Tag Archives: Dr Geoff Snell

Part 9: James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

Last week on the Serendipitous Compendium we talked about Pierre Bonnard, painter and lithographer. Bonnard is likely to have been acquainted with Whistler around 1898. His painting has been compared to Whistler's, in its suggestion of uncertainty. Ideas on the vagueness and incompleteness of consciousness were popular at the time in the literature of Proust … Continue Reading ››

Part 8: Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947)

As we continue to roll around the clock face that constitutes the Doctor's Dozen series on the Serendipitous Compendium we find ourselves moving back across the Atlantic to mainland Europe, and an astonishing artist named Pierre Bonnard. Last time we considered the talents of Larry Rivers, who many consider as the first true American Pop … Continue Reading ››

Part 7: Larry Rivers (1923-2002)

When we were discussing Pauline Boty in Part 6 of the Doctor's Dozen on the Serendipitous Compendium, I suggested that it was high time we travelled from London back across the Atlantic to the US to find out about another artist who is considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art: … Continue Reading ››

Part 6: Pauline Boty (1938-1966)

Last time, in the Doctor's Dozen segment of the Serendipitous Compendium radio show, John and I discussed the life and work of Eduardo Paolozzi, one of the founders of the British Pop art movement. In this week's interview, I connected Paolozzi with Pauline Boty, who was also a founding member of the movement. Continue Reading ››

Part 5: Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005)

In Part 3 of the Doctor's Dozen, John and I discussed the artist Raoul Hausmann, a founding member and leading proponent of the Berlin Dada movement and one of the originator's of the photomontage technique. This led to the subject of Part 4, Kurt Schwitters who also used photomontage, but developed this to create his … Continue Reading ››

Part 4: Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)

From Raoul Hausmann, the Dada artist often credited as the founder of photomontage, we link to his friend and sometime colleague, Kurt Schwitters.  According to the memoirs of Raoul Hausmann,  Schwitters asked to join Berlin Dada either in late 1918 or early 1919.
Kurt Schwitters
Schwitters (1887-1948) … Continue Reading ››

Part 3: Raoul Hausmann (1886-1971)

The third link in the Doctor's Dozen is the Austrian artist and writer, Raoul Hausmann (1886-1971).
Raoul Hausmann (1929) photographed by August Sander
Hausmann's main connection with the previous subject, George Grosz, is that he was also a leader … Continue Reading ››

Men Without Masks

There's an extraordinary exhibition at Hauser & Wirth London (until 28 July 2018) dedicated to the German photographer August Sander. Titled Men Without Masks, the display features an extensive selection of portraits made between 1910 and 1931 representing the socio-economic landscape in the years leading up to and through the Weimar Republic. Continue Reading ››

Part 2: George Grosz (1893-1959)

In the second installment of the Doctor's Dozen on the Serendipitous Compendium I discuss with John the work of the German Expressionist artist, George Grosz (1893-1959). Apart from sharing the same Christian name with Bellows who featured in the previous broadcast, Grosz was also an artist who highlighted horrors of war in his art. For Grosz, … Continue Reading ››