Art and Eye

  The pulling apart and pushing together of bodies comes to define Rodin's Fugit Amor,  and much of his  oeuvre from the late nineteenth century. Cast here in bronze, a man and a woman cling onto one another, precariously balanced on a slab of rock, which their undulating bodies seem to grow out from. At once weighted but also weightless, Rodin's small sculpture is infused with Classical references, and becomes a conversion of opposites, symbolising the desperation and ultimate futility of love affairs.  The title translates to 'futile love', already implying a barrier to togetherness or the wasted energy on the attempt which Rodin depicts here. Glistening in bronze, the two bodies become even more anguished and elongated, in a combination of peaks and troughs: the woman lifts her head and torso upwards, hand raking through her hair, whilst the man slides off the rockface, his legs dangling precariously into the abyss. However, they still seem to deliberately fit tog...

  It is difficult for the eye to settle in the busy scene concocted by Durer, based on the story found in the Book of Revelations. The Whore of Babylon occupies the right hand side of the work, accompanied by her many headed monster, facing off against a crowd of onlookers, and being attacked from the heavens above. Despite the monochromatic colour range of the print, shading and varying levels of detail successfully capture the drama and action of the scene, whilst showing off Durer's printmaking abilities which defined the discipline for centuries to come.  Each tuft of grass, each fallen rock, each puffing cloud, are all exceptionally detailed by Durer. In woodcuts, there is only linear and horizontal shading, not cross-hatching as would be found in etching or engraving, but this does not limit the artist's hand in his Apocalypse series. Figures are crammed together on the left-hand side of the work - a crowd of onlookers balancing the many headed monster accompanying the W...