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Laura Cumming

@lauracummingart.bsky.social
965 followers 145 following 106 posts

Art Critic The Observer. Critic of the Year 2024. Thunderclap - Book of 2024, @SaltireBook, Non-Fiction Winner @WritersPrize. On Chapel Sands, The Vanishing Man @ChattoBooks. Rep @pew_literary

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Reposted by Laura Cumming
Pete @peterice1960.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Check out some more great writing in The Observer by @lauracummingart.bsky.social this week on the beaches of Le Harve and Monet, especially about his Impressionist mentor, Eugène Boudin.
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The Observer @theobserveruk.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline – seascapes to rival Turner? The Scottish artist of stirring genius has long been deserving of a major retrospective. This celebration of her exhilarating seascapes shows why ✍️ @lauracummingart.bsky.social bit.ly/4zSrsFf
bit.ly
Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline – seascapes to rival Turner?
The Scottish artist of stirring genius has long been deserving of a major retrospective. This celebration of her exhilarating seascapes shows why
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The Observer @theobserveruk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The man who taught Monet to see the light A new exhibition shows how the Impressionist found his style under the tutelage of Eugène Boudin ✍️ @lauracummingart.bsky.social bit.ly/4ytubmL
bit.ly
The man who taught Monet to see the light | The Observer
A new exhibition shows how the Impressionist found his style under the tutelage of Eugène Boudin
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Peaches
Peaches
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Jonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Brilliant review (by @lauracummingart.bsky.social) of Hermione Lee's new Anita Brookner biog.
observer.co.uk
In search of Anita Brookner | The Observer
Hermione Lee unravels the knotty life of the novelist and art historian – doing her the service of leaving all her mystery intact
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tom slists @tomslists.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
🎶Up where the air is clear, up through the atmosphere 🎶 Nice to see @lauracummingart.bsky.social quoting Mary Poppins in her splendid book Thunderclap 🎶Oh let’s go Fly a kite🎶
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Steffen Rayburn-Maarup @rayburnmaarup.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Well, my Gardam interest began when @lauracummingart.bsky.social brought Verona to Backlisted. And I would stupidly never have picked up a book with such a "women's bookclub" cover had I not listened. So 🙏.
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Philip Hoare @philiphoare.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
George Shaw's great Graham Sutherland show at Modern Art, Oxford - as reviewed by the brilliant Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social @modernartoxford.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Graham Sutherland: An Unfinished World – review
Graham Sutherland is shown at his ominous best in this fine show curated by the artist George Shaw, writes Laura Cumming
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Patrick Radden Keefe @praddenkeefe.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I've made a solemn promise to not be the guy posting every review of his book. But this one really grapples with what I was trying to do in London Falling. Thank you @lauracummingart.bsky.social observer.co.uk/culture/book...
observer.co.uk
Who really killed Zac Brettler? | The Observer
The London schoolboy liked to pretend he was a Russian gangster. In London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe pieces together the ways that fantasy life came up against brutal reality
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Tony Smith @smithtonyd.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Beautiful words, stunning art… @lauracummingart.bsky.social How to draw a bird observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
How to draw a bird | The Observer
There is a dilemma at the heart of art’s fascination with these restless creatures: a draughtsman can never let them take wing
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Christopher White @bombaylychee.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
And @lauracummingart.bsky.social observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
How Seurat found peace by the sea | The Observer
Britain’s first show of the artist in nearly 30 years reveals his mastery of light and detail in calm, captivating seascapes. Plus, Lucian Freud’s graphic works sit beside his portraits
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cmillerartlife.bsky.social @cmillerartlife.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Carel Fabritius born #OTD 1622 Dutch artist, with little surviving work which includes The Goldfinch, currently 'co-curating' an exhibition with Simon Schama @mauritshuis.bsky.social . If you can't get there read @lauracummingart.bsky.social magnificent Thunderclap www.mauritshuis.nl/en/what-s-on...
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Christopher White @bombaylychee.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
“Like her hero Edvard Munch, another energetic miserabilist, Emin favours exaggeration in the service of truth” @lauracummingart.bsky.social on Tracy Emin at Tate Modern. observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Tracey Emin at Tate Modern review: return of the riotous queen of candour
Forty years of Tracey Emin’s tortured, trailblazing work is gathered in a major retrospective that finds the artist in search of past glories
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Caroline Sanderson @carosanderson.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
It's publication day! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this book into being, and to the booksellers who are getting behind it now @unboundsocials.bsky.social
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Jon Woolcott @jonwoolcott.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Delighted that excellent nonfiction editor at @thebookseller.com , @carosanderson.bsky.social has chosen The Tattooed Hills as one of her Top Ten April books, with blush inducing comments. Preorder link in bio etc. @quartobooksuk.bsky.social
A screenshot of a page from The Bookseller Magazine describing The Tattooed Hills as 'Alluring.'
