Van Gogh. Self-Portraits ★★★★★ The Courtauld Gallery | Feb 3 - May 8, 2022


"People say that it’s difficult to know oneself… but it’s not easy to paint oneself either" – Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo, 5-6 September 1889. The simplest explanation of Van Gogh's self-portraits is that they saved money on the cost of models. The psychological explanations abound! This extraordinary exhibition brings together sixteen of these fascinating works and allows us to trace Van Gogh's intriguing development as an artist. The early Self-Portrait with Felt Hat (1886-1887) shows the influence of the peinture à l'essence of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec while the Self-Portrait (Paris, spring 1887) echoes the pointillist technique associated with Georges Seurat. The contrast of these works with the famous Self-Portrait With Bandaged Ear (Arles, January 1889) and Self-Portrait (Saint-Rémy, first week of September 1889) is striking. The development of Van Gogh's confidence and his very personal style is nothing short of breathtaking. Only two small rooms house this beautifully curated show but be sure to set aside lots of time to savour this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. Whether your interests take you on a journey to trace the development of Van Gogh's tortured personal story or to contemplate the path of a painter developing his unique genius, every moment spent in the company of these masterpieces of portraiture is bound to enrich and reward.

Rated: ★★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Image: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat (September-October 1887). Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN, UK

Most Popular

Supersonic Man ★★★★ Southwark Playhouse, Borough | Apr 9 - May 3, 2025

Image
Based on the true story of Peter Scott-Morgan, who with his partner, Francis, became the first gay couple to be married in England, Supersonic Man tells the story of Adam who, like Scott-Morgan, decides to fight his motor neurone disease through robotics and radical surgery. It is an inspiring tribute to someone who boldly faced life and its challenges on his own terms, and it is an interesting insight into the media mechanics that can make such a decision possible. Like the protagonist of this musical, Scott-Morgan harnessed the power of the media through the creation of a television documentary which chronicled his medical journey. The show's smart mocking of the manipulative cynicism that lies just behind our culture of celebrity, plus the resilient wit and self-deprecating humour of Adam himself largely save this piece from falling into becoming simply an exercise in suffocating sentimentality. While the show succeeds in portraying the real pain and mood swings of the sufferer...
Full Details »

José María Velasco: A View of Mexico ★★★★ The National Gallery | Mar 29 - Aug 17, 2025

Image
This exhibition is a fine introduction to a 19th Century painter who is well-known in Mexico, but who has been under-appreciated outside of his native country. The academic style of José María Velasco fell out of favour in Europe with the growing influence of the Impressionists, and his reputation was also eclipsed by the great Mexican muralists who followed him. This current display of his work does justice to the subtlety and genius of this artist and is a wonderful invocation of his country at a turning point in its history. Velasco celebrates the natural world while he hints at the changes to be wrought by the oncoming industrial reality. We are moving from an agricultural society with humans living in harmony with nature to an industrial model and the subjugation of the natural world. Velasco lived in a world that was not only on the cusp of enormous social change however. It was one that was also facing a profound reassessment of its values. The artist himself was both a man of f...
Full Details »

Midnight Cowboy - A New Musical ★★ Southwark Playhouse, Borough | Apr 4 - May 17, 2025

Image
James Leo Herlihy's novel of 1965, which was later made into a very successful film, tells the story of naïve young man, Joe Buck, who comes to New York City to get rich as a gigolo. He discovers that his chosen career path is not as simple to pursue as he thought, and he ends up being taken advantage of by both his clients and by his new acquaintance, Ratso. The latter is a disabled survivor who knows how to work the streets and who is as shrewd as Joe is gullible. Oddly enough, despite their initial differences, these two outsiders become friends. They start to depend on each other and come to share a dream which is to escape their current hardship and to flee to the paradise of Florida. Herlihy's book and the film neatly contrasted the shocking grittiness of life on the streets and the touching relationship of the two broken dreamers. It was a sentimental tour de force , but it is not an easy balance to achieve – and it doesn't quite work here. While Max Bowden gets it l...
Full Details »

Cartier ★★★★ Victoria & Albert Museum | Apr 12 - Nov 16, 2025

Image
At the beginning of the 20th century, the three grandsons of the jeweller, Louis-François Cartier, set out to create a global brand. They established branches of the family business in New York, London and Paris, and while this exhibition celebrates their company's craftsmanship and imagination, it also presents what has been a masterpiece of marketing. From the beginning, the Cartiers courted the royal and the rich in order to establish their brand, and they cleverly moved with the times to embrace the patronage of film stars and pop idols when these nouveaux riches became the emerging market. Of the over 350 objects on display, we have pieces created for several royal families and the likes of the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Margaret. There are pieces worn by Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and more contemporary celebrities such Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. From garish tiaras and gaudy broaches to the more elegant tank watch and popular 1969 Love bracelet, Cartier's creatio...
Full Details »

