Artists
Artists and their watercolours
Long reads that stay with a few pictures and look closely.
Each piece takes a small number of works and asks what is holding them together: the drawing, the light, the edges, the choices about what to leave out. They are written for anyone who enjoys looking, whether or not you paint.
Long reads
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Edmund Dulac: painting the atmosphere of a dream
A white figure walks between polar bears. Bubbles rise from dark water. Dulac gives impossible scenes a precise and persuasive presence.
Edmund Dulac, the Ice-Maiden, from The Dreamer of Dreams, 1915. Printed book illustration. Lowell 4230.53, Houghton Library, Harvard University. Public domain.
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JMW Turner’s watercolours: the structure behind the light
Turner’s watercolours seem to dissolve the world. Look longer, and the decisions holding it together begin to appear.
JMW Turner, The Lake of Zug, 1843. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain.
