Although in times of financial stringency cuts score into every aspect of daily life, the arts are an especially vulnerable target because they are often perceived as being of no use. They are the decoration of life, sources of pleasure and entertainment lightly attached to the hard surface of daily realities. They are not easy to defend in the face of the imperatives of Education, Health, Welfare, Transport etc, all of which have universal, practical visibility. Governments often only attend to the arts if they can be factored into plans for the regeneration of particular areas or harnessed to broader educational needs.
Wedged between two lamps, a corpulent and sweaty Orson Welles addresses Marlene Dietrich (the rather unlikely madam of a brothel) in Patrick Caulfield’s favourite film Touch of Evil. These lamps are not illuminating anything; the light source is low, frontal, throwing strong shadows, and the contrast between bright and dark areas of the set obscures parts of the scene. This is classic use of film noir ‘key lighting’ – a recognised lighting style wherein the key light (the frontal illumination) is much more intense than the fill light, creating artificially strong shadows. Key lighting was also used by Alfred Hitchcock, another Caulfield favourite, who employed wall or table lamps in many of his films, not as direct light sources but as dumb protagonists witnessing an interior drama. Caulfield’s love of film noir and his understanding of this use of contemporary chiaroscuro underpinned much of the sophisticated picture-making that was to inform and drive his later work.
Publication of ‘The risen Christ’, a previously unknown work by Titian.
Discusses the restoration and reassessment of a work now attributed to Titian.
Newly identifies a work at the Escorial to Guido Reni and explores its provenance.
A recently discovered portrait by Ribera is identified as that of the Count of Monterrey, a great admirer of Ribera’s work.
Discusses the various versions of David’s portrait of the emperor, including a previously unknown example.
Presents this new acquisition and discusses its pendant and versions.
Reveals a landscape near Arles painted in 1888.