Beyond the Canvas

An art blog with opinions

Spring in art part 8: the day van Gogh comes to Fulham

Beyond the Canvas

Apr 5, 2020
1 min

Spring in art part 8: the day van Gogh comes to Fulham

Today is the most awaited day of my year. The hopeful and feverish monitoring of the evolution of the buds on my beloved pear tree culminates and ends on the day I wake up to find buds have turned into flowers. That day is today. White, fragile, ephemeral, beautiful and moving, trembling in the breeze against the clear blue sky. Today I’m feeling a little bit like Vincent in Arles. I also choose to live this day in contemplation and in awe of nature. This yearly gift is immen

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Spring in art part 7: Steichen does a van Gogh

Beyond the Canvas

Apr 2, 2020
1 min

Spring in art part 7: Steichen does a van Gogh

Luxembourg-born Edward Steichen is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the Photo-Secession, a movement that promoted the idea that photography was not just about accurately reproducing the world, but also about creating artistic imagery. Steichen and his peers adopted a more 'painterly' approach to photography using filters and soft focus to express their creativity and manipulate their images. Steichen, who had trained

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Spring in art part 5: van Gogh's Japanese connection

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 29, 2020
2 min

Spring in art part 5: van Gogh's Japanese connection

There is something particularly poignant about this painting. Maybe because van Gogh created this resplendent vision of spring mere months before he decided to take his own life. A gift to his beloved brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo for birth of their son Vincent Willem, the founder of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Almond Blossom is a joyful celebration of the awakening of nature and the arrival of new life. The Dutch artist had moved to Arles in the south of France in

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Spring in art part 4: Magritte's mysterious encounters

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 28, 2020
2 min

Spring in art part 4: Magritte's mysterious encounters

One of the undisputed masters of Surrealism, Belgian René Magritte had a unique artistic perspective on life and nature. In his view "to be surrealist is to banish the notion of déjà vu and seek out the not yet seen." The 'not yet seen' in his paintings comes in the shape of everyday objects that he liked to twist and recontextualise in order to suggest new, dreamlike scenarios. Magritte's imagery is perhaps the most appealing and accessible of the Surrealist movement. His no

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Spring in art part 3: Monet's wonderful floral obsession

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 26, 2020
1 min

Spring in art part 3: Monet's wonderful floral obsession

No celebration of the beauty of nature in Spring can be complete without dedicating one post to Claude Monet. Luckily for us, the Impressionist master's love for the representation of flowers and gardens in bloom knew no bounds. So much so, that he is quoted to have said that flowers were the reason he became a painter in the first place. This is an early Monet, he was only 24 when he produced this stunning picture. It's a lush cascade of lilacs, tulips, peonies, geraniums an

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Spring in art part 2: One lilac does make the spring.

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 25, 2020
1 min

Spring in art part 2: One lilac does make the spring.

Expect to see plenty of Russian art on here for it is one major passion of mine. Places like the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow are where every day more I long to go back and lose myself until those rather stern-looking museum supervisors unceremoniously inform me that it's closing time. All in due course. Until that day comes, let's feast our eyes on this stunning piece by Russian-Soviet symbolist painter Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. Although the artist is mostly known for his iconic

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Spring in art part 1: David Hockney

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 24, 2020
2 min

Spring in art part 1: David Hockney

David Hockney is the celebrated doyen of British 60s pop art. The reason I chose this painting to kick off a short series of posts on Spring in art is because I liked the candor of what he said about it: "In this painting I wanted the sensation of very early spring, when the first leaves come out. They begin at the very bottom of the trees, and you don't see very much of the branches. They seemed to float. I loved that idea and that's what this painting is about. This was my

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Good news: Spring is here!

Beyond the Canvas

Mar 23, 2020
1 min

Good news: Spring is here!

I have this inexplicably difficult relationship with exclamation marks, which I find offensive and mostly unnecessary. But the arrival of Spring has to be my favourite event in the year and, as such, it's okay to shout about it. So yes folks, Spring is here! Except I was so busy being worried and poring over the news that I almost missed it. Amid the global pandemic doom and gloom, 82-year old British artist David Hockney sends us a much-needed message of hope and positivity

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