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Another Cinna @anothercinna.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Written largely in the present tense, this superb critique by @lauracummingart.bsky.social @theobserveruk.bsky.social should be an object lesson in art reviews. A Hawaiian Royal Spectacle has a unique immediacy, is full of fascinating detail & concludes magnificently. observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
A Hawaiian royal spectacle | The Observer
The Pacific island’s king and queen were the talk of London when they visited in 1824. Then disaster struck. A tremendous show of treasures at the British Museum relives their trip
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ceaman.bsky.social @ceaman.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
As usual the best review is by @lauracummingart.bsky.social (imho, obvs). The show was moving and not, in retrospect, the head-to-head matchup I’d expected. I left feeling that they’d made each other stronger artists than they could ever have been alone. observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer
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Peter Ross @peteralanross.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
"This is one of the most exhilarating shows I’ve ever seen." Wonderful piece, by @lauracummingart.bsky.social, on the Tate's new Constable and Turner exhibition. Does anyone know if their Stonehenge pictures are in this show? observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer
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The Observer @theobserveruk.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
World-famous masterpieces and rarely exhibited works by Turner and Constable are put side by side in this monumental, thrilling show at Tate Britain, writes @lauracummingart.bsky.social. bit.ly/3XmjD8E
bit.ly
Turner and Constable as they’ve never been seen before | The Observer
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Absolutely loved this 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟show @tate @theobserveruk.bsky.social
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Self Portrait with a Palette
Self Portrait with a Palette
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Vase of Peonies on a Small Pedestal
Vase of Peonies on a Small Pedestal
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Brian @bwianair.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I had always walked past the Dutch rooms at the National Gallery to visit the Italians But recently read the fantastic Thunderclap by @lauracummingart.bsky.social which made me realise they are much more interesting than I assumed at first.
Carel Fabritius 1622-1654
A View of Delft
1652
The focus of this townscape is the New Church of Delft. The exaggerated perspective and strongly foreshortened viola da qamba are clues that it was originally part of a perspective box On the back of the canvas are traces of copper. This suggests it was once mounted on a concave copper plate to bend the image and correct its perspective. Viewing it through the peephole of a small perspective box would have enhanced the illusion.Carel Fabritius 1622-1654
Young Man in a Fur Cap
1654
Although there are no documented portraits of Fabritius, this is generally accepted as a self portrait. He has painted himself in military dress, just as his teacher Rembrandt had done in his portraits of the 1630s. Neither artist had any direct military connections. The picture was painted in the vear Fabritius died prematurely in a vast gunpowder explosion in Delft, the aftermath of which is depicted in a small painting by Egbert van der Poel hanging nearbyPieter de Hooch 1629-after 1684
A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard about 1660/1
A maid is lifting a fish from a cooking pot while her mistress looks on. Such scenes of ordinary women at home became popular in Holland from about the 1640s.De Hooch's paintings on this theme are particularly evocative The courtyard view is almost certainly invented but he has made it look as if it could be a scene from real life
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Rose Teanby @roseteanby.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
One week to go to my Photo Oxford talk at @bodleianlibs about the photographic and artistic life of Constance Talbot. Hear about her witnessing the birth of #photography and maintaining a love of art throughout her life. 5th November 1-2pm Weston Library: photooxford.org/events/const...
photooxford.org
Constance Talbot, early photographer and lifelong artist Talk by Rose Teanby — Photo Oxford
Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, The Bodleian Library Wednesday, 5 November
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Still life with melon and peaches
Still life with melon and peaches
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Head of Jean-Baptiste Faure
Head of Jean-Baptiste Faure
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
A matador
A matador
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Edouard Manet @edouardmanet.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Plum
Plum
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Another Cinna @anothercinna.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Must detour to see this #BehindBlueEyes
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Ian Dennis @ianindentdesign.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
@lauracummingart.bsky.social At last! Got today’s Observer quiz
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
This is vital reading from Sam Freedman …@wesstreetingmp.bsky.social
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Pete Townsend and Prince in this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ show from the great Arthur Jafa at Sadie Coles HQ and Karma Ashadu at Camden Arts Centre...loved these shows @theobserveruk.bsky.social @timadamswrites.bsky.social observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Arthur Jafa is a sound-and-vision genius | The Observer
The multimedia artist creates hypnotic, cinematic forms of homage to music greats from Pete Townshend to Prince. Plus, Karimah Ashadu’s meditation on men
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Pete Townsend and Prince in this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ show from the great Arthur Jafa at Sadie Coles HQ and Karma Ashadu at Camden Arts Centre...loved these shows @theobserveruk.bsky.social @timadamswrites.bsky.social observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Arthur Jafa is a sound-and-vision genius | The Observer
The multimedia artist creates hypnotic, cinematic forms of homage to music greats from Pete Townshend to Prince. Plus, Karimah Ashadu’s meditation on men
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The stained glass of hell, to quote my friend Alan Parker - G&G as per usual. Go instead to Nordic Noir @BritishMuseum observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Gilbert & George’s 21st Century Pictures – eye-popping bu...
