Art

You pays your money …

The name Picasso is so engrained in the world’s psyche that several times during his lifetime, and indeed regularly after it, his reputation has become subject to relentless attack by the forces of reappraisal, revisionism, post-modernism and even those who aspire to the famous ‘with [...]

January 21, 2020 // 0 Comments

Allen and Beryl Freer: a salutary lesson

Its often and incorrectly assumed that to build a collection you have to be one of the super-rich. It is true that fine art and high finance have merged and collecting an old Master – or a modern one – is a badge of wealth. However the collection built up by Allen and Beryl Freer, to be [...]

January 15, 2020 // 0 Comments

Rembrandt / the Complete Paintings

My Xmas present for myself was a handsome volume of all of Rembrandt’s paintings published by Taschen. My plan was that I would have an hour to myself to savour these wondrous works. Yet when I did so it was with a slight feeling of disappointment. The problem with Rembrandt is that he produced [...]

December 27, 2019 // 0 Comments

The Mauritshuis

No visit of The Golden Age of Dutch Art would be complete without a trip to the Mauritshuis in the Hague. The mansion once belonged to the Dutch Governor Of Brazil, Johan Maurits, but most of the collection comes from the hoard of Prince William of Orange. These include a Rubens, two Rembrandt [...]

December 20, 2019 // 0 Comments

Pieter van Hooch of Delft

Pieter van Hooch is not one of the big three of Dutch Art (Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh) but this exhibition at the Prinsenhof Delft shows he is an artist of innovation, a master of light and painter of everyday life in Delft. Born in Rotterdam, the son of a bricklayer, he came to Delft in 1652 [...]

December 19, 2019 // 0 Comments

A morning at the National Gallery

It’s still a wonderful asset and advantage to tourists and locals alike that you can see all the treasures of the National Gallery for nothing. Two trips to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh set me back nearly 40 euros. Yesterday the tutor of our excellent art course organised a curated tour to [...]

December 4, 2019 // 0 Comments

Preview of Modern British at Christie’s

Yesterday I attended a preview of an auction of Modern British art held by Christies. All the big names were there – L.S Lowry, Stanley Spencer, Ben Nicholson, Walter Sickert, Graham Sutherland – though their representative work was not of their highest quality. One of the factors in [...]

November 19, 2019 // 0 Comments

The lady has a point …

For the most part in the social circles I inhabit the subject of gender equality occasionally arises but causes debate less often. Credit where it is due – in more senses than one – for last summer’s revelatory Lyon & Turnbull exhibition Bright Souls: The Forgotten Story of [...]

November 1, 2019 // 0 Comments

I think I’m turning Japanese … [Not?]*

(Note: * above is a reference to the worldwide single hit Turning Japanese by The Vapors, taken off their 1980 album New Clear Days). Despite our Rust delegation out in Japan continuing to set new standards of reporting excellence, overnight I spotted a piece in the British media suggesting that [...]

October 30, 2019 // 0 Comments

Headlong/Michael Frayn

Michael Frayn’s novel Headlong operates on 2 levels. The first is a fiction in which Martin, a philosopher married to Kate an art historian, chances upon a painting of his neighbour in the country which he strongly believes to be a missing Brueghel. It is worth millions and he starts a [...]

October 13, 2019 // 0 Comments

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Investment matters

January 25, 2020 // 0 Comments

Later this month investors in Neil Woodford’s flagship fund Equity Income will receive their first pay out since it was suspended , known as “gated” in the trade. “ [...]
And now for something completely different

January 25, 2020 // 0 Comments

Over the years the future course of the BBC and all that goes with it has snuck up on the inside rail, some might think somewhat against the odds, to become one of our [...]
The BBC – it was not ever thus

January 24, 2020 // 0 Comments

I am reading an excellent book – Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson. It is an account of how many Europeans notably heads of government, or self-styled ones like Charles [...]
How the world goes around

January 24, 2020 // 0 Comments

As I begin today’s post I need to declare an interest – I do not believe in God. That registered, I would also like to add that I do not consider myself to be [...]
TheTanner Report: Charlton 0 Fulham 0

January 23, 2020 // 0 Comments

One of the factors in the Great Debate of attendance versus TV-watching is ease of travel. I watched this bore draw from the comfort of my sofa on the Skysport red button. I [...]