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

The Inseparables ★★★ Finborough Theatre | Apr 15 - May 10, 2025

Image
Grace Joy Howarth's adaptation of Simone de Beauvoir's posthumously published memoir/novel about the author's powerful childhood friendship takes us back to the more innocent, and also more restrictive, time which formed the great feminist thinker. It is a celebration of a profound relationship between two intelligent young women who in different ways both struggle with the limited roles assigned to them in pre World War II France. Although the rebellious Andrée smokes and kisses a boy, she remains deeply religious and socially conformist, while her soulmate, Sylvie is actually more revolutionary. She rejects the notion of God and manages to avoid the requirement to marry. The latter character is based on de Beauvoir herself, and this is a touching portrait of the formative female relationship that contributed to the development of the writer who would later pen The Second Sex . Howarth's adaptation and the sensitive performances of Lara Manela as Andrée and Ayesha Ostl...
Full Details »

The Carracci Cartoons: Myths in the Making ★★★ The National Gallery | Apr 10 - Jul 6, 2025 (Free Entry)

Image
This free show features two of the cartoons, or large charcoal drawings, created by the Carracci brothers, Annibale and Agostino, for the decoration of the Roman residence of the young cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626). Both works are actually attributed to Agostino Carracci with possible input from Annibale. Made on paper, the two large drawings were conceived as working tools intended for use in preparation to paint the fresco which was to decorate the ceiling of the Palazzo Farnese. They were designed to be used for the transfer of sections of that complex composition onto fresh plaster, and they offer a unique insight into the working practices of a Renaissance artist. The cartoons, which have long been the property of The National Gallery and have not often been on display, represent two scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses : "Cephalus carried off by Aurora in her Chariot" (about 1599) and "A Woman borne off by a Sea God" (about 1599). They have been interpr...
Full Details »

Manhunt ★★★ Royal Court Theatre | Mar 28 - May 3, 2025

Image
Based on the true story of Raoul Moat who in 2010 killed one person and maimed his girlfriend and a police officer, this powerful recreation of the incidents and the ensuing manhunt focuses on the forces that made Moat into the raging inferno that he was. Abandoned by his father and abused by his mentally ill mother, he was then raised in care, and from his perspective, was abused by all the bureaucratic entities that intervened in his life: the social care system, the police and various legal proceedings. Moat saw himself as a victim, and although Robert Icke's play is largely presented from Moat's point of view, the author strives to balance this and to avoid any appearance of justifying Moat's behaviour as he uncovers its sources. Indeed, a long period in which the audience is in darkness, probably to replicate the blinding of one of Moat's victims, plus the detailed recounting of that victim's story are no doubt intended to serve this purpose. However, despite s...
Full Details »

Heisenberg ★★★★ Arcola Theatre | Apr 9 - May 10, 2025

Image
Simon Stephens' play is an amusing riff on the famous uncertainty principle enunciated by German physicist and Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg in 1927. In this instance the particle in question which eludes the calculation of its speed and location at the same time is Georgie and her developing relationship with Alex. When the lovable, loony Georgie randomly plants a kiss on the back of the neck of staid butcher, Alex, and for no apparent reason pursues a relationship with the woman who is several years her senior, what follows is an amusing dance of wit and self-revelation that is utterly charming. As the relationship forms between this unlikely couple, one can't help but think of the outstanding 1971 film, Harold and Maude , which also presented an intergenerational relationship. Somewhat unfortunately in this case, however, playwright Stephens falls into the tired cliché of presenting intergenerational relationships as exploitative (perhaps from the need to create "dra...
Full Details »

Speed ★★★★ Bush Theatre | Apr 4 - May 17, 2025

Image
The premise of Mohamed-Zain Dada's play is simple enough. Three strangers who have been guilty of reckless driving find themselves thrown together in a class which, in lieu of them losing their drivers' licences, is supposed to help them deal with their anger issues. But, as the instructor takes this recalcitrant threesome through a series of exercises such as role playing, assumption awareness and guided meditation, they begin to question not only themselves, but also their teacher's behaviour and his real motivations. And, the questions raised do not stop here. The issues addressed become much larger than simply how to deal with road rage. When, if ever, is anger an appropriate response to perceived bad behaviour, abuse or even bigotry? On the journey through life how should one handle the people perceived as impeding the achievement of one's goals? The play raises some big questions while packaging these musings in a tension-filled, little drama that has some nice co...
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings