Art
A la Colthard: a Spanish Day in London
Yesterday I went with Alice Mansfield to the Royal Academy to see the Spain and Hispanic World collection of Archer M Huntington, the son of a railroad magnate and avid collector around the turn of the twentieth century of Spanish paintings and artefacts. Alice considered Spanish art underrated [...]
The memorial service for Ken Howard
Last Tuesday I attended the memorial service for Ken Howard which took place at St James Church Piccadilly and afterwards at the Royal Academy. The church memorial takes an hour into which time you have to fit in prayers and the life of the person, in the case of Ken a full and long one. An [...]
The funeral of Ken Howard
Yesterday I travelled up to London for the funeral of the painter Ken Howard. The service was at St Mary’s Church,The Boltons, and the burial in the cemetery between Brompton and Fulham Road. Organised religion occupies the key points in life: birth (the christening service), manhood confirmation [...]
Sensationalists: The Bad Girls And Boys Of British Art/BBC 2
The Sensationalists, broadcast last night on BBC2, is the story of the YBAs (young British artists) – a movement originating in Goldsmith’s College of Art – whose prime mover was Damien Hirst. They fulminated against the traditional values of the art world, epitomised by Cork Street [...]
Ken Howard (1932-2022)
I was more than saddened to hear my old friend Ken Howard has passed away. A brilliant painter of light with an ebullient personality, Ken was the son of a Kilburn carpenter. He got his breakthrough as an artist covering ‘The Troubles’, commissioned by the Imperial War Museum, though not [...]
Sense and Sensibility (1995)/director Ang Lee
My comment that Jane Austen is better enjoyed by film than book were tested by this 1995 film directed by the esteemed Korean director Ang Lee. It had a strong cast of Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Elizabeth Spriggs, Robert Hardy, Harriet Walter, Tom Wilkinson, Alan [...]
Fake or Fortune
The 10th edition of Fake or Fortune is back. Ostensibly a programme about whether an acquired painting might either be worth a fortune or, alternatively, a fake would not be the stuff of popularity but obviously it is. Fiona Bruce, who presents The Antique Road Show, adopts the same technique of [...]
Edinburgh Museums: National Gallery/Portrait Gallery
It’s a difficult question for a national museum as to whether it should showcase national art or collect masterpieces from beyond the borders. The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, whilst showing its Turners, was weighted towards Italian Renaissance and French Art. The northern renaissance [...]
Gleneagles Hotel
Bob Tickler had it right. After the student accommodation, the Rust Group felt they were entitled to some pampering and where better to get it than the Gleneagles Hotel? It’s the place where the Gleneagles Agreement – effectively banning apartheid South Africa from sport – was [...]