APOLLO MAGAZINE: The latest issue features Hew Locke and the Empire’s new clothes | Princeton University Art Museum reopens | William Hogarth’s bedside manner | the many faces of Nigerian modernism
Plus: Cinecittà in focus, Wangechi Mutu at the Galleria Borghese, the light touch of Antoine Watteau, Egypt’s new home for antiquities, how polenta caused a stir in Venice, the Aspen art scene continues to snowball, and the revival of London’s art market; in reviews: Amy Sherald’s portraits, King James VI and I’s cultural legacy, and what is a Jewish country house?
The National Gallery (November 8, 2024): The National GalleryEpisode 1 of ‘200 Years of the National Gallery’. Travel back through 200 extraordinary years of our history – from our origins in a private house in Pall Mall to our current home in bustling Trafalgar Square. ‘200 Years of Your National Gallery’ is a three-part documentary miniseries.
Stream for free exclusively on YouTube. Through the eyes of the staff, past and present, who care for the nation’s collection, and with rarely seen and newly digitised archive footage and images, we go exclusively behind-the-scenes to see the role the Gallery plays at the heart of cultural life of the UK.
The National Gallery (March 1, 2024): Is there engineering in art, as well as art in engineering? We look at Turner’s famous depiction of a steam train in ‘Rain, Steam and Speed’ and stormy seas in ‘Dutch Boats in a Gale’ (1801).
Rob Bell from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers gives us an engineer’s take on these two paintings at the National Gallery. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was founded in 1847 and has over 100,000 members around the world.
The Met (January 19, 2024): Join curators Stephan Wolohojian, Adam Eaker, David Pullins, and Anna-Claire Stinebring along with their special guests as they guide you through the newly reopened galleries dedicated to European Paintings from 1300 to 1800.
The reconfigured galleries highlight fresh narratives and dialogues among more than 700 works of art from the Museum’s world-famous holdings, which include recently acquired paintings and prestigious loans, as well as select sculptures and decorative art, showcase the interconnectedness of cultures, materials, and moments across The Met collection.
Christie’s (November 26, 2023) – Rembrandt House Museum Specialist Tim Schmelcher and Head of Collections, Epco Runia, discover more about Rembrandt’s life in Amsterdam, in particular his printmaking.
Then a more detailed look at the Sam Josefowitz Collection of Rembrandt prints – the most comprehensive and impressive in private hands – as we examine some of the highlights of these graphic masterpieces.
On 7 December 2023, Christie’s will be offering a selection of these prints across two sales in London: Old Masters Part I and The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn.
Christie’s (November 23, 2023) – Immerse yourself in a dreamlike vision of Canaletto’s Venice where the floating city of the 1700s appears strikingly unchanged centuries later. Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto (1697-1768), was born and died in Venice.
Did Canaletto paint these paired views of Venice for the Countess of Essex?
Home for most of his life, the city was also the artistic subject that dominated his career. Canaletto helped establish the veduta — or topographical view — as one of the chief genres of Venetian painting in the 18th century, as well as a prime export. A pair of vedute by Canaletto, unknown to scholars until now, will lead the Old Masters Part I sale at Christie’s in London on 7 December 2023, as part of Classic Week.
Coming from a private collection, these masterpieces were painted around 1734, when Canaletto was at the peak of his powers, almost certainly for an English patron.
ERIC MINH SWENSON ART FILM (September 3, 2023) – Jodi Bonassi is a Los Angeles native and a professional artist who for over 3 decades has explored nature and the environment. The works often include animals so the transition to the bird series was a smooth one.
The Museum of Modern Art and HIstory in the MOAH Cedar Annex gave her a solo exhibit “Bird By Bird” in February 2022. The birds have led to many other exhibition opportunities.
“I think of myself as a drawing informed painter. This means that I mainly draw my images beforehand and during the painting process. My desire to contribute to society on a deeper level drives me in the nature series to create narrative stories around my birds. I wish to connect humans to nature and to each other. Even in nature I desire to record history and people and how we all connect to nature. It is important to preserve our wildlife and question the environment that humans create.”