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       Inside Gutai          Pre-Raphaelites          Rock and Country Music

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lady Lilith (1866-8). Delaware Art Museum.

Dear Readers,

There are so many ways for us to find inspiration—reexamining the past is often a fruitful one. I am delighted that we have three very diverse articles this month that all address the idea of looking back as a way of moving forward.  

 

Chronologically, we present Anna Leung’s reading of the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde, which just closed on 13 January at the Tate Britain. Anna gives a delightful tour. It is refreshing to think about how the Pre-Raphaelites looked to the medieval in their love of flatness in their painted spaces. Looking back at Gutai, Michel Batlle brings us his perspective on this important Japanese group that was contemporary with abstract expressionism, happenings, and performance art. Phil Auslander considers how rock musicians sought inspiration and renewal in the late 1960s by revisiting rock’s roots in country music. It is ironic that so many country musicians now look to rock: the pendulum swings back and forth. 

 

Happy New Year!

All my best,

 

Deanna

 

Deanna Sirlin

Editor-in-Chief

The Art Section

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