It seemed to come out of nowhere. Thought lost, Giorgio Vasari’s Allegory of Patience of 1542 popped up on the art market. It was acquired by the Klesch Collection in London where I first went to see it. Greatly impressed with the picture, we expressed an interest in taking it on loan at the National Gallery and the owners kindly agreed: it has been on display at Trafalgar Square since March last year, finding a natural place among the Florentine sixteenth-century pictures and significantly complementing the collection. In my opinion, it’s as good as Vasari gets as an easel painter — a monumental picture with great wall power. This may in part be due to the probable involvement in its design by Michelangelo, but it is in any case a bravura piece of painting.
Now, the Klesch Collection has published a small book on it, authored by the distinguished scholar of Florentine renaissance art Carlo Falciani. He, my colleague at the Gallery Caroline Campbell, and I also contributed to a short film on it. Check it out, and do come see the picture if you’re in London when the Gallery is open again!
Order the book via its publisher, Paul Holberton.
Radio Rackham: Joe Sacco
Nyt podcast! Radio Rackham ser nærmere på tegneseriejournalisten Joe Saccos seneste bog, Paying the Land. Det er en af hans mest detaljerede og omfattende reportager og en bog, der i sin indgåaende reportage fra oprindelige samfund, de såkaldte Dene-folk, i Nordcanada omfatter presserende spørgsmål om klima, kolonialisme, kulturmøder og samtidig fortæller os individuelle, menneskelige historier. Det er både rystende og oplysende læsning.
Det var det andet afsnit vi optog og meget menignsfuldt for os, fordi netop Sacco var en central skikkelse på det område af tegneseriekulturen, vi dækkede med særlig interesse dengang vi publicerede Rackham som magasin — vi interviewede ham sågar i Rackham #3. Det var dengang han lige havde udgivet mesterværket Safe Area Gorazde — du kan læse min anmeldelse fra dengang her (og på engelsk her på Bunkeren) og Julie Paludan-Müllers af hans opfølger, The Fixer, her.
Læs mere på Nummer9, lydt via Soundcloud ovenfor, eller hent på Spotify, Podimo og iTunes. Check Radio Rackham på Instagram og Facebook. Props til DJ Carsten.