Alex Da Corte and I are walking through the Prado in Madrid, surrounded by the treasures of the art world. Yet some, despite their beauty or painterly perfection, are so easy to walk past. Another era. Jesus and Mary. Portraits of nobles, kings and queens. More Jesus and Mary.
Alex points out the pre-Renaissance genre of ‘world landscape’, before painters knew how to paint perspective; before there was a vanishing point, before there was scale, where every object in the frame – no matter the importance – carries the same weight. It makes me think of the internet. I say as much to Alex and he laughs.
We are not studious tourists or completists. We haven’t brought a checklist. We do not feel compelled to study every brushstroke, read every placard, squint and hum. We float, pulled along by a supernatural current of instinct and chance. We only stop and stare at what calls to us from eternity. Yes, yes, centuries ago. Different time, different rulers, different plague, different wars, but the same human condition. This is it: eternity. What we try, like mad but occasionally contented Sisyphi, to channel into our own work.
We are called to a small room: Goya’s Black Paintings. The temperature falls 15 – no, 20 – degrees. You felt that too, right? The air, like a gunshot. I immediately lock eyes with Saturn Devouring His Son. I don’t know why, but I understand this mania, this violence. How many sons did it take to get to THIS look in his eyes? Was this the taste of first flesh? The third son going down? The final gnashing and gulp?
Denne historien er fra October 2024-utgaven av Wallpaper.
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Denne historien er fra October 2024-utgaven av Wallpaper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
COOL RUNNINGS
Palace founder Lev Tanju is bringing his own unexpected brand of weirdness and love of eclectic mash-ups to Fila's new contemporary line
LIVING COLOUR
Mexico's San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that's thriving off the city's brightly-hued heritage
STARS ASCENDING
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. We profile ten creatives forging their own paths to success
SUITE DREAMS
Cathay Pacific’s new aircraft interiors turn the inflight experience into an art form, upgrading the business-class cabin for the next generation of flyers
Brutal harmony
The Escheresque Italian villa designed by Fausto Bontempi for sculptor Claudio Caffetto
LOCAL HERO
London studio Holloway Li’s recent makeover of Polish hotel Puro Poznan is right up our street
STAR TURNS
An exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi unveils the stellar shortlist for this year's Richard Mille Art Prize
SCREEN GEM
A multifaceted residence in Beverly Hills puts the beauty of potentiality in the frame
SOFT SPOT
We've taken a shine to Bottega Veneta's collaboration with Flos on a special edition of a Gino Sarfatti lamp
Between the lines
Frequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form