Epic Iran, V&A, From 13th February 2021
After years of delicate diplomatic negotiation and a Covid-induced delay, the UK’s first major exhibition on Iranian art and culture in more than ninety years is scheduled to open at the V&A in February. With loans from the National Museum of Iran, other international lenders and significant private collections, “Epic Iran” will showcase 300 objects created over 5,000 years of Iranian history. Outstanding examples of manuscript illumination, carpet weaving, ceramics and metalwork, complemented by contemporary textiles, photography and film, will reflect a culture born around 3,200 BC and which, for the last 2,500 years, has evolved a distinctive identity, expressed in the Persian language, art and religion.
Francis Bacon: Man and Beast, Royal Academy, 30th Jan—18th April
In his fascination for the animal within us, Francis Bacon was drawn repeatedly to paint real animals—dogs, monkeys, birds of prey and the fierce bulls of the corrida. The Royal Academy has gathered works from across the artist’s fifty-year career to examine how his animal studies shaped his experimental approach to depicting the human body. Caught in the most extreme moments of anguish and emotion, his distorted figures are sometimes barely distinguishable as either human or beast.
Alan Davie: Beginning of a Far-off World, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, 22nd January—6th March 2021
In 2003, Alan Davie (1920-2014) ebullient polymath, artist, jeweller, jazz musician, collaborated with the Dovecot Tapestry Studio to create a series of works, including a tapestry and a tufted rug. This year the studio honours his centenary with an exhibition of works from each decade of his career. Davie believed the artist should have no ego but create from the wellspring of the Jungian collective unconscious. His appetite for travel and deep sympathy for ancient cultures fed his own distinctive, brilliantly coloured oeuvre.
After years of delicate diplomatic negotiation and a Covid-induced delay, the UK’s first major exhibition on Iranian art and culture in more than ninety years is scheduled to open at the V&A in February. With loans from the National Museum of Iran, other international lenders and significant private collections, “Epic Iran” will showcase 300 objects created over 5,000 years of Iranian history. Outstanding examples of manuscript illumination, carpet weaving, ceramics and metalwork, complemented by contemporary textiles, photography and film, will reflect a culture born around 3,200 BC and which, for the last 2,500 years, has evolved a distinctive identity, expressed in the Persian language, art and religion.
Francis Bacon: Man and Beast, Royal Academy, 30th Jan—18th April
In his fascination for the animal within us, Francis Bacon was drawn repeatedly to paint real animals—dogs, monkeys, birds of prey and the fierce bulls of the corrida. The Royal Academy has gathered works from across the artist’s fifty-year career to examine how his animal studies shaped his experimental approach to depicting the human body. Caught in the most extreme moments of anguish and emotion, his distorted figures are sometimes barely distinguishable as either human or beast.
Alan Davie: Beginning of a Far-off World, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, 22nd January—6th March 2021
In 2003, Alan Davie (1920-2014) ebullient polymath, artist, jeweller, jazz musician, collaborated with the Dovecot Tapestry Studio to create a series of works, including a tapestry and a tufted rug. This year the studio honours his centenary with an exhibition of works from each decade of his career. Davie believed the artist should have no ego but create from the wellspring of the Jungian collective unconscious. His appetite for travel and deep sympathy for ancient cultures fed his own distinctive, brilliantly coloured oeuvre.
