ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS FLESH TONES

One of the best, if not the best exhibition in London this summer, is 'Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting', a retrospective of English artist Jenny Saville's work, at the National Portrait Gallery. It is phenomenal.

Artists & illustrators magazine commissioned a 6-page feature. It's in the August 2025 issue, out now, pp.38-43.

On carousel: - opening double-page spread in Artists & Illustrators, pp.38-39, image copyright A&I. 

Artists & Illustrators :: Home - Artists & Illustrators

National Portrait Gallery link

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting - National Portrait Gallery

THE NEW WORLD TWICE IN A LIFETIME

Two artists, the Norwegian painter Anna-Eva Bergman and Leipzig-born Hans Hartung, fell in love, married, parted, married other people, divorced them and remarried each other. During years together and apart, they created phenomenal art. An exhibition at Prague's Kunsthalle 'Anna-Eva Bergman & Hans Hartung: And We'll Never Be Parted', explores their extraodinary lives and art (until 13 October 2025). Read about them in The New World, July 3 2025, issue 442, pp.30-31.

https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rosalind-ormiston-anna-eva-bergman-and-hans-hartung-the-two-quiet-giants-of-the-art-world/

on carousel:

1) Alain Cinquini   Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman, Antibes, 1985   Gelatin silver print   17.3 × 23.3 cm   Alain Cinquini © OOA-S 2025 

2) The New World, July 3, 2025, issue 442, pp.30-31. © The New World, 2025.

THE NEW EUROPEAN THE BIRTH OF ART DECO

2025 is the centenary year the celebrates the birth of Art Deco in Paris in 1925. At the Musée des Arts Decoratif in Paris, three exhibitons this year explore the beginnings of Art Deco and the International 6-month exposition that was held in Paris from April-October 1925. You can read about it in The New European, issue 436 (May 22, 2025) pp.37-39 'Art Deco's lion of luxury' focussing first on the French interior designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann who dominated the expo. 

Art Deco’s lion of luxury - The New European

On carousel:

Extract from The New European, issue 436, 22 May 2025, p.37. Image © The New European 2025

THE ARBUTURIAN  IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RUBENS

Last month I visited Antwerp, to see the house and garden of the Flemish painter and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). The house is under restoration but the garden is now open to visit. It must be the most beautiful outdoor enclosed space in Antwerp. Rubens loved his family, his garden and Roman antiquity, and all feature in a painting by him, walking with his wife Helena and son Nicholas, in their garden at Rubenhuis, Antwerp c. 1630-1631. See carousel and read about this fabulous place in The Arbuturian.

In the Footsteps of Rubens | The Arbuturian

Further information:  Welcome to Rubenshuis | Rubenshuis | Rubenshuis

On carousel: Peter Paul Rubens, Helena Forment and their Son Nicholas Walking in their Garden (The Walk in the Garden), c 1630-31, image copyright Bayerrische Staatsgemaldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek, Munich, and Rubenhuis, Antwerp.

Rubens Garden (detail) photo copyright Ans Brys (courtesy of Rubenhuis, Antwerp)

THE ARBUTURIAN     HIROSHIGE: ARTIST OF THE OPEN ROAD

A stunning exhibition Hiroshige: artist of the open road, at the British Museum, London (until 7 September 2025) focuses on the paintings, books, prints and sketches of Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). 

Read a review here in The Arbuturian. www.arbuturian.com 

Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road | The Arbuturian

on carousel: Cherry Blossoms on a Moonless Night along the Sumida River, 1847-8 © Alan Medaugh. Photography by Ryoko Matsuba