ARTS 25
Review of reviews: Art & MusicThe
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When it comes to hyper-realistic portrai-
ture, Hans Holbein the Younger has few
rivals, said William Poundstone in the blog
LACMA on Fire. The Renaissance master,
who was appointed a court painter to King
Henry VIII in 1536, is remembered today
mainly for his portraits of such icons of
British history as Thomas Cromwell, Sir
Thomas More, and Henry himself. The
Getty museum’s new Holbein exhibition
is the first significant survey of the artist’s
work to be exhibited in the U.S., and while
the king himself isn’t in the show, “you
won’t miss Hank one bit.” Many of the
portraits in the Getty’s selection feature
sitters whose identities have been lost to
history, but they grab your gaze anyway.
“Holbein didn’t save his talents for the
richest and most powerful.”“Holbein’s portraits require close look-
ing,” said Judith Dobrzynski in The Wall
Street Journal. “Most are small, with some
measuring just a few inches across.” But
even though many of his subjects avert
their eyes or display a grim bearing, they
reward our attention. “Clearly, they areHolbein’s A Lady With a Squirrel and a StarlingExhibit of the week
Holbein: Capturing Character in
the Renaissance
Getty Center, Los Angeles, through Jan. 9all well-modeled and finely painted with
precise brushwork, yet there’s more to it.”
Time and again, these portraits capture
individual character. “For the projection
of power, there’s Cromwell. For attitude
and arrogance, there’s Richard Southwell(1536), a onetime sheriff, Cromwell associ-
ate, possible murderer, and privy counselor.
For prosperity and stern piety, there’s Mary,
Lady Guildford (1527).”Holbein’s portraits also provide view-
ing interest that goes beyond the sit-
ters’ likenesses, said Nora McGreevy in
Smithsonian. Working in collaboration with
his subjects, he filled his paintings with clues
about their interests, including via the gems
they wear, the books they hold, and even the
animals that surround them. By interpret-
ing these images, historians have been able
to identify certain subjects and also make
strong inferences about their family, class,
and occupation. Consider Holbein’s “stag-
geringly beautiful” portrait A Lady With
a Squirrel and a Starling, said Christopher
Knight in the Los Angeles Times. Historians
widely believe the subject to be Anne Ashby,
wife of courtier Richard Lovell, owing to
the playful details Holbein includes. The
squirrel on her breast appears to be an
homage to squirrels in her husband’s fam-
ily crest. The starling behind her is likely a
play on a village name: East Harling. This
“seamless” marriage of realism and symbol-
ism, which can be seen in many of Holbein’s
greatest works, was “more than merely
showy.” Even centuries later, “it’s what
makes the flesh-and-blood verisimilitude of
his portraits so captivating.”“Anyone who knows or
loves early-1970s R&B
will have a goofy grin
on their face through-
out this entire album,”
said Jem Aswad in
Variety. Bruno Mars
and Anderson .Paak
have done it: pulled off the “monumen-
tally” hard challenge of producing a full
collection of throwback songs that evoke a
golden past but transcend mere nostalgia.
The record’s debut single, “Leave the Door
Open,” topped Billboard’s pop chart in
April, and Mars and Paak have now added
eight more winking tributes to such soul,
funk, and R&B masters as the O’Jays, Kool
& the Gang, and the Chi-Lites. Once this
31-minute set ends, “there’s no way you’re
not playing it again.” When Paak raps, “he
drags some songs to the brink of novelty,”
said Justin Charity in TheRinger.com. But
that’s “a small complaint about a mighty
album.” Mars remains “by far” the best
male vocalist on today’s Hot 100, and he’s
backed by Paak’s drumming, Thundercat’s
bass, Bootsy Collins’ ad-libs, and lush
strings and horns. Pastiche is always easy
to ridicule; this effort is “hard to resist.”“Summer Walker’s
music has the emo-
tional intensity of
a Real Housewives
reunion,” said DeAsia
Paige in Pitchfork .com.
Two years after her
debut album estab-
lished the then 23-year-old as a star of trap
R&B, she has released a No. 1 Billboard
follow-up on which “she cements herself
as one of the genre’s most relatable sto-
rytellers.” Walker’s producer on half the
songs is now both an ex and the father
of her child, and she lets him and his
other lovers have it, bringing “irresist-
ibly entertaining” melodrama to these
moody tracks. The only problem: The
act runs for over an hour, and “starts to
become monotonous.” Still Over It builds
on Walker’s 2019 sound with a few “pop-
pier” moments, including the first single,
“Ex for a Reason,” said Meagan Jordan in
Rolling Stone. Though the album’s second
half “can feel a little too relaxed,” Walker
“ends on a powerful note” with “4th Baby
Mama.” Another kiss-off to her ex, it feels
like Walker’s conclusive statement that
“she is, in fact, over it for good.”“Valentine is proof
that a breakup album
doesn’t have to be
sad—it just has to
be powerful,” said
Ellen Johnson in
PasteMagazine.com.
Three years after
releasing a “shockingly great” guitar-driven
debut album at age 18, Lindsey Jordan,
who records as Snail Mail, has returned
with a record that confirms she wasn’t just
lucky; “she’s an innovator who’s here to
stay.” The title track, which opens the set, is
“one of the best songs of the year,” with a
driving chorus—“Why’d you want to erase
me?”—that feels hollered through tears.
And why not? “Breakups aren’t just sad—
they’re rage-inducing.” The 10-song record
has been sequenced “like a dizzying spin
through the stages of grief,” said Lindsay
Zoladz in The New York Times. “Jordan’s
voice has changed since Lush; it’s become
hoarse, feral, and absolutely heartbreak-
ing,” and as Valentine lays out its string of
unvarnished but finely crafted rock songs,
it gives off the overwhelming effect that
you are listening to “an immediate expres-
sion of raw, unprocessed grief.”Silk Sonic
An Evening With Silk Sonic
++++Summer Walker
Still Over It
++++Snail Mail
Valentine
++++