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Sunday, 26 March 2023

Artlyst: Religion and Spirituality in Post Impressionism - National Gallery

My latest review for Artlyst is on 'After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art' at the National Gallery:

"The paintings and sculptures included illustrate the main themes in the development of the visual arts in Europe in this time period: the break with conventional representation of the external world and the forging of non-naturalist visual languages with an emphasis on the materiality of the art object expressed through line, colour, surface, texture and pattern. The move was principally towards simplification of form, patterned surfaces and an increasingly fractured, mosaic-like application of colour, while non-naturalism also alerted the spectator to the new subject matter of art, ideas and emotions.

What is under-appreciated generally, as also within this exhibition, is the extent to which the spirituality of the artists involved played a significant role in bringing about these developments. On the surface, these movements seem to be primarily about the materiality of the art objects themselves, but often below the surface of these developments are a complex of spiritual motivations and understandings ...

After Impressionism includes many of the most influential artworks and artists from this period; as such, it is a must-see blockbuster exhibition which, while highlighting many of the key strands in the story of how modern art was invented, nevertheless continues the critical downplaying of other strands, particularly the influence of religion and spirituality, without which the story of modern art cannot be fully understood."

See also my 'Airbrushed from Art History' series of posts - https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2012/09/airbrushed-from-art-history-update.html.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -
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Posted by Jonathan Evens at 16:29
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