ArtWatch UK

It is conspicuous that those who welcome new technological advances too often shun the most effective technological record of changes in works of concrete art - comparative photography - whereby altered values and inter-relationships are manifest:

Paul Valéry noted the only thing that is real about art is art itself. Indeed, pictures precisely are concrete objects in which artist embed their thoughts and intentions. All artists mean well; all hope to have delivered their best; and all hope their work will not be injured or adulterated by third parties. Such is almost never the case. Many scholars welcome changes made to art by restorers because such invite the production of newly interpretive narratives. Defensive curators who permit restorers’ changes and adulterations claim them to have returned works to their “original” appearances and insist that any dilapidation that results is a product of natural internal decompositions and not of the “restorations” that precede injuries.

Riddles, riddles everywhere some would have it:

Coming soon - How the National Gallery superimposed its own misconceived virtual reality skull on the anamorphic skull in Holbein's "The Ambassadors".

ROOKE BOOKS: 1862- "Ephesus, and the Temple of Diana..." Illustrated throughout and with a folding map in a pocket to the rear, this is the very scarce first edition of Edward Falkener's archaeological study of Ephesus.

The Power of Bouguereau: the Penetration and the Comprehension of his eyes - Match that, A. I.

Winterhalter v. AI:

No AI assistance: Self portrait by Elizabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, c.1781-1782:

And isn’t this rather passé: “Ewa Juszkiewicz challenges centuries of feminine beauty…”

Meanwhile, in the decadent western half of Europe: “A nude performer dangling upside-down from a giant bell, clanging it on the hour. Another rolling perilously down bleachers, wearing a crumbling plaster skirt. And that isn’t even to mention the porta-potties, which you’re supposed to pee in to feed a massive tank in which a performer is submerged (the urine is filtered).” These are scenes, Hyperallergic warns, that you might witness at this year’s Venice Biennale: “Performance is one of the strongest veins, and today, critic Eurídice Arratia walks you through Florentina Holzinger and Miet Warlop’s displays at the Austrian and Belgian pavilions…” Rather she than we. hyperallergic.com/performance-cu…

ART TO A PURPOSE: Join Ioana Gomoi at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing for "Resurrection – Creation and Restoration," a stunning exhibition where Byzantine-inspired art meets the art of mural restoration. news.cgtn.com/news/2026-05-2…

An all-women panel of portrait painting judges at the NPG: “Celebrating the very best in contemporary portraiture, the Portrait Award is one of the most important platforms for portrait painters today. “This year’s shortlist was selected from over 1,474 entries from artists across 63 countries. Entries were judged by a panel comprised of Senior Curator at the Turner Contemporary, Melissa Blanchflower; digital artist and set designer, Es Devlin; contemporary curator, Amy Emmerson Martin; and artist and Director of the Slade, Mary Evans.” – The National Portrait Gallery.” Three of the four short-listed artists are men.

The version on the right is said to be AI altered:

Princess Helene by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1861. Did the artist produce two versions of the portrait - or is the one a cleaned version of the other? Is the version on the right a digitally altered version of the state on the left?

What were the odds against both of these items turning up for the same issue of the Antiques Trade Gazette?

Bambi "Feathered Friends" and Cutie Honey Flash comics.ha.com/itm/animation-…

...and Twyman’s own 179 pp. Illustrated in b/w & colour hardcover book “Reproducing the Bayeux Tapestry over three centuries: a case study in the printed reproduction of a work of art” - the first book to consider how the Bayeux Tapestry has been reproduced in books, each using the printing technology of its time. The history of illustration printing from 18th century to early 21st century. With notes, bibliography and index. fosterbooks.co.uk/product/119279…

See also Sue Walker's: visible-language.org/Issue-59-3/VL-…

On 2 Dec. 2025, the Guardian carried this obit. on Michael Twyman by Sue Walker: "My former work colleague Michael Twyman, who has died aged 91, was a pioneer of the study of typography as a university discipline in Britain, and was founder of the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at Reading University in the mid-1970s. "His vision for teaching the subject of typography combined history, theory and practice in graphics, typefaces, books and information design. It was innovative in drawing on linguistics, psychology, social and economic history and the humanities to address 'design for reading'... ""His legacy is not just the department he founded, but an approach to visual communication as rational thinking that is applicable to any new media, and which can respond to the challenge of the digital economy through focused research. His own contribution developed the discipline through publications and collections. "Michael was born in London to Lawrence, a teacher, and Gladys (nee Williams), who looked after the family. He went to Sir George Monoux grammar school in Walthamstow, east London, although he was evacuated during the second world war to Broadway in the Cotswolds, an experience that left him with an affection for historic buildings and landscape. "At the University of Reading in 1953 he began a degree in fine art, and on graduation the university awarded him a scholarship to undertake research into the history of lithography. After taking a postgraduate teaching qualification at Cambridge University, he was invited to return to Reading to teach typography on the fine art course in 1959… "Separate degrees in typography and graphic communication were awarded by Reading from 1968 onwards, and Michael taught on those courses, inspiring students who went on to leadership positions in the design industry worldwide, notably with tech firms. "In 1970 he wrote a classic of printing and graphic design history, Printing 1770-1970. On setting up the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at Reading in 1974 he also became a professor. "After retiring in 1998, Michael fulfilled his long-held ambition of writing a book about lithographic printing in colour: A History of Chromolithography: Printed Colour for All (2013). His most recent publication, Reproducing the Bayeux Tapestry Over Three Centuries (2024), was dedicated to his daughter Nikky, who died not long before its publication. "In 1957 Michael married Nin Andrews, a fellow student at Reading and then an art teacher. She survives him, along with their sons, Jeremy and Dan, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.”