Queen's Baton Relay

You may not be aware of it, but the Queen's Baton Relay is meandering around the Commonwealth en route to the opening ceremony in Glasgow on 23 July 2014. It left Buckingham Palace on 9 October 2013 and will travel through 70 nations until it reaches Glasgow for the opening ceremony on 23 July 2014. Then we can forget all about it. Who needs the Commonwealth Games? The Baton Relay is the best bit for the children. Look at this proud little cherub in The Solomon Islands The baton is almost bigger than she is! (CLICK for more information.)

Sorolla’s Flowers

I tend to associate Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla with sea, sand and surf, but of course he also painted portraits and gardens. Here's one of his earliest garden studies: Una azotea con flores (A rooftop with flowers) painted in 1902, when he was trying his hand at Impressionism. It comes up for grabs in Bonhams London auction on 5 December, estimated at £150,000 - £200,000 (CLICK).

Hercules v Achelous

Having mentioned Kew Gardens' copy of Baron François-Joseph Bosio's statue of Hercules (Heracles) fighting the river-god Achelous in the form of a serpent, I thought I'd post a photo of the original bronze (1824) in the Louvre Museum, Paris. CLICK for a YouTube video of a panning shot around the statue.

Christmas at Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew has launched its first illuminated after-dark Christmas festival. This photo shows the restored Palm House illuminated by night. In the foreground is a fountain with the statue of Hercules fighting the river-god Achelous as its centrepiece. This is a bronze replica of the marble sculpture by François-Joseph Bosio, made in 1824. CLICK for Kew.

Jake & Dinos Chapman

Today the new Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London opened Jake and Dinos Chapman: Come and See. These two are the Hammer Horror of British art, as you can see from their installation thingy The Sum of all Evil (2012-2013). Lots of Ku Klux Klan figures this time round (CLICK). It seems a shame to fill Zaha Hadid Architects' wonderful new exhibition space with a panoply of Chapman junk.

Chewing Gum Man

Tomorrow, for one week only, the Julian Hartnoll "fine artmonger" gallery at 37 Duke Street, St James's, London, opens Ben Wilson aka Chewing Gum Man - Gum Pics, Brick Pics and the Millennium Bridge Trail (CLICK). This is Ben's second exhibition at the gallery. All artworks are original and priced at £300. Shown is his incredibly detailed gum pic View of St Paul's Choir School on a brick.

The Maltese Falcon

Film buffs might like to know that the original lead statuette of the Maltese Falcon fetched a record $4,085,000 (£2,505,953) at Bonhams New York sale, held in partnership with Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on 25 November (CLICK). The statuette was a movie prop made for Warner Bros' classic film noir The Maltese Falcon (1941) based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett and starring Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade. The movie saw the directorial debut of John Huston and was nominated for three Oscars (CLICK). The Maltese Falcon is one of the movie greats of all time.

American Mirror

Today I chanced upon a BBC interview with Deborah Solomon, whose biography American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell was published earlier this year (CLICK). She reveals that Rockwell was a depressive who relied on psychotherapy for help. This is amazing when you consider the wit and joie de vivre that enhanced his illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post and made him one of America's favourite artists. It seems he created a wholesome fantasy world into which he and America could escape.

Ding Family Update

In 2011 I posted this combined graphic of Jifeng Ding, his wife Helen Chui and daughters Alice and Xing enjoying their last Christmas in 2010; on the right Anxiang Du, the man suspected of knifing all four to death in a frenzied attack (CLICK). He escaped the country via London, but was eventually caught in Morocco. Extradited to the UK to stand trial, today in Northampton Crown Court he was found guilty of murdering the entire family. He will be sentenced tomorrow (CLICK).

The Kelpies

Today sees the official topping-out ceremony for Andy Scott's massive sculptures The Kelpies, at 100ft the tallest pieces of public art in the UK. The heads of these mythical water spirits were modelled on Clydesdale horses. Their £5m cost is just a small part of the £43m Helix redevelopment project between Falkirk and Grangemouth in central Scotland, funded by The Big Lottery Fund, Falkirk Council and Scottish Canals. CLICK for a BBC slide show.

Constable Sketch

Today the V&A Museum in London put on display this previously unknown Oil Sketch (early 1820s) by John Constable. It was discovered under the lining canvas of his painting Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead, and is thought to be a sketch of Hampstead Heath. The discovery was made while V&A staff prepared paintings for a major exhibition next year: Constable: The Making of a Master, which will also include landscapes by old masters such as Jacob van Ruisdael and Claude Lorrain (CLICK).