Vast, lurid yet increasingly timid, the pair’s art is in your face but never reaches heart and head. Plus, a captivating show of Scandinavian graphic works
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The stained glass of hell, to quote my friend Alan Parker - G&G as per usual. Go instead to Nordic Noir @BritishMuseum observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
observer.co.uk
Gilbert & George’s 21st Century Pictures – eye-popping bu...
Vast, lurid yet increasingly timid, the pair’s art is in your face but never reaches heart and head. Plus, a captivating show of Scandinavian graphic works
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Lucy Seton-Watson @lucysetonw.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
My favourite in the Mauritshuis. His regard - heart-stopping. And also learned so much more about him, & about Dutch C17 painting - which I loved already - from @lauracummingart.bsky.social Laura Cumming’s book, which I found in Delft & bought.
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Rose Teanby @roseteanby.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Join me in person or online on 5th November 1pm for a Photo Oxford talk at @bodleianlibs about the photographic and artistic life of Constance Talbot. She witnessed the birth of #photography but maintained a love of art throughout her life. Details here: photooxford.org/events/const...
photooxford.org
Constance Talbot, early photographer and lifelong artist Talk by Rose Teanby — Photo Oxford
Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, The Bodleian Library Wednesday, 5 November
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Laura Parker @lauraparker.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
'...slathers of custard-yellow paint, white icing that casts shadows like Arctic snow: his painting is as calorific as cream, as smoothly spread as lemon curd.' @lauracummingart.bsky.social 's delicious piece will make you want to go see these cake paintings.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 04/10/2025
The LRB published many of Tony Harrison’s poems over the years, including, most famously, ‘v.’ To mark forty years of the poem, and in tribute to its author, live readings will take place in Holbeck on Sunday 12 Oct, in association with Slung Low. More info/tickets: www.slunglow.org/v-a-homecomi...
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
My bit on Lee Miller - so much better when she gets away from the leering Surrealists!
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Go to @fitzmuseum.bsky.social !
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Jessica Twentyman @jessicatwentyman.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Can’t help thinking @lauracummingart.bsky.social should be on commission, but at least the book is sold in the @mauritshuismus.bsky.social gift shop!
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Photojournalism News @pjournalismnews.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
THE OBSERVER: ‪ The making of Lee Miller observer.co.uk/culture/art/... @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ @lauracummingart.bsky.social #photojournalism #journalism #photography‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
observer.co.uk
The making of Lee Miller | The Observer
Her early work is nothing special, but the American photographer’s response to war and its aftermath stun at Tate Britain
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
My bit on Lee Miller - so much better when she gets away from the leering Surrealists!
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Laura Cumming @lauracummingart.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Season of mists rolling in…
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Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
I’m curating an exhibition of the Two Roberts at Charleston in Lewes. It opens Oct 15 and will be very gorgeous and very gay and very Scottish and that’s for starters. I’ve got a nice wee discount for my newsletter subscribers: www.damianbarr.com/subscribe
damianbarr.com
Subscribe — Damian Barr
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Simon Hattenstone @shattenstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Please read this piece by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social about his daughter Milly and Lyme Disease. It's important and impacts so many more people than most of us realise. Get well soon Milly ♥️ ·
theguardian.com
As my daughter got sicker and sicker, our quest for answers dragged on. How did we all miss the bacteria taking over her body?
I write about nature, but when Milly got sick with a mystery illness, it never occurred to me that a long-forgotten tick bite could be the cause
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
No one should pay to see this movie until Disney stops censoring employees who say things disagreeable to the regime. That will be no great sacrifice as this movie will be dull as rocks. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se...
theguardian.com
Star Wars: Starfighter – what the new picture of Ryan Gosling tells us
Will the Shawn Levy-directed instalment, set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, offer a radical reinvention or return us to a period no one particularly wants to revisit?
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