Articles
Simon Wilson
Artists
> 1 year 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.
Opinion
< 3 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.
RA Recommends
< 5 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.
Opinion
5 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.
Opinion
> 5 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.
Opinion
6 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.
Opinion
> 6 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.
Opinion
> 6 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.
Opinion
> 6 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.
Opinion
> 8 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.