Beyond the Canvas
An art blog with opinions
 

"I do not pose my sitters. Before painting, when I talk to the person, they unconsciously assume their most characteristic pose, which in...

There are exhibitions that touch you somewhere deep inside. Far from merely delighting you visually, they grab you by the hand and they...

In my mind, a portrait is the depiction of an actual person, someone who has lived. Their portrait was made so their story could be told...

Writing a review of a show the day before it closes is probably nonsensical, not too mention a tad unfair. I must, however, pay tribute...

"I like the idea of thinking of femininity as something solid and enduring rather than always something fragile and weak." - Simone Leigh...

"I hope to stay unemployed as a war photographer till the end of my life." - Robert Capa (1913-1954) Alas, Capa's hopes were destined to...

Eclipsed by Ferrara's and crushed between Venice's and Florence's, Bologna's Renaissance art fails to garner the attention and...

“I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg portrayed myself in appropriate colours aged twenty-eight years”. In painting himself like Christ the...

You know when you're having a conversation with a friend and the following day you read something that exactly echoes your thoughts...

"One of the strongest feelings I have about death is that it's a time when the energy we carry is dispersed and becomes a part of...

If there is an equivalent of Zoom fatigue for art shows, I 100% suffer from it. The ridiculous speed at which I move from one room to the...

Being inside an empty museum at night might well be the ultimate art lover's fantasy. Apart from not having to share the space with herds...

Sometimes the Venice Biennale takes you places you'd never dream of going to. A decision to escape the mad crowds of San Marco and take...

Paula Rego died today. The art world has lost one of the greats. I'm so glad I got to see her some of her work one more time at the...

“That is the archaeology I am unearthing: The spectre of police violence and state control over the bodies of young Black and Brown...

"Good artists copy; great artists steal." - Apocryphal quote The history of modern and contemporary art is littered with instances of...

Current rabbit hole update: scandals and crimes in the art world, of which I am delighted to inform you there is an abundance of. One...

"The whiteness of meringue becomes for me of great poetic preoccupation; it's like snow, like frost ... like ... purity.'' - Wayne...

Whether it’s the first one or the latest of many, a visit to Florence’s Uffizi is bound to leave you breathless. Such are the quality and...

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be...