On paintings that hold viewers spellbound, and an author who writes about said paintings like no other.

Coined by journalist Elizabeth Young, the expression refers to those pieces of writing that can be popped by bored or anxious readers the way bubble wraps are.

For the past two years I’ve looked back on the year that was ‘in art’, that is to say listing the places and the art exhibitions visited, but this time I feel I can’t leave out a couple of events that made the year truly memorable.