ARTIST STUDIO: ANSELM KIEFER
Anselm Kiefer has always been reputed to be an elusive character, avoiding photographers and media attention. Art school legend had it that his studio was so big that he used a bicycle to get around in it. Though this picture reflects none of the weightiness and affliction of Kiefer’s art, the space doesn’t seem...
ARTIST STUDIO: BRIDGET RILEY
One of my brothers used to live a few doors away and I would walk past Bridget Riley’s West London studio a few times a week. I would often slower my pace and stretch my neck as I walked to get a peep in the very window you can see in the picture....
ARTIST STUDIO: CHRIS OFILI
The gargantuan scale of everything in these images of Chris Ofili painting a backdrop for the Royal Ballet almost produces an experience of sublime; the sense of fragility of a painter facing such an enormous task reminds me of Friedrich’s Monk by the Sea, with his insignificance and mortality brought to the surface by...
ARTIST STUDIO: FRÉDÉRIC BAZILLE
Frédéric Bazille’s painting of his studio has an interesting story: Bazille shared this studio with Renoir, and created this painting without including himself in it, but Manet, who is facing the canvas wearing a hat painted him in after it was finished. The tall young man holding a palette is painted in Manet’s characteristic...
ARTIST STUDIO: DAVID HOCKNEY
When people who are not artists visit my studio, the first thing I always do is apologise for the mess, and their reply is always something like: “no, please don’t apologise, I love it! It’s the way it should be…” etc. I have seen some tidy studios in my time though nothing like Hockney’s...
ARTIST STUDIO: MARK ROTHKO
Image: www.atelierlog.blogspot.com The image I have always had of Rothko is that portrayed in many photos where he is pensively smoking whilst looking at his paintings: One brushstroke followed by twenty minutes looking and thinking… but this picture shows him being physical and practical, struggling with the day to day reality of being an artist....
ARTIST STUDIO: PETER DOIG
Peter Doig’s studio looks surprisingly unpretentious and down to earth for such a successful artist; just an empty room with high ceilings and plenty of wall space. Your work selling for astronomical prices, living in Trinidad and having nothing to do other than paint in the studio in shorts and a t-shirt...
ARTIST STUDIO: HENRI MATISSE
Image: www.contentinacottage.blogspot.com _ What I love about this picture of Matisse in his studio/bedroom is the idea it gives of the magnitude of his immense creative drive. Old age, illness or convalescence were not enough, it appears, to stop Matisse from creating new work. _ Lo que me encanta de esta foto de Matisse en...
ARTIST STUDIO: ANTONI TÀPIES
Image: www.elpais.com _ This is truly a great studio shot! A little too good to be true really: the clean studio – specially considering Tápies’ working procedures-, the shot from above, those amazing artworks conveniently facing the camera…the one with the skeletal torso just knocks me over! _ Esta es realmente una toma de estudio...
ARTIST STUDIO: RACHEL WHITEREAD
Image: www.phaidon.com _ Rachel Whiteread’s studio looks more like that of an architect or graphic designer than a sculptor in this shot; obviously no casting, building or fabricating going on here. _ En esta toma el estudio de Rachel Whiteread parece más el de un arquitecto o diseñador gráfico que el de una escultora;...
ARTIST STUDIO: CY TWOMBLY
Image: www.foreveruntiltheend.com _ Cy Twombly’s studio here looks almost out of time, a bit like his ouvre. If it were not for the radio or stereo to the left, on the floor by the door, it could almost be the studio of an eighteenth or nineteenth century painter. _ El estudio de Cy Twombly aquí...
All schools should be art schools.
