Illuminated faces gather around a variety of objects – from classical sculptures and scientific instruments to bones, bladders and animals. Through his unflinching scenes of people watching, Wright of Derby proposes moral questions about acts of looking. The strong light and deep shadows create drama, reminding us of great painters from earlier centuries like Caravaggio.
Challenging the traditionally held view of Wright of Derby as a figurehead of the Enlightenment, this exhibition contributes to the ongoing re-evaluation of the artist, portraying him not merely as a ‘painter of light’. More than virtuoso scenes of dramatic light and shade, Wright of Derby used the night-time to explore deeper and more sombre themes, including death, melancholy, morality, scepticism and the sublime.
Bendor Grosvenor, who wrote about Wright of Derby in The Invention of British Art (see my review here), has, in an interesting review, challenged some of the curator's assertions. In The Invention of British Art he writes that the essential point to grasp about Wright of Derby's work is that 'pictures like the Orrery, the Air Pump, and The Blacksmith's Shop were not precursors to our modern, scientific and secular world but a reflection of Wright's scientific but still deeply religious world.'
Also at the National Gallery is 'Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse'. In the 1750s, Stubbs spent 18 months in a remote barn in Horkstow, Lincolnshire. Hidden away, he devoted his time to studying and drawing the anatomy of horses. What resulted was the most thorough study on the subject for over a hundred years.
Incredibly, Stubbs’s pictures of horses are still some of the most accurate ever painted, all while capturing their unique characters.
In this exhibition, you’ll meet one of these horses, Scrub. Painted by Stubbs around 1762, we see Scrub rearing in a landscape backdrop — notably without a rider. In a nearby room is another monumental horse painting by Stubbs, this time of Scrub’s now famous contemporary, ‘Whistlejacket’. Painted around the same time, these are two of the first life-size portraits to depict horses without a human presence in British history. The paintings changed the spirit of equine art forever.
Grosvenor is again well worth reading on Stubbs suggesting he 'has been so identified with sporting art that his role in the development of British landscape painting has been overlooked.'
Blake’s world was one of fantasy, imagination, and the ancient past, filled with fantastical creatures and visions of the underworld, expressed through a wide variety of media. By placing him in context - among the artists he admired and those he inspired - the exhibition offers insight into an era of extraordinary originality and innovation in late-eighteenth and early nineteenth-century art. Featuring over 100 works, including by James Barry (1741–1806), Henry Fuseli (1741–1825), John Hamilton Mortimer (1740–1779), Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827), and J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851), the show explores how artists responded to a time of revolution and transformation, pushing the boundaries of their art into new imaginative territories.
The final exhibition I visited in the past week was 'Samurai' at the British Museum. The samurai is an iconic figure, evoking images of formidable fighters possessing ideals of courage, honour and self-sacrifice. Yet much of what we think we know about samurai is invented tradition.
Our concept of samurai today has its origins in medieval reality. A distinct warrior class – known in Japan as bushi – emerged and gained political dominance from the 1100s. But during a prolonged period of peace, beginning in 1615, the samurai moved away from the battlefield to become an elite social class that also included women. Samurai men formed the government, serving as ministers and bureaucrats. Many became leaders in scholarship and the arts, as patrons, poets and painters, in a world where intellectual pursuits were just as important as swordsmanship.
By the late 19th century, the hereditary status of samurai had been abolished and their supposed chivalric values developed into the myth of bushido, or 'the way of the warrior'. This new code, promoting values of patriotism and self-sacrifice, was harnessed during Japan's period of colonial expansion and military aggression. The modern mythology of the 'samurai' emerged gradually across the 20th century through interactions between Japan and the wider world, with idealised images of the historical warriors increasingly consumed by foreign visitors.
The story of the evolution of the samurai is told through battle gear such as the suit of armour sent by Tokugawa Hidetada to James VI and I, as well as luxury objects such as an intriguing incense connoisseurship game. From a Louis Vuitton outfit inspired by Japanese armour, to the popular, loosely historical videogame 'Assassin's Creed: Shadows', the exhibition explores the samurai's enduring legacy in games, fashion and film.
Our concept of samurai today has its origins in medieval reality. A distinct warrior class – known in Japan as bushi – emerged and gained political dominance from the 1100s. But during a prolonged period of peace, beginning in 1615, the samurai moved away from the battlefield to become an elite social class that also included women. Samurai men formed the government, serving as ministers and bureaucrats. Many became leaders in scholarship and the arts, as patrons, poets and painters, in a world where intellectual pursuits were just as important as swordsmanship.
By the late 19th century, the hereditary status of samurai had been abolished and their supposed chivalric values developed into the myth of bushido, or 'the way of the warrior'. This new code, promoting values of patriotism and self-sacrifice, was harnessed during Japan's period of colonial expansion and military aggression. The modern mythology of the 'samurai' emerged gradually across the 20th century through interactions between Japan and the wider world, with idealised images of the historical warriors increasingly consumed by foreign visitors.
The story of the evolution of the samurai is told through battle gear such as the suit of armour sent by Tokugawa Hidetada to James VI and I, as well as luxury objects such as an intriguing incense connoisseurship game. From a Louis Vuitton outfit inspired by Japanese armour, to the popular, loosely historical videogame 'Assassin's Creed: Shadows', the exhibition explores the samurai's enduring legacy in games, fashion and film.
In 17th-century Japan, a diplomatic mission sets sail for the West. Among those facing the combined perils of the sea and foreign courts are ambitious Spanish missionary Pedro Velasco, and Hasekura Rokuemon, a disregarded samurai determined to recover his family’s standing. They travel to Mexico City, Rome and back – but Japan’s new rulers are persecuting Christians, and if the men survive the journey, they may not survive their homecoming. This true story of courage and endurance is told with Endo’s signature power and simplicity.
Endo was one of the greatest novelists of postwar Japan. Baptised as a Roman Catholic as a child, his work explores the relationship between East and West from his unique perspective as a Japanese Christian. Endo won the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Literary Prize, was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, and received an Order of the Culture from the Japanese government. Among his other novels are 'Deep River', 'The Sea and Poison', and his masterpiece 'Silence'.
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