Bridget Riley versus the Old Masters

Bridget Riley Red With Red 1, 2007 Raphael’s St Catherine (see next image) twists elegantly in a pose that in the sixteenth century was known as ‘serpentinata’ – literally, ‘like a snake’. Red with Red is one of a number of works by Riley that she began in the late 1990s, when she introduced a comparable serpentine line to work alongside her verticals and diagonals Photograph: Bridget Riley/Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London Raphael Saint Catherine of Alexandria , circa 1507 Photograph: The National Gallery Andrea Mantegna The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome , 1505-6 Mantegna’s The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome , made to simulate a classical relief sculpture (see next image) has two opposing processions that set up movements that lead the eye back and forth across the picture... Photograph: The National Gallery Bridget Riley Arrest 3 , 1965 ...although in a different format, Arrest 3, has ribbons of greys that likewise seem to lilt and flow in opposing directions Photograph: Bridget Riley/Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London Georges Seurat The Rainbow: Study for 'Bathers at Asnières ', 1883 Georges Seurat is best known for his ‘Pointillism’ whereby he divided colours into little dots of paint... Photograph: The National Gallery Bridget Riley Saraband , 1985 ...In the 1980s Riley made compositions of narrow vertical bands of colours such as Saraband , 1985. These vertical bands of colour have a strong historical resonance with Seurat’s dots Photograph: Bridget Riley/Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London Bridget Riley Arcadia 1 (Wall Painting 1) , 2007 Poussin’s Triumph of Pan (see next image) with its energetically dancing figures painted against the structure of the background trees, anticipates the vibrant rhythms of Riley’s wall-painting, Arcadia , where the verticals seem to retreat into the background while the more fluid shapes take up their own abstract dance in the foreground Photograph: Bridget Riley/Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London Nicolas Poussin The Triumph of Pan , circa 1636 Photograph: The National Gallery El Greco Christ driving the Traders from the Temple , circa 1600 In this painting El Greco uses a neutral grey to paint the floor and background architecture, that offsets the acid colours of the figures... Photograph: The National Gallery Bridget Riley Revision 10th November, 09 , 2009 ...In Riley’s Revision... a small gouache study, the unpainted areas of white play a similar pictorial role to El Greco’s grey Photograph: Bridget Riley Paul Cézanne Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) , circa 1894-1905 In his Bathers Cézanne rejected ideas of perspective and illusionism, preferring to emphasise the essential forms of his subject and the flat surface of the picture with tightly organised brushstrokes Photograph: The National Gallery Bridget Riley Blue (La Réserve) , 2010 Riley develops these ideas further – the beautifully arranged planes of colour in Blue (La Réserve) , are in a direct line of descent from Cézanne Photograph: Bridget Riley/Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London