Visual Arts
Chairman: Corinne Julius
Hon Secretary: Claire Finn FinnClare@aol.com
The Visual Arts and Architecture section was established in 2007 and is now in its tenth year. We began presenting awards to in 2011 when we gave our highest tribute to the architect David Chipperfield.
News & Reviews
Frank Bowling is the 2018 visual arts winner
This year the Critics' Circle Visual Arts and Architecture Section made two awards, both to individuals who might be said ‘not to have received due recognition earlier in their formidable careers.’ Both have made art in their own inimitable ways. Frank Bowling, to be...
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Preserving Illusions, Clare Finn ACR, visits the Magic Circle (and meets Harvey the Rabbit!)
How do you conserve an entire profession’s history? Looking at the tools, say, a carpenter might leave behind him fails to convey certain achievements even if the work resulted in glorious marquetry or the conservation of a piece by André Charles Boulle. Yet this is...
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Hockney dispels Shadows
On 3rd October 2018, Britain's foremost artist David Hockney received the Critics' Circle award for Distinguished Service to Art. The relaxed ceremony took place over lunch at the Chelsea Arts Club, London, a beautiful venue with access through long french windows...
read moreFinchleystrasse
German refugees from the Nazi terror were so numerous in North London that the Finchley Road became ‘Finchleystrasse!’ to the bus conductors. This is the title of a moving exhibition at the German Embassy of paintings, etchings and graphics by some thirty hugely...
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The Optickal Illusion by Rachel Halliburton
Published by Duckworth Overlook at £16.99, 382 pages There is no question that the most hyped first novel of 2018 is Mrs Hancock and the Mermaid by Imogen Hermes Gowar. While that historical novel is undoubtedly a fine work by a prodigious new talent, a strong case...
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David Hockney wins critics’ circle award
Pooh, the bear that delights young and old
There is an enchanted place in the V&A, a place where wonder is being created. From the moment you even look for information on the website and find your cursor has become a swarm of honey bees, the Victoria & Albert’s Winnie-the-Pooh: exploring a classic is magic. If...
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Kettle’s Yard – modern art starts here
The visual arts centre created in Cambridge by Jim Ede has undergone an £11.3m restoration and expansion. Simon Tait reports. There ought to have been a sign outside Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge saying “Modern Art Starts Here”. The story of this extraordinary place is...
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