GABRIELE NEHER draws attention to an astoundingly skilled Flemish painter who defied the notion that women cannot paint like men
THE centenary of the Russian Revolution provided cultural institutions with a theme which was interpreted in questionable ways.
By far the worst was the Royal Academy’s exhibition Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932. Favoured by an enviably generous budget and excellent connections with post-Soviet Russian institutions, it gathered an impressive body of art and design, some being virtually unknown in Britain.
But rather than explaining the Soviet artists’ socially committed motivations, a vindictive curatorial approach shamefully contextualised the works in didactic attacks on the revolution’s ideals and achievements, reminiscent of liverish 1920s Russian emigres fretting over their lost fortunes.
JAN WOOLF ponders the works and contested reputation of the West German sculptor and provocateur, who believed that everybody is potentially an artist
KEVIN DONNELLY accepts the invitation to think speculatively in contemplation of representations of people of African descent in our cultural heritage
Paul MacGee of Manifesto Press invites you to a special launch on Saturday August 2.
KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents



