Michael Broughton’s Light-Infused Paintings at Galleria Six in Milan
British painter Michael Broughton (born 1977 in Braintree) presents his second solo exhibition at Galleria Six in Milan, featuring a series of works completed in 2022. The show, titled "A piè del vero" (a Dantean phrase), explores the artist's method of building up layers of paint to capture light not as a fleeting retinal impression but as a sedimented, internal glow. Broughton's practice involves dozens of preliminary drawings and multiple sittings per piece, with slow-drying pigments that crack and form a bark-like surface. Critic John Berger, in a 2012 text, noted that these paintings "do not capture an external light, they wait for the light. And slowly, weakly, the act of waiting itself becomes light, and internal light." The exhibition catalogue includes an essay by Andrew Dempsey. Broughton admires Camille Pissarro, but his approach differs from Impressionism: his light is accumulated gaze by gaze, embedded in cityscapes, interiors, and figures. The show runs at Galleria Six in Milan in 2023.
Key facts
- Michael Broughton is a British painter born in 1977 in Braintree.
- The exhibition is his second solo show at Galleria Six in Milan.
- The works on display were created in 2022.
- The exhibition title is 'A piè del vero', a reference to Dante.
- Broughton's technique involves dozens of preliminary drawings and multiple sittings.
- His paints dry slowly, forming a cracked, bark-like surface.
- John Berger wrote about Broughton's method in 2012, describing the paintings as waiting for light.
- Broughton cites Camille Pissarro as an influence.
Entities
Artists
- Michael Broughton
- Camille Pissarro
- John Berger
- Andrew Dempsey
Institutions
- Galleria Six
Locations
- Braintree
- Milan
- Italy
- London