Tag Archives: TJClark

Bad Art

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Robert Linsley

Going back to the conversation between Christopher Green and T.J.Clark that I mentioned before, one of Clark’s comments bothered me. He said that “hack” artists, bad ones, are certain that they have found the right way to render modernity. In … Continue reading →

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To find

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Robert Linsley

Looking back at Clark’s article on Picasso and Modern British Art, about the Stedelijk still life he says “Picasso’s colouring and cross-hatching are infinitely more nervous and ad hoc than they look from ten feet away.” It’s the ad hocness … Continue reading →

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Picasso

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Robert Linsley

There’s a Picasso show in Toronto right now, which I just saw for the second time. The famous gynomorphic still life, reproduced everywhere, is three to four times bigger than I expected. Big hacking strokes with a wide brush. Now there’s … Continue reading →

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Shaped canvas 7

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Robert Linsley

I’ve been looking at Tiepolo’s curved frames for a  long time, and wanting to use something like that myself, only with an asymmetrical arrangement of curves. I hesitated because I felt that the strong shape would inhibit the Islands. But … Continue reading →

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Scale internal and external

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Robert Linsley

Continuing with T.J.Clark’s recent piece in the LRB, he had some very perceptive things to say about Picasso’s skill at scaling an image to its support. Looking with the eyes of the present, Clark can’t help but see that today … Continue reading →

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Rarely unbounded

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Robert Linsley

T.J.Clark, in a recent review in the LRB, makes the following suggestive comment: “Normal modern art space is unbounded and ungrounded, and once upon a time those qualities may have had some life—some danger—in them. Not any more: the shallows … Continue reading →

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Reductive art history

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Robert Linsley

Today I had a brief conversation with Richard Shiff. We share the view that most art history is quite reductive, that it narrows art to fit abstract theories rather than opening it up to experience. In my opinion, he is … Continue reading →

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Perspectives on Pollock

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Robert Linsley

Last week Shep Steiner sent me his latest piece on Pollock, a chapter of the book he’s working on. As always his work is really great, and it sent me back to Clark, Greenberg and others. I’m grateful to Shep … Continue reading →

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