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Articles

Simon Wilson

William Hogarth, The Humours of an Election, II: Canvassing for Votes

Artists

5 months ago

Reflecting on Hogarth’s political prints from Brexit Britain

William Hogarth revelled in the vanity and corruption of London’s rakes and harlots. But his Comic History paintings also draw sobering parallels with Britain’s political climate today, writes Simon Wilson.

Francis Bacon, Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne

Opinion

< 2 years ago

Body of evidence: a fresh look at Freud and Bacon’s early careers

The two figurative artists are at the centre of Tate Britain’s ‘All Too Human’ exhibition, but they haven’t always been so favoured. Here we look back to a time when a young Bacon and Freud were much ignored.

Sandro Botticelli, Pallas and the Centaur (detail)

RA Recommends

< 4 years ago

Botticelli: A touch of the divine

Botticelli was a huge success, then virtually forgotten before his resurrection by the Pre-Raphaelites, reveals Simon Wilson ahead of a lavish V&A show.
Johannes Vermeer, Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, ?or The Music Lesson

Opinion

4 years ago

The pleasure principle: Dutch Golden Age art at the Royal Collection

The Royal Collection’s show of Dutch Golden Age genre painting is not only visually compelling but also delightfully seductive in subject matter, despite moralising intent.
Frank Auerbach, Head of E.O.W II (detail)

Opinion

> 4 years ago

Hard-won images: Frank Auerbach and Alberto Giacometti

The intensely wrought paintings of Frank Auerbach find their match in Giacometti’s sculptures, as two shows reveal, says Simon Wilson.
Installation view of 'Marlene Dumas: The Image as Burden' at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, from 6 Sep 2014 until 4 Jan 2015.

Opinion

> 5 years ago

The mythical women of Marlene Dumas Hon RA

Marlene Dumas Hon RA’s paintings elevate women to mythic status. Here we celebrate the vision of a major artist as her powerful Amsterdam show comes to London.
Egon Schiele, Death and Maiden

Opinion

> 5 years ago

Egon Schiele: The body electric

Although their erotic and existential angst once fell foul of public taste, Egon Schiele’s nudes have stood the test of time, argues Simon Wilson.
Gustav Matzger, Suportive

Opinion

> 5 years ago

Connecting 21st-century installation to 18th-century portrait sculpture in six steps

Simon Wilson investigates the six degrees of separation between Phyllida Barlow RA and Roubiliac’s portrait busts.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Skiff (La Yole)

Opinion

> 5 years ago

Four major exhibitions with colour at their core open this summer

Simon Wilson surveys a slew of shows, in London, Liverpool and Margate, that reveal the changing roles colour has played in art history.
JMW Turner, Nude Girl and a Companion on a Bed

Opinion

> 7 years ago

Review & Comment: Books: ‘Turner’s Secret Sketches’ by Ian Warrell

Did Ruskin burn Turner’s clandestine drawings? Simon Wilson acclaims a revelatory new book on the works that seared the great critic’s soul.