Free Thinking

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Free Thinking: Caesar, Hogarth and images of power

Caesar, Hogarth and Images of Power

Caesar, Hogarth and images of power

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Caesar, Hogarth and images of power

Rana Mitter talks to Professor Mary Beard, artist Ali Cherri and looks at Hogarth's art.

Tate Britain's new Hogarth show emphasises his continental connections. Mary Beard has researched images of Caesar. Beirut-born Ali Cherri is working at London's National Gallery.

Caesars with the wrong beard, faint laurels in the background of a scene from Hogarth's A Rake's Progress and the experiences of the guardian of empty tombs, part of a ruined Neolithic necropolis in the Sharjah desert in the United Arab Emirates: Rana Mitter and his guests discuss the ghosts of history and depictions of power in art.  Classicist Mary Beard has traced the collecting of images of Caesar over centuries in her latest book.  Ali Cherri's artwork, born out of his experiences growing up in Lebanon, includes films like the Digger and interventions in galleries designed to make us notice what is on display and what is being hidden or erased. Alice Insley is Curator of Historic British Art at Tate Britain and she's been exploring the continental connections between Hogarth and his fellow artists.  

Hogarth and Europe runs at Tate Britain from November 3rd to 20th March 2022.  You can find an article about Hogarth on BBC.com  https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20211020-why-william-hogarth-is-britains-greatest-artist
Ali Cherri is the National Gallery’s new Artist in Residence for 2021.  He is also making work inspired by the archives held by Coventry's Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.  You can find examples of his work https://www.alicherri.com/  
Mary Beard's book is called Twelve Caesars: Images of Power form the Ancient World to the Modern 

Our playlist of conversations about visual arts includes the 2021 Frieze Discussion with three directors of museums and galleries, an exploration of colour, and Aboriginal artworks on show at the Box Plymouth https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p026wnjl 

Producer: Robyn Read 


Image: Mary Beard

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