The comparativist

H ow do we celebrate 150 years of The Atkinson? Let's throw everything we have at it, and see what sticks! And everything stuck. The Atkinson’s art collection has about 3000 individual pieces, and most of them are on display in what usually is their beautifully organised main gallery. However, the Atkinson's 150th Anniversary Exhibition is what happens when there’s no curation, or when the curator thinks that every painting is worth one point, and more points, more better. This noisy over-saturation of art says two things We have a lot of paintings.  We know about tessellation. And don't expect to find the old, informative tombstones: they obviously wouldn't fit. Or any sort of theme, chronological or chromatic. There's no «this is what has been best about us in the last one and a half century», but rather a «this is us, this is our little curiosity shop». The entry is nil, and you get your money's worth. It's impossible to miss, too, as if you ...