Kenwood House

Architectural gem Kenwood House on the edge of Hampstead Heath has been closed for the last 18 months to enable a major £5.95 million repair and restoration project to take place. The slate roof needed repairing to protect the interior, which includes the magnificent Robert Adam Library, a work of art in itself. The world-class collection of paintings includes works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner and Gainsborough. Many improvements have been made to return this former stately home to its original splendour and to give it a more "homely" feel. Kenwood House reopens to the public this Thursday, admission free (CLICK).
CLICK for an excellent BBC audio slide show by Paul Kerley, narrated by Jeremy Ashbee of English Heritage.

Dinosaur Zoo

If you think you saw this large dinosaur wandering around Trafalgar Square today, don't panic! It was a publicity stunt to advertise Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo at the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, Camden. This is a puppetry show from Australia which allows kids and adults to interact with dinosaurs that inhabited Australia millions of years ago. It looks a lot more fun than the usual Christmas pantomime and a lot more educational too. CLICK for a video, photos and ticket prices.

Turner and the Sea

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has opened its winter biggy: Turner and the Sea (CLICK). This major exhibition brings together 120 oil paintings, watercolours, prints and sketches, including some of the finest paintings of Turner's long career borrowed from collections around the world. Shown here is The Shipwreck (1805). The exhibition follows Turner’s progression from newly-elected Royal Academician to one of the country’s most celebrated artists. It also includes seascapes by van de Velde, Vernet, Constable and Gainsborough. I guess the insurance cover for this collection must be worth a small fortune. Tickets aren't cheap: £20 for adults, £15.45 for silver surfers.

Art Party

Yesterday The Art Party Conference took place in Scarborough to discuss sustaining the arts in Britain and to throw missiles at small clay busts of Education Secretary Michael Gove, who must be one of the most hated politicians in the UK. There were marches and placards and people airing their views. The whole thing was a spoof of party political conferences. I'm not sure anything was decided, apart from keeping pressure on Government to support British culture. Sculptress Cornelia Parker said "I don't think artists want to run the country - we can barely organise ourselves” (CLICK).

Works on Paper

Here's a date for your 2014 diary. From 6 to 9 February the Science Museum in London will be holding its 5th Works on Paper Fair (CLICK). All types of pictures drawn by hand will be included: watercolours, prints, posters, ink, pencil, crayon, chalk, pastel, gouache or charcoal. Prices start at £250. This original drypoint of a fashionable Edwardian lady perusing pictures at an art exhibition caught my eye: Les Trois Crayons de Watteau by Paul Helleu. It would set you back £11,500. Not a fair for punters seeking bargains. Admission costs £15. No concessions for silver surfers!

Back to Reality

These three children in a shattered, tilted bathroom in the Philippines are playing a game of Sungka, trying to grab some semblance of normality in their shattered city, torn apart by Typhoon Haiyan. They have one another, but is aid getting through to them?

NEAC Art Show

The next show at the Mall Galleries in London is the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition (CLICK). It opens on 29 November and runs until 8 December. Admission costs £3 for adults, £2.50 for silver surfers. Shown is The Cricket Match by Michael Whittlesea NEAC. Artist-led workshops take place during the show. You need to book a place. You may also browse & buy online (CLICK).

Doctor Who

Are you braced for the silliness of The Day Of The Doctor on BBC One at 7.50 tonight? Here are the 11 actors who have played Doctor Who so far, beginning with William Hartnell and concluding with Matt Smith. Personally I don't care who plays the Time Lord. It's the crumpet that counts. The BBC is being incredibly sexist in ignoring all the pretty young actresses who have flirted with the Doctor over the last 50 years. How does he resist them? Enter the Tardis, my dears. For a jaundiced view of Doctor Who, CLICK. As for the ExCel London show, forget it. Tickets are sold out (CLICK).

Poohsticks

Two of E.H. Shepard's Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations are coming up for grabs in Sotheby's London auction on 10 December. The first is his original pencil sketch for Poohsticks, entitled For A Long Time They Looked At The River Beneath Them. This had been thought lost, but had been kept by Shepard's wife Norah and given to a friend. It is worth anything up to £50,000. The second is Shepard's delightful illustration Christopher Robin's Braces, estimated value £40,000 - £60,000 (CLICK).

