Hercules & Achelus

Here is the original masterpiece by Francis Joseph Bosio: Hercules Fighting Achelus, the Louvre Museum, Paris.
(See the next post down.)

Wild Kew

If you appreciate excellent wildlife photography, click the title link to view an enchanting audio slideshow by Paul Kerley of a selection of Heather Angel's shots of wildlife in Kew Gardens, taken over a year. Her softback book Wild Kew was published today by Kew Publishing, price £9 (CLICK). Watch out for a heron perched on the top of Hercules Fighting Achelus, the fountain at the centre of The Palm House Pond. The original bronze statue by Francis Joseph Bosio was commissioned by King Charles X of France in 1822 and stands in the Louvre Museum, Paris. Bosio's version for Kew Gardens was installed in 1853.

Warhol Drawings

Believe it or not, Andy Warhol was an illustrator before he sold out to commercialism and started producing avant-garde tripe which now looks extremely dated (unlike the delectable Twiggy; see below). He drew this illustration of The Little Red Hen for a children's book in the late 1950's. Not brilliant, but better than anything he produced once he became famous. Four of these drawings go for auction in New York on 9 December, estimated value £355 ($600). Stocking filler?

Twiggy Signing

For those of you who would like to meet a fashion icon in the flesh, here's your chance. To coincide with the current Twiggy exhibition at the National Portrait Galley in London, the lady herself will be signing copies of Twiggy: A Life in Photographs on Friday 4 December at 12.30 in Room 33. The book includes over 100 images of Twiggy taken by top fashion photographers (title link). Cost? £20.00. But a copy signed by Twiggy is bound to appreciate in value.

Stuckists Sale

Christmas looms! Here we go again. All the usual festive arfle barfle gloop: commercialism mixed with paganism plus a dollop of religion. Except, of course, for The Stuckists Christmas Sale 2009, which opens at the Matisonn Burgin Gallery in Shoreditch on 28 November and continues until 5 December. Click the title link to find out more.

Ghost Forest III

As you may have seen on BBC London News, Angela Palmer's collection of dead tree stumps - Ghost Forest - has arrived in Trafalgar Square and will litter the place until Friday. It doesn't look nearly as picturesque as this artist's impression makes out; but, if you're into dead tree stumps, you know where to go. As all these trees died naturally, I can't see that their stumpy presence has anything to say about climate change or deforestation. Videos of melting glaciers and of dead children being dug out of mud slides make the point far more effectively. Of course it's a great self-publicity stunt for Angela. Click the title link for her BBC interview.

Online Safety Week

Today is the beginning of Get Safe Online Week, an annual event to raise awareness of the need for Internet safety. Click the title link to find information on identity theft, protecting your PC from malware, avoiding online fraud and refusing to become a money mule. What's a "money mule"? Click the title link to find out. Use the website's quiz to test your online safety savvy.

V&A Lunchtime Talks

If you work in Central London, you might be interested in the lunchtime talks at the V&A Museum (title link). These are free drop-in events in the Hochhauser Auditorium of the Sackler Centre, from 1.15pm to 2pm. On Wednesday 16 December curator Peta Motture will give an introduction to the new Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. Sounds interesting. I've illustrated this item with another of the Renaissance masterpieces to be found in the new galleries: Giovanni Bologna's Samson Slaying The Philistine (ca 1560).

Capturing Claudia

How do you fancy Claudia Schiffer as a pulp fiction heroine? Harper's Bazaar came up with the idea of Capturing Claudia, which involved artists creating film noir backdrops for her to scream against. Artists Chris Bucklow, Jason Brooks, Gilian Wearing, Keith Tyson, Marc Quinn, Dexter Dalwood and Jake and Dinos Chapman all contributed. If you missed the exhibition at the Colnaghi Gallery in London, click the title link to view the pictures online. There's an interview and more details in the November issue of Harper's Bazaar UK.

Digital Cloud

Here's an artist's impression of the latest nonsense suggested for London, a load of interconnected plastic bubbles on tall mesh towers: Digital Cloud. The design has been submitted for the competition to select a centrepiece for the 2012 Olympic Games, but the team behind the design have got fed up with Mayor Bouncy Boris's dithering and have launched an appeal for subscriptions to build the thing. Looks to me like a nest of barrage balloons to catch low-flying suicide bombers. Let's hope the plastic is strong enough to withstand seagulls' pecks. Click the title link for details.

Armistice Day

Modern Warfare 2

Calling all video games addicts. BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat wants to know if you were one of the wallies who queued last night to get your hands on one of the first copies of Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. (More than 300 stores across the UK opened at midnight to sell the game to fans.) Aunty wants to know "Does the game live up to the hype?" I must say this screenshot from the game looks excellent. It could be a still from a James Bond movie. Click the title link to give Aunty your verdict.

Movie Scenes Taped

The media some artists use is truly amazing. A friend showed me this picture in last week's Metro: a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound by Mark Khaisman using brown parcel tape. He works directly on a light box, applying up to ten layers of parcel tape to shady areas. Is it worth it? The pictures take him up to a week to create and sell for £6,000.