LUCIEN COUTAUD
Dreamlike paintings, exploring the subconscious in beautifully rendered, immaculate detail; Lucien Coutaud had all of the trappings of surrealism and yet never identified with the group. As a young man in 1920s Paris, he found himself at the heart of a the avant-garde, forging friendships with Surrealist founder Andre Breton, fellow artist Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, and Max Ernst, and writers Paul Eluard and Jean-Paul Satre. Were it not for his constant refusal of the label, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that Coutaud was as much as surrealist as Dali or Magritte. Instead, he called his style ‘Eroticomagie’, translating simply as Erotic Magic. This is a fitting description, for in almost all of his paintings there exists an underlying sensuality. Dreamlike, fairy-tale lands and impossible worlds have this strange duality when pictured with Coutaud’s brush - a sombreness pervades atop a sexually charged energy. Inspired, perhaps, by the fledgling psychoanalytical movement, his paintings seem to marry the two human drives of sex and death in soft blues and beautiful greys.
ROBERT BRACKMAN
Regarded in his time as a master of portraiture and one of the finest art teachers in the country, Robert Brackman was a quintessential working artist. Technically gifted, good natured, and able to render not just the physical attributes of subjects but capture something of their essence, he was well liked and regarded within the artistic community and beyond, painting portraits of notable figures from John Rockefeller to Charles Lindbergh, receiving commissions from the State Department and the military, and creating large scale paintings for the burgeoning Hollywood film industry. Yet for all his skill, Brackman lacked a clear and cohesive point of view in his art that would have allowed him to make a name outside the circle of contemporaries and clients he found himself in. Expertly and elegantly combining classicism with the more academic painting styles of the day, his work is exquisitely composed and dedicated rendered, covering not just portraiture but still life and landscape as well. Yet it pushes few boundaries, and instead feels concerned with aesthetics above all else; Brackman’s training and skill removed novelty from his work which was, in many ways, his downfall.
EDOUARD VUILLARD
An artwork about looking at art, and encouraging us to value that experience. Painted from a low vantage point, Vuillard puts us directly in the gallery and at eye level with the other patrons. The painting is unusually matte, thanks to a specially formulated distemper and an unvarnished canvas. All of this contributes to a sense of accessibility, removing the museum from he pedestal and instead inviting us in to a place that feels welcoming and un-intimidating. Painted in the wake of the First World War, the work serves as an ode to museums, to the importance of and necessity for a space to engage with the past so as to remind us of our humanity. One of four works painted of Vuillard’s favourite galleries at The Louvre in Paris, each in its own way speaks to the simple, revolutionary act of looking at art, and the importance of preservation and engagement in a time of destruction.
2h 20m
4.2.25
In this clip, Rick speaks with Aravind Srinivas about how the internet inspired his creativity.
<iframe width="100%" height="75" src="https://clyp.it/wjo5m4sj/widget?token=b6e983d982b885691d136ff157bbb3b4" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<div style="padding:75% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1061815840?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="Personal Legacies- Materiality and Abstraction clip 3"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
George Orwell April 1, 2025
Before the swallow, before the daffodil, and not much later than the snowdrop, the common toad salutes the coming of spring after his own fashion, which is to emerge from a hole in the ground, where he has lain buried since the previous autumn, and crawl as rapidly as possible towards the nearest suitable patch of water…
<div style="padding:75% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1066210635?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="Erich Fromm on Productiveness Destructiveness and Authoritarianism 1963"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
Wednesday 2nd April
As the Moon settles deeper into the constellation of Taurus, its earthy influence provides the perfect conditions for completing the preparation of vegetable beds. Taurus, associated with stability and nourishment, supports the work of turning over soil, adding compost, and refining planting spaces in readiness for the growing season. However, while the beds may soon be ready, the ideal time for transplanting has yet to come. The Moon remains in its ascending phase, drawing energy upwards, favouring leafy growth rather than strong root establishment. Patience is key—when the Moon begins its descent in the coming days, it will create the optimal conditions for transplanting, allowing young plants to root deeply and thrive.