News ARTiculation National Final 26.03.2021
Congratulations to Lower Sixth student Adrian McLean for making it to the national grand final of the UK-wide ARTiculation Prize for public speaking on art, after winning two previous open heats against many other Sixth Form students from across London.
Adrian’s talk on Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Blue, Black, Yellow and Red (1922) not only gave a masterly description and interpretation of the painting, but also used it to ask fundamental philosophical questions about the relevance of modern art to contemporary viewers. The talk was an intellectual workout for the most academic listeners, including the eminent scholars who judged each round: Dr Melissa Calaresu (University of Cambridge) praised Adrian for making audiences see abstract art afresh, while the world-renowned art historian Professor Griselda Pollock applauded the talk’s brilliant interrelation of material analysis and museology. Adrian did not win the final, but has achieved Godolphin’s highest-ever ranking in the competition.