T.J. Clark's 'Those Passions' Collects Five Decades of Art and Politics

T.J. Clark's latest work, 'Those Passions: On Art and Politics', features a collection of essays spanning from 1997 to 2023, addressing subjects such as Hieronymus Bosch and 'screen capitalism'. This anthology highlights Clark's unique writing style that merges thought with perception. In his critique of the 2016 James Ensor exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, he references Dostoevsky's 'The Eternal Husband' to shed light on Ensor's universe. His discussions on Velázquez’s depictions of Aesop and Mars relate to Brecht, while 'Beauty Lacks Strength: Hegel on the Art of his Century' connects Hegel’s ideas to Matisse’s 'Les tapis rouges'. A committed leftist, Clark contends that capitalism stifles political dialogue, asserting that art must reflect guilt and horror. He commends Bosch, Velázquez, and Ensor for their 'laughter from the left', alongside Delacroix for his 'strangeness and humanity'. The book also features a 'Brief Guide to Trump and the Spectacle', originally published in the London Review of Books prior to Trump's second inauguration, advocating for strategy over mockery. It is available from Thames & Hudson for £40.