Richard Shone

Sensation is the first definitive survey of work by the younger generation of British artists that has captivated the international art world with its vitality and inventiveness. As a constant and prodigious collector and patron of young British artists, Charles Saatchi has been unique in his commitment to British art as it is now being produced. His support extends far beyond those such as Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread, whose work has acquired wide notoriety, to dozens of others at the cutting edge of the current art scene. Sensation features the work of forty-two of the most exciting and radical artists working in Britain today. Many of them--such as Jenny Saville, Rachel Whiteread, or Jake & Dinos Chapman--are already internationally acclaimed; others are destined to be. The book's original and penetrating essays include the critical context of their work and trace the phenomenon of the British art scene since "Freeze," the 1988 exhibition that is now recognized as a defining moment in the story of British art. Cutting through tabloid headlines, controversial press coverage, and art-world debate, Sensation reveals the achievements of young British artists and the role played by courageous and imaginative patronage.… (mais)

Lord Beaverbrook made his home in New Brunswick and decided he wanted to create an art museum as his legacy. Fredericton's Beaverbrook Gallery is that legacy and of course I visited, when I was living there. They didn't have a museum catalogue, which was disappointing. The nearest I could find was this book, which is limited in scope, as the title suggests.

Beaverbrook was opposed to abstract art and refused to buy any for the proposed gallery, but was otherwise happy to collect work by contemporary artists, hence most of the work here is from the 1st half of the 20th Century.

The book itself has parallel English and French text (a legal requirement) which has been allowed to mar the design; more area is given to explanatory text than to picture reproduction! Text should have been confined to the left pages and the right pages given over entirely to the reproductions. The consequent shortening of the text would do no harm, in my view.… (mais)

Three essays follow the foreword: “The Artists of Bloomsbury: Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant” by Richard Shone; “Image and Theme in Bloomsbury Art” by Richard Morphet; and “Defining Modernism: Roger Fry and Vanessa Bell in the 1920s” by James Beechey. In his essay Richard Shone, Associate Editor of The Burlington Magazine and author of several Art books, challenges previously held views and assumptions regarding the Bloomsbury Group, and reminds us that the tag ‘Bloomsbury’ was not a name they themselves used, nor did they think of themselves as special group as such. He also considers the influence Duncan Grant in particular exerted. Similarly Richard Morphet directly confronts commonly held views and frequent criticisms of the Bloomsbury painters and also considers the aims of the group. James Beechey discusses the roll, positive of otherwise, Vanessa Bell and Roger Fry played in the art world on the 1920s.

Each of the essays makes for most interesting reading, not only for the discussions of the work of the artists, but also for the accounts of the unconventional life stories of the members of the group as a whole. Even by today’s standards their close-knit private lives might raise a few eyebrows.

The main part of the book contains the catalogue of the works in the exhibition. Each work is illustrated in colour, and each is accompanied by a sometimes lengthy commentary. These commentaries themselves make fascinating reading containing as they often do, in addition to a critical appraisal of the work in question, yet more details further embellishing the colourful lives of the artists. In addition to Fry, Bell and Grant, the catalogue includes a few examples of the work of several other of the painters associated with the Bloomsbury Group: Walter Sickert, Max Beerbohm and Henry Lamb among others, and also the work of the Omega Workshops.

The book is superbly illustrated; in addition to the 200 colour plates are a further 70 monochromes, the latter including preliminary sketches, woodcuts and period photographs. Many of the colour plates are full or half page size. The book includes an illustrated chronology for each of the three main artists. The book includes a bibliography and an index.

The Art of Bloomsbury is a sumptuous volume; for me the work of Duncan Grant stands out particularly, it is interesting to see his work change over the years. It is clear too to see the influence of earlier artists in his work, as well as detect where his work either influenced of predicted the work of subsequent artists.

11.75” x 9.25” (29.2 cm x 23.6 cm) 296 pages. ISBN 0691095140 Paperback. ISBN 0691049939. First published 1999, reprinted 2002.… (mais)