William Hogarth’s Heads of Six of Hogarth’s Servants, oil on canvas, c 1750
EXHIBITIONS HUON MALLALIEU
TATE
HOGARTH AND EUROPE Tate Britain (to 20th March) FABERGÉ IN LONDON Victoria & Albert Museum (to 8th May) Until recently, I thought ‘trigger warnings’ were silly but harmless. Still, the Almeida Theatre’s warning about bloodshed in Macbeth was potentially life-threatening. By including the Samaritans’ telephone number, it could have encouraged people to clog lines vital to the truly desperate. Similarly, many instances of ‘cultural appropriation’ – tourists wearing sombreros or policemen’s helmets – may be tasteless or even irritating, but are hardly matters of moment. Trigger warnings for art exhibitions at public galleries are becoming very necessary. Curators’ insistence that we should look at the art of then through the blinkers of now is cultural appropriation of the worst sort, and likely to trigger apoplexy in anyone who values art and history. The principal function of artists is to put thoughts into the minds of those who
look at the art; it is not for curators to put their thoughts into the minds of artists. That is arrogant towards the past and patronising to the present. Consider Tate Britain’s label for Hogarth in a mahogany armchair painting the Comic Muse: ‘Could the chair also stand in for all those unnamed black and brown people enabling the society that supports his vigorous creativity?’ To which the only answer is no. It is infuriating not to be allowed to enjoy the raucous humour and ferocious satire of one of Britain’s greatest artists without being hectored by ignorant, badly expressed comments.
‘You might try that inn over there, but it’s only got one star’
Hogarth’s group portrait of his servants is loved even by the far-left intellectual Ken Loach, but we are tartly informed, ‘Such apparently informal studies seem to suggest a new spirit of individualism, but inequities [sic] of race and social status persisted.’ Oh dear. Perhaps I’d better call the Samaritans. In March, I suggested that the National Gallery should consult an astrologer over the opening date of their Dürer’s Journeys show, scheduled for that month, which opened on 20th November (to 27th February). That day also saw the Fabergé opening at the V&A, where admirable labels inform but don’t preach. I cannot love many of Fabergé’s toys for royals, but I admire the craftsmanship wholeheartedly, and the materials are exquisite. This show deserves crowds (if allowed). As well as presenting a whole clutch of Imperial eggs, it tells the story of the firm’s London branch, through which the international market was built. A touching case contains items the Fabergé workmaster Henrik Wigström salvaged from his desk as the Bolsheviks arrived. A big surprise is a pair of actual hand grenades manufactured by Fabergé during the war. My one criticism is the low lighting. The Oldie January 2022 71
