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Angie Lewin: New Watercolours in Edinburgh
Angie Lewin, Spey Still Life & Yellow Book (artist copyright)Just received some lovely pictures of new Angie Lewin watercolours, ahead of her exhibition in Edinburgh. Is it my imagination, or is...
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Eric Ravilious: 'Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes'
Eric Ravilious, Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes, 1935 (Tate)As yellow tomatoes ripen on the vine above, twin lines of cyclamen in orange pots draw us through one open doorway then another, until we...
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Hastings
I travel quite a lot doing research and giving lectures, but it isn't very often I come across a town like Hastings. Admittedly I was only there one night, but the place made an impression. I was there...
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Ravilious, Auerbach, Englishness
Eric Ravilious, Waterwheel, 1938, painted at Capel-y-Ffin, Wales; described by ER as 'a bit Chinese'I had a phone call last week from columnist Ian Jack, who wanted my opinion on the subject of Eric...
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Wanted: Artist's Face for £20 Note
Laura Knight with model, self-portrait, 1913, copyright artist's estateSo the Bank of England is looking for a new face for its £20 note, the face of a visual artist. We the public are being asked to...
View ArticleEric Ravilious: The Westbury Horse - on film!
Here's a short video of me discussing Ravilious on the day the Dulwich exhibition opened. If you feel I'm not talking complete rubbish please do come along to one of the talks I'm giving over the next...
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Summer at the RWA, feat. James Ravilious
James Ravilious, Archie Parkhouse & his dog Sally, copyright Beaford ArtsExhibition launches at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol are always fun, partly because the building is so...
View ArticleRavilious on Film: Dangerous Work at Low Tide
Here's the third part of the film shot at Dulwich Picture Gallery by the splendid Acap Media. Great close-ups of several lovely paintings from the last room of the Ravilious exhibition: Darkness and...
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Postcard from the Isle of Wight
Finally had a full week away and am now able to string a sentence together again. Must have been quite tired after putting on Ravilious show, but a week on Wight has set me straight. I can't believe...
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Reflections on Ravilious at Dulwich
Ship's Screw on a Railway Truck, 1940 (Ashmolean)Now that the Ravilious show is nearly over, I wanted to say thankyou to everyone who made the minor trek to Dulwich this summer. Do go and see their MC...
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Drawing & Memory: Fay Ballard
Flipper, 2012 (copyright Fay Ballard)The more complicated and technical the production of art becomes, the more I admire drawing. One of my personal highlights of the Ravilious exhibition was his...
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An Unsettling Vision: Kate Gottgens
Kate Gottgens, Harlequin Mother (2010)Painting seems to be back in vogue these days, to judge from the range of new books devoted to the subject. I tend to struggle with the writing in books about...
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Help the Fry Art Gallery buy its Building!
Eric Ravilious, Two Women in a Garden, 1932The Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden is one of my favourite art museums, being small, mildly eccentric and full of work by artists I like. Visiting from...
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Paul Nash: Landscape from a Dream
Paul Nash, Landscape from a Dream, 1936, TateThe Nashes hoped to live permanently in Dorset, but medical opinion insisted that the climate of the Isle of Purbeck was bad for Paul’s health, and in 1936...
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with Clive Hicks-Jenkins
Painted maquette of Gawain, by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, 2015 (artist's copyright)I don't remember a huge amount about my first year at university (it was 1985, after all) but I do recall that all the...
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Georgia O'Keeffe and Paul Nash for 2016
Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, 1930, copyright O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NMI was excited to discover that two of my favourite artists are being given major shows by Tate next year (2016). A...
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Garn Fawr & Trehilyn, with John Piper & Griff Rhys Jones
This autumn has had something of a Welsh theme. Having visited Clive Hicks-Jenkins in the Ystwyth valley and publishers Frances and Nicolas McDowall on the banks of the Wye, we headed to Strumble Head,...
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Aerial Creatures: David Jones and Peter Lanyon
Peter Lanyon, Soaring Flight, 1960, Arts Council (copyright artist's estate)I always look forward to the autumn exhibition season, and this year the harvest is particularly, er, fruitful. Nobody needs...
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Hammer Time: Modern British Art at Auction
Augustus John, Self-portrait, 1901, at BonhamsFor London's auctioneers, Modern British art is a booming business. Prices keep rising as interest in the period grows, and there's no shortage of work...
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