E.H. Shepard - Christopher Robin's Braces

18 Lowrys Sold

Here's another painting sold at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in London on 20 November: L.S. Lowry's Steps at Wick (1937) which he painted during a holiday in Scotland. This has also been languishing in a private collection, unseen by the public for 20 years. It fetched £890,000. Altogether Bonhams sold 18 Lowrys for a total of over £1,760,000 (CLICK). Where have they all gone? Into the vaults of anonymous private collectors, to emerge decades later? This isn't good enough. Museums and galleries need to be able to locate them, so they can be borrowed for public exhibitions.

Kevin Francis Gray

Yesterday the Pace Gallery at 6 Burlington Gardens, London, opened its first exhibition of sculptures by Kevin Francis Gray (CLICK). He hails from Northern Ireland, but lives and works in London. Shown is his Installation of Nude Sculptures (2013). The Gallery's blurb is sheer gobbledygook, but Kevin's nudes are excellent. The exhibition runs until 18 January 2014.

Culture City 2017

Hull has been named the UK's next City of Culture in 2017. The city's plans include an opening ceremony with theatrical elephants, dancing white phone boxes and four "rivers" of light, people and sound flowing into Hull. As Tesco would say "Every little helps". I wonder how much all this nonsense will cost and whether the city will see a return on its investment (CLICK).

The Honey Thief

Here's another artwork that has been buried in a private collection for yonks, in this case a century. Lucas Cranach the Elder's Venus with Cupid stealing Honey (1537) comes up for grabs in Bonhams Old Master Paintings sale at 101 New Bond Street, London, on 4 December with an estimated value of £1,500,000 to £2m. The Latin message on the top left corner of the picture reads: “A bee stings the son of Venus while he is stealing honeydew thus sweet things are mixed with evil ones.” How to turn an erotic nude into a morale message fit for German prudes! The stag lying behind Venus represents Prudence (CLICK). Venus and her son formed such a popular theme that the Cranach workshop produced at least 27 of them. CLICK for another.

Proserpine Sold

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's drawing in coloured chalks Proserpine (1880) fetched £3,274,500 ($5,274,892) at Sotheby’s auction of British & Irish Art in London, establishing a new record price for Rossetti at auction. The drawing had been hidden in a private collection for over four decades. The winning telephone bid was by a UK private collector (CLICK). The model for Proserpine was William Morris's wife Jane Morris, who became Rossetti's muse and mistress. The pomegranate is a powerful symbol in ancient cultures around the world. Here it represents the Empress of the Underworld in Greek mythology.

Posh's Tiara

Thinking of fashion, celebrity and the conspicuous consumption of the emerging middle class reminded me of Slim Barrett's East of Paris tiara (1999) made of 18-carat gold and diamonds for Posh and Beck's wedding. (She was a member of some girlie singing group - Girls Aloud or something like that - and he's a football player.) The tiara comes up for auction at Bonhams Fine Jewellery Sale in London on 5 December with an estimated value of £18,000 to £25,000 (CLICK). Anyone for bling?

Georgians Revealed

The British Library is beginning a year-long celebration of the ascendancy of Hanoverian King George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714. The English would have liked to have seen him get the bum's rush back to Germany, but the period from 1714 and 1830 saw a quiet revolution in British life. Georgians Revealed: Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain explores this transformation that took place in the Georgian period, from reading magazines to building art galleries and museums. Fashion, celebrity and conspicuous consumption became the pastimes of the emerging middle class (CLICK).

Tate Britain Revamp

Tomorrow Tate Britain in London unveils its £45m revamp to the public. It looks glorious. A new Spiral Staircase beneath the rotunda leads up to the circular balcony of the domed atrium, which has been closed to visitors since the 1920s. The Thames-facing Millbank entrance reopens with a dedicated schools' entrance and reception beneath. CLICK for a BBC video of the improvements.

Nigeria Art Society UK

The Nigeria Art Society UK is holding its Winter 2013 Art Exhibition from 2 to 7 December at the WAC Gallery, which is housed in the Waterloo Action Centre, 14 Baylis Road, London, SE1 7AA. This is a group show. So there is a variety of different styles, media and abilities. The common denominator is that all the artists are from Nigeria and have come to London to further their artistic careers (CLICK). Shown here is a detail from Kunle Adegborioye's A busy day at Balogun. The show is organised by Titus Agbara, one of the artists whose work will be on display (CLICK).

