Halfway through this exhibition of the early 20th-century Estonian painter Konrad Mägi I had to take a breather. By which I mean I needed to breathe in some better art. I was worried my responses might be off. How could I be finding this artist’s colourful works, with their echoes of pointillism, cubism and other modernist movements, so dead? Was the problem in me?
A few minutes looking around Dulwich’s permanent collection reassured me that it wasn’t me. I found it more beautiful and beguiling than ever. This unique little art museum was founded more than 200 years ago as home to a collection originally intended for the Polish royal family – hence its huge ambition, spanning Rembrandt, Rubens, Piero di Cosimo, Poussin, plus a fine selection of British art.
