oak, and an installation inspired by astronomy as well as horlogerie. Adapted versions of The House of Wonders will visit Shanghai in May and Dubai in November.

Also part of the 150^th Anniversary celebrations are new novelties including exciting new Grande Sonnerie iterations of Code 11.59, new ceramic variants of the Royal Oak Offshore, and – naturally – a special edition Royal Oak: Gerald Genta’s stainless steel masterpiece, as if horolophiles need informing, which laid waste to the tenets of watch design when it was introduced in 1972.

Author: Nick Scott

Culture

Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention

A homage to the past and future of artisanal watchmaking

Beautifully written and sumptuously illustrated, Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention is a book not only for fans of the brand, but for anyone who ever felt any curiosity about watches. In early 1992, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey met at Renaud et Papi, a hothouse of new watchmaking ideas in Le Locle, amidst the beauty of the Swiss Jura Mountains. They teamed up and launched the firm in 2004. From the very beginning, Greubel Forsey distinguished itself for many inventions that have advanced watchmaking expertise in this century.

Refusing to accept that everything had already been done in horology – and going against the grain – from their first watch – the 30-degree Double Tourbillon – Greubel Forsey focused on invention and innovation, testing the limits of mechanical advances in their Experimental Watch Technology (EWT) workshop, as well as bringing back the kind of hand finishing not seen since the 18th- and 19th-century.

Founder Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey in the early ages of their horological adventure.

The book was commissioned to celebrate their two decades of pioneering excellence. The Art of Invention has been authored by renowned expert Michael Clerizo, with co-founders Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey’s cooperation, along with other prominent individuals involved in the firm’s development. The volume offers an in-depth exploration of the philosophy and artistry behind each of the 30 new calibres developed since its foundation.

Reading the book, it becomes apparent that Greubel Forsey, like most research-orientated companies (even those in Silicon Valley), is not a firm or a brand, but an adventure, one that started not in a garage, but in a reconditioned stable block in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a rural area in Switzerland known for its appeal to watchmakers. Success was such that the firm expanded rapidly, and the book covers the commissioning of a purpose-built atelier which incorporated an 18th-century farmhouse, against the bucolic backdrop of the Jura Mountains.

The attention to detail in the book mirrors that found in Greubel Forsey watches. The cover sleeve is decorated in the same manner as plates within the firm’s creations.

Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention is divided up into a broadly chronological narrative by key events and the timepieces that helped develop the company. “Timepieces 1” is the section that explores the early days, the watches that were first created, up to the building of their current dedicated workshop. The next set of watches in “Timepieces 2” records the growth of the firm up to their winning entry into the 2011 Concours International de Chronométrie. The competition was a watershed moment as it vindicated the use of the young company’s approach to chronometric improvements and the accuracy of the 30-degree Double Tourbillon (their first fundamental invention). Finally, in “Timepieces 3” the book covers the development of the sport line, the Art pieces, as well as the future in terms of the nano mechanics that the firm is now working on.

It clearly comes across from the narrative and the detailed images of the watches the care and commitment that Greubel Forsey imparts to the creation of complex timepieces, such as the Grande Sonnerie or the Hand Made 1, which came to life through countless hours of meticulous craftsmanship, blending modern innovations with artisanal skills. The detailed macro images of the movements allow the reader to view the intricacies and traditional finishing techniques in close detail.

Detailed image of the movement to 30-degree Double Tourbillon showing different finishing to the components within the watch.

The book is far more than a photo catalogue. Through ad-hoc interviews, Clerizo’s story telling captures the dedication of the firm’s artisans and engineers, highlighting their commitment to hand-finishing and the inventive concepts emerging from the EWT research platform. This is a homage not only to the passion at the heart of all who work at Greubel Forsey but also to the founders’ knowledge and appreciation of horological history that manifests itself into their creations.

Even if you have only a passing interest in watches, The Art of Invention is a must-read. You will learn not just about Greubel Forsey, but also what it means to reinvent traditional watchmaking in the 21st century, through the thoughts and practices of two of this century’s most inventive watchmakers.

Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention by Michael Clerizo is available through Thames & Hudson and Amazon.

Author: Dr Andrew Hildreth

Learn more about the unique world of Greubel Forsey through some of its watches, such as the ground-breaking Hand Made 1, Hand Made 2, and Nano Foudroyante EWT Chronograph.

Culture

Anselm Kiefer: Early Works

The struggle to overcome the past

The philosopher George Santayana famously wrote that that, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it”. Anselm Kiefer: Early Works is a new landmark exhibition of the work of the German painter and sculptor, which sketches a portrait of an artist determined not to forget the past.

Marking his 80^th birthday, the exhibition, Anselm Kiefer: Early Works, at the Ashmolean Museum, traces Kiefer’s constant dialogue with history, conflict, mythology and the human condition. In his work – which is renowned for monumental paintings and installations – the artist scrutinises the contradictions of German identity, the burden of history and the wounds inflicted by war.

Engaged in a relentless, confrontational debate with his country’s Nazi past, Kiefer’s oeuvre can be interpreted as a prime example of the uniquely German concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (the struggle to overcome the past.) The Leitmotiv in the work of this titanic figure in post-war German art includes sunflowers and shattered landscapes, which have a profound resonance in his nation’s history.

Kiefer’s techniques and materials – which include straw, lead, concrete, fire and ash – are also highly significant, as his work ceaselessly evolves through its interaction with nature.

Left, Anselm Kiefer, Untitled, 1974. Courtesy of the Hall Art Foundation. © Anselm Kiefer / Adam Reich. Right, Anselm Kiefer, The Adige, early 1970s. Courtesy of the Hall Art Foundation. © Anselm Kiefer / Mark-Woods.com.

The exhibition features 45 early works produced during the period 1969-82, including paintings, watercolours, books, photos and woodcuts scarcely seen in the UK before. Look out for such compelling works as Die Etsch (The Adige), an early-1970s piece created with watercolour, gouache and ink on paper.

Anselm Kiefer: Early Works also showcases three new paintings from the artist’s own collection, selected by him especially for the Ashmolean exhibition, which has been arranged in partnership with the Hall Art Foundation.

According to Dr Xa Sturgis CBE, Director of the Ashmolean: “Throughout his career, Anselm Kiefer has pushed the boundaries of what is possible in art, challenging what art can and should do in response to the world around us. This exhibition takes us back to Kiefer’s origins and aims to offer a new understanding of his long and distinguished career.”

This major exhibition reminds us that great art is not just there to comfort; it is also there to challenge.

Author: James Rampton

Anselm Kiefer: Early Works
14 February – 15 June 2025
The Ashmolean Museum
University of Oxford. Beaumont St, Oxford, OX1 2PH
More information and tickets, HERE.

Lead image: Till Brönner, Anselm Kiefer, 2023 (image cropped from the original due to formatting restrictions).

Culture

The Oskar Reinhart Collection

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces at The Courtauld Gallery

The Courtauld Gallery, located in the historic Somerset House, houses one of the UK’s greatest art collections. It is particularly known for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, as well as being at the forefront of the study of art and will now showcase a rich array of highlights from the Oskar Reinhart Collection for the first time outside of Switzerland.

Oskar Reinhart (1885-1965) the son of a dynasty of traders fulfilled his passion aged thirty-nine to become a full-time art collector. At his villa, Am Römerholz, in Winterthur, just outside of Zurich, his collection would become one of the most remarkable of its kind featuring over 200 paintings ranging from superlative Old Masters to an exceptional group of Impressionist paintings. The collection was assembled in the first half of the 20^th century and features some of the greatest Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, as well as major paintings by artists who preceded the Impressionists.

From Goya To Impressionism showcases twenty-five works presented across two rooms. The exhibition opens with a selection of major paintings by artists such as Francisco Goya, Still Life with Three Salmon Steaks, c. 1808-12and Gericault’s moving A Man Suffering from Delusions of Military Rank, c. 1819-22. the heart of the show is an exceptional display of some of the greatest paintings of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism from artists such as: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Lily and Greenhouse Plants, 1864; Edouard Manet, Au café, 1878; Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Faience Jug and Fruit, c. 1900; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Clown Cha-U-Kao, 1895; and Claude Monet, The Break up of Ice on the Seine, 1880-81. A highlight of the exhibition is the pair of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, A Ward in the Hospital at Arles, 1889 and The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles, 1889, illustrating where he had been a patient following an earlier mental breakdown and the mutilation of his ear. This is the first time the two paintings are presented together.

