Poussin and the Dance: National Gallery, 9th October—2nd January 2022
In a collaboration with the Getty, the National Gallery this autumn promotes a vision of French artist Nicolas Poussin not as cerebral philosopher, but as a painter who relished capturing the human body in motion. It took the young Poussin three attempts to get to Rome. When he arrived in 1624 he plunged enthusiastically into the classical world, studying antique sculptures and bas reliefs as well as the works of artists such as Titian and Raphael. Delighted especially by depictions of bacchanals and dance, he set about recapturing their vivacity, creating wax figurines to model his dancers. Around twenty drawings and paintings will be shown alongside the antiquities that inspired them.
John Nash: The Landscape of Love and Solace, Compton Verney, 23 October—2nd January 2022
John Nash served as a war artist in both world wars. One of his great paintings, Over the Top (1918), depicts British soldiers counter-attacking at Welsh Ridge, Marcoing on 30th December 1917, during the Battle of Cambrai. Only 12, including Nash, survived from 80. In counterbalance, this major exhibition shows also a number of Nash’s intensely poetic landscapes, and some of his botanical illustrations, reflecting his expertise as a gardener—powerful expressions of the solace he found in the English landscape.
Lucy McKenzie: Tate Liverpool, 20th October—13th March 2022
Lucy MacKenzie, born in Glasgow, based in Brussels, is a specialist in trompe l’oeil technique. She creates architecturally scaled paintings or smaller canvases with multiple realistically depicted details. Through these she explores themes as diverse as international sport, the representation of women, gender politics, music subcultures and post-war muralism. As this retrospective makes clear, however, her work also encompasses photography, film, installation and collaboration, including, with fashion and textile designer Beca Lipscombe, on the fashion brand Atelier E.B.
