Diana and Actaeon, 1956-59
Tom Lubbock of
The Independent thinks ginning up public support to spend £50 million to keep Titian's
Diana and Acteaon in Britain has been, "a magnificent act of aesthetic blackmail."
OK, I think the painting is a bit of a fleshy mess, too. But, Lubbock really hates it...
The picture doesn't establish a decisive action. The central
confrontation of Actaeon and Diana is hamstrung between his daft
gesticulations and her flamenco flourish. It doesn't establish a
defined space either. The setting is an inarticulate add-up of arch,
trees, column, bodies. The sloping fountain, the ground area, make no
clear sense.
It's cobbled together from bits and pieces in
search of a structure. If ever a picture hadn't been worked out yet,
it's this one. So, interesting perhaps as an example of a Titian in
progress, but the opposite of miraculous. (read
full article, it gets worse.)
And then sticks it to the Getty...
It would be no tragedy if we lost it. It has scholarly value. It's just
the kind of thing that belongs in the Getty Museum in California. But
what we've now bought for our £50m is not only the painting itself, but
the perpetual obligation to believe it's a work of supreme genius.
Bingo!
Ouch!
Related Links:
OMG: Another Titian Dog Art Masterpiece!
Titian's Dog Art Returns to the Joslyn Art Museum
Titian the Dog Artist