From the left: Vincent van Gogh, The Courtyard of the Hospital in Arles, 1889 and
Vincent van Gogh, A Ward in the Hospital at Arles, 1889. Images: The Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz”, Winterthur.

The much talked about Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, 1901 by Pablo Picasso during his early Blue Period depicts the eponymously named sculptor, a friend of the young Picasso at the time, is also said to reveal another figure beneath the surface providing further insight into the process of the painter’s work during this pivotal time in his life. A stand-out for me is Gustave Courbet’s, The Wave, 1870. Painted at Etretat on the Normandy coast, his ability to convey the vast expanse of stormy sky and sea with waves breaking on the shore is both moody signifying violence and destruction, but also creation and renewal.

Reinhart was a direct contemporary of Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and they shared similar tastes in artists. The Reinhart Collection’s close affinities with that of the Courtauld Gallery’s permanent collection, therefore, provides the perfect context to stage this unique collaboration, unprecedented cultural exchange, and remarkable exhibition, bringing together two prestigious collections for a unique celebration of European art. Not to be missed.

Goya to Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection
14th February -26th May 2025
The Courtauld Gallery
Somerset House, Strand
London WC2R ORN
www.courtauld.ac.uk

Author: Linda Hunting

Leading image: Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Faience Jug and Fruit, c. 1900. Image: The Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz”, Winterthur.

Culture

Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo

The hidden talent of France’s greatest novelist

Immortalising a Century

Iconic moments from Leica’s most celebrated photographers

Angelina Jolie

“I’m going to be eccentric when I get older”

The BMW Art Car World Tour

Motoring through 50 years of art history

Liaigre: 12 Projects

The elegance of simplicity

Liaigre: 12 Projects
by Flammarion
360 pages. Hardcover.
From Browns Books at £60.
At other retailers, prices may vary.

Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350

When drama was introduced into art

Arpita Singh: Remembering

Memory, Womanhood, and the Art of Resilience

Mid-Century Modern Designers

Style and aesthetics that transcended generations

Mid-Century Modern Designers
by Dominic Bradley
Published by Phaidon

Hardback £69.95.

Available from 10th April.

The House of Wonders

Audemars Pigues launches its 150th anniversary tour at its museum in Switzerland

Greubel Forsey: The Art of Invention

A homage to the past and future of artisanal watchmaking

The attention to detail in the book mirrors that found in Greubel Forsey watches. The cover sleeve is decorated in the same manner as plates within the firm’s creations.

Anselm Kiefer: Early Works

The struggle to overcome the past

The Oskar Reinhart Collection

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces at The Courtauld Gallery

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Culture

The hidden talent of France’s greatest novelist

Iconic moments from Leica’s most celebrated photographers

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Motoring through 50 years of art history

The elegance of simplicity

Liaigre: 12 Projects by Flammarion 360 pages. Hardcover. From Browns Books at £60. At other retailers, prices may vary.

When drama was introduced into art

Memory, Womanhood, and the Art of Resilience

Style and aesthetics that transcended generations

Mid-Century Modern Designers by Dominic Bradley Published by Phaidon

Hardback £69.95.

Available from 10th April.

Audemars Pigues launches its 150th anniversary tour at its museum in Switzerland

A homage to the past and future of artisanal watchmaking

The attention to detail in the book mirrors that found in Greubel Forsey watches. The cover sleeve is decorated in the same manner as plates within the firm’s creations.

The struggle to overcome the past

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces at The Courtauld Gallery

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Liaigre: 12 Projects
by Flammarion
360 pages. Hardcover.
From Browns Books at £60.
At other retailers, prices may vary.

Mid-Century Modern Designers
by Dominic Bradley
Published by Phaidon