Art Thefts Rising

According to police, the theft of works of art and antiques in the UK is now running at more than £300m a year, second only to the proceeds of crime from drug dealing. Most of these stolen goods are shipped abroad to be sold to dealers and collectors. One of the many problems with the European Union is that foreign criminals are free to come and go as they please, taking their loot with them. The Art Loss Register says that since 1991 about 60,000 items of art, antiques or collectables have been reported as lost, stolen or looted from the UK. Police are also concerned at the rising level of violence associated with these thefts. Shown is the medieval Wenlok Jug, stolen last year from the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton. It is one of only four known in the world and is worth £750,000. Police recovered the damaged jug and collared the fence. He received a piddling two-year prison sentence for handling stolen goods! It should have been a lot more. This is British heritage that is being plundered. On Monday, a taskforce led by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) will unveil its proposals to tackle this growing problem (CLICK). An increase in prison sentences for fences dealing in heritage items should be top of ACPO's list.

Paul Smith

The latest exhibition at the Design Museum in London is Hello, My Name is Paul Smith, which draws on the designer's personal archive, from the company’s beginnings in Nottingham to its international prominence today. The show is a celebration of Smith’s forty years in the fashion and design industry. Shown is his Candy-striped Mini from the late 1990's. I wonder if Sir Alec Issigonis would have approved. The exhibition runs until 9 March 2014. Prices range from £7.35 to 13.27 (CLICK).

Taichi Arch

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has acquired this monstrous sculpture by Taiwanese artist Ju Ming: Taichi Arch (2000). This monster is a gift to the Museum from the Juming Culture and Education Foundation in memory of Professor Michael Sullivan - a world authority on 20th-century and contemporary Chinese art - who died in September (CLICK). It's ... er ... big, isn't it?

Bollywood Auction

Did you know that the UK is home to the largest audience for Bollywood films outside of India and contributes 15-20 per cent of the industry’s profits? Did you also know that Bollywood is celebrating its centenary this year? To mark this milestone Conferro Auctions will be holding its inaugural auction of Vintage Bollywood Memorabilia at the Westbury Gallery, Westbury Hotel, Mayfair, London, on 29 November (CLICK). Viewing takes place on 28 November, beginning at 11am. The 150 lots include vintage LPs, banners, synopses, posters, lobby cards and gramophone records from the last 100 years of Bollywood history. Shown is the film poster for the Hindi comedy drama Seeta aur Geeta (1972).

Scrotum Update

Can you forget Pyotr Pavlensky, the "performance artist" who nailed his scrotum to the ground in Red Square and whom I suspect of suffering from congenital analgesia? The authorities are taking seriously this scrotum-nailing protest against ex-KGB boss Vladimir Putin and political apathy in Russia. A criminal investigation has been launched and Pavlensky now faces a charge of hooliganism, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He could be let off with a fine, but that seems unlikely as the Russian fuzz obviously want to stamp out this scrotum-nailing nonsense (CLICK). Chin up, Pyotr.

Vaizey on Van Dyck

Culture tsar Ed Vaizey has gone bananas. He's slapped temporary export bans on two items sold at auction. The first is a cast of Napoleon Bonaparte's death mask, known as the "Boys cast" because it was made for the Rev Richard Boys, Senior Chaplain of St Helena. £175,100 needs to be raised to buy this item (CLICK). The second item is Sir Anthony Van Dyck's magnificent Self-portrait, which sold for the conservative price of £12.5 million. This is undoubtedly a great British treasure. King Charles I held Van Dyck in such high esteem that he awarded him a knighthood, a home and an annuity in 1632 (CLICK).

Bob Dylan Art

Tomorrow the Halcyon Gallery in central London opens Bob Dylan, Mood Swings, an exhibition of various artworks by the US musician: iron sculptures, paintings, bullet-ridden car doors and signed limited editions, all of which are for sale. Shown is Dylan's Untitled VI, modelled by a Halcyon Gallery employee with nice legs. CLICK for the gallery website and more information. CLICK for BBC News.

Samuel Cooper

I previewed the Philip Mould gallery's loan exhibition Warts And All: The Portrait Miniatures of Samuel Cooper (1609-1672) last month (CLICK). It opened yesterday, and here's the lad himself: Samuel Cooper's Self-Portrait (1644). He looks a most personable young fellow. Additional news is that there will be two talks at the gallery. On 19 November at 6pm Dr Bendor Grosvenor and the curator Emma Rutherford will discuss Cooper's life, career and technical brilliance in Samuel Cooper: The Genius and the Wart. On 3 December at 6pm historian Dr Anna Keay will discuss Our most beloved son: Samuel Cooper and the portraiture of the Duke of Monmouth. Both talks are free, but you must book in advance. Contact Kat Berry on 0207 499 6818 or by emailing kat@philipmould.com.

