Books, Arts & Manners: God Save the Queen

The first issue of Modern Painters, a new British quarterly devoted to the visual arts, fills us with that expansive rush of good feeling with which we greet anyone who dislikes the same people we dislike. Like the Edinburgh Review of old, and The New Criterion of today, Modern Painters was born to do battle. The editors, headed by Peter Fuller, will stop at nothing to win our hearts. They have Robert Hughes attacking Julian Schnabel, Peter Fuller attacking Francis Bacon, Sir Roy Shaw attacking the Arts Council, and, as the cherry to top it all off, HRH the Prince of Wales attacking every building erected on British soil since Buckingham Palace. Even artists whom they champion, like Graham Sutherland, Lucian Freud, and David Bomberg, become human bats with which to beat the international art world.

Clearly, Modern Painters has its heart in the right place. It is almost unique among contemporary art magazines in not puffing up the art market of the moment, or providing a forum for all hues of Marxist, nihilist, and post-structuralist agitation. The writing, which is clear and grammatical, is mercifully free of the usual art-world maunder. The magazine’s physical appearance as well is encouraging, with its ample illustrations, glued spine, and attractive layout.

The first issue of Modern Painters, a new British quarterly devoted to the visual arts, fills us with that expansive rush of good feeling with which we greet anyone who dislikes the same people we dislike. Like the Edinburgh Review of old, and The New Criterion of today, Modern Painters was born to do battle. The editors, headed by Peter Fuller, will stop at nothing to win our hearts. They have Robert Hughes attacking Julian Schnabel, Peter Fuller attacking Francis Bacon, Sir Roy Shaw attacking the Arts Council, and, as the cherry to top it all off, HRH the Prince of Wales attacking every building erected on British soil since Buckingham Palace. Even artists whom they champion, like Graham Sutherland, Lucian Freud, and David Bomberg, become human bats with which to beat the international art world.

Clearly, Modern Painters has its heart in the right place. It is almost unique among contemporary art magazines in not puffing up the art market of the moment, or providing a forum for all hues of Marxist, nihilist, and post-structuralist agitation. The writing, which is clear and grammatical, is mercifully free of the usual art-world maunder. The magazine’s physical appearance as well is encouraging, with its ample illustrations, glued spine, and attractive layout.