On the Arts
Books by Julian Porter
149 Paintings You Really Need to See in Europe (So You Can Ignore the Others)
This essential companion to all the major European museums and galleries discusses some of the world’s greatest paintings from Gitoo (1328) right through Picasso (1936).
149 Paintings You Really Need to See in North America (So You Can Ignore the Others)
This lively companion highlights the essential paintings, by some of the world’s greatest painters, from Giotto to Picasso, on display in North American museums and galleries.
Articles
Caravaggio in Malta
Caravaggio’s greatest painting is located in the Oratory of St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta: The Beheading of St. John (1608).
Another Day to Treasure
On February 9, 2015 I was the guest of honour at a luncheon given by the Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston, Massachusetts
An Interview with Julian Porter
Denise Donlon speaks with Julian Porter about Europe’s most magnificent artwork (starts at 29:52).
A Day to Treasure
Rome, Saturday, April 27, 2013
The Tate Gallery, London, England
The Tate reminds me of why I contemplated this book. A varied menu, with a jumble of Turners in a special exhibition.
Last Judgments
Last judgments were a theme of many painters before Michelangelo 1536-1541 did his fresco in the Sistine Chapel. After he finished very few artists tried it. A tour of works by Michelangelo, Signorelli, Giotto, and Vasari.
Parma Cathedral
In Parma, Italy, the home of Verdi and Parma ham, is an eye popping golden yellow fresco in the cathedral.
Stratford 2008
Julian Porter’s diary of the 2008 season at Stratford: “A quick dust over of our cultural omelette.”
Stratford 2005
Julian Porter’s review of the 2005 season at Stratford.
Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Born Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio is one of the foremost Baroque artists, arguably the finest painter of his time, certainly a painter who communicates with the modern viewer.
The Taking of Christ
This colourful Caravaggio of Judas kissing Jesus has been restored to vibrancy at Dublin’s National Gallery.
Summer Reading
Julian Porter reviews the books on his summer reading list.
Feast in the House of Levi (1573)
Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi caused consternation and the painting was prosecuted in the time of the Inquisition.
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
In 1877 London, England was dominated in social circles by two electric gentlemen — Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler, born in America, trained in Paris Bohemian art life and a spitting image of Mark Twain.
The Frick Collection
One of the stately rooms in this mansion on 82nd and 5th contains the greatest clutch of Renaissance European Art in all of America.
Guernica (1937)
On the Spanish civil war and Picasso’s Guernica.
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Goya and The Shootings of May 3rd, 1808 at the Prado in Madrid.
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Works by Diego Velàzquez, Caravaggio, Titian, El Greco, Rogier van der Weyden, Andrea Mantegna, Anthony Van Dyck, Hieronymous Bosch and Peter Paul Rubens.
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Works by Caravaggio, Pieter de Hooch, Paul Cézanne, Emile Nolde, John Singer Sargent, Titian, Ducio di Buoninsegna, Lucas Cranach and Robert Campin.