Katie Walsh Winner

The £12,000 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013 has been awarded to Spencer Murphy for his photo of jockey Katie Walsh, my favourite in what I thought was a humdrum shortlist this year. Murphy shot a series of jump jockeys portraits for Channel Four. He says "I was keen to include Katie. I wanted to show both her femininity and the toughness of spirit she requires to compete against the best riders in one of the most demanding disciplines in horse racing" (CLICK). He succeeded brilliantly. The exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London opened today and runs until 9 February 2014.

Gone Missing

Police are seeking this lovely 15-year-old schoolgirl Ella Hysom, who went missing in Ilford. Although she lives in Colchester, she has to travel all the way to Goodmayes Psychiatric Hospital to receive regular therapy sessions for depression. (That gives you an idea of the pathetic state of NHS psychiatric care in the South East of England.) She was last seen in Clements Road, where all the bus routes converge in Ilford. She may have been making her way from Goodmayes to Ilford Station, en route to returning home. She is 5ft 9in tall and was wearing blue jeans, Ugg boots, a green coat and a jumper when she was last seen. Her parents are worried sick about her (CLICK).
Update: Ella has been found "safe and well" (CLICK).

Curtain for Poirot

Tonight a TV institution comes to an end in Curtain: Poirot's Final Case on ITV at 8pm. David Suchet has been playing Agatha Christie's dapper little Belgian sleuth for 25 years. All the Poirot whodunits have now been filmed and the script writers have run out of ideas. Poor old Poirot is confined to a wheelchair for his final case, pushed around by his longstanding chum Captain Hastings. Will the little grey cells still work, mon ami? CLICK for the BBC's farewell.

Bacon Record?

According to the BBC, Francis Bacon's triptych Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) has became the most expensive artwork sold at auction. It fetched $142m (£89m, 106m euro thingies) at Christie's New York sale (CLICK). Both the triptych and the price paid for it are obscene. Christie's hasn't disclosed the identity of the buyer, but it's a safe bet that Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bint al-Thani, head of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), footed the bill. She has an estimated $1 billion per year to spend on art (CLICK). Being a Muslim country, Qatar has no tradition of European-style art. It may have wonderful architecture and lots of pretty patterns, but Islam's edict against idolatry precludes great paintings. So the forward-thinking QMA is out to plunder European art. Last year it paid $250m (£158m) for Paul Cézanne's daub Card Players (c. 1891), a record price which hasn't been beaten by Bacon's tripe (CLICK).

Nail In Scrotum Art

Regular readers will know what I think about "performance artists": silly show-offs that lack any sensitivity to art. This one takes the biscuit: Pyotr Pavlensky. Here he is performing his latest stunt. He stripped naked and drove a nail through his scrotum to pin himself to Red Square in Moscow. Last year he sewed his lips together as an anti-Putin protest. In May of this year he wrapped his naked self in a cocoon of barbed wire outside St Petersburg's legislative assembly (CLICK). My guess is that he suffers from congenital analgesia, an inability to feel pain. Hot and cold don't register as dangerous sensations. It's a rare condition that effects less than one in a million people (CLICK). I doubt if Pavlensky's problem will worry Putin.

Britannia Airport

A consortium has backed the concept of Boris Island, as shown here in an artist's impression by Gensler Architects (2012). The floating airport in the Thames estuary would be called London Britannia Airport and could be built in seven years at a cost of £47.3bn. A spokeswoman claimed it would avoid all the problems of other airport developments in the South East currently under review by the Davies Airport Commission, everything from noise pollution to bird strikes. And of course it would avoid the danger of jumbo jets flying over densely populated areas of London (CLICK).

John Lewis Xmas Ad

The John Lewis Christmas TV commercial has confused critics and punters alike to such an extent that the BBC has posted 10 interpretations of it (CLICK). They all miss the point. So here's Coxsoft's view. The money-grubbing executives of big companies want to persuade the public that they are nice chaps who are on the punters' side. So give us a cosy animation of impossible friendship between animals, a bear and a hare. Aren't we nice folk at John Lewis to give you this heart-warming Christmas fantasy? Sorry, executives, it doesn't wash with me. You're just trying to grab your share of the Christmas market.

Painting Guantanamo

Don't you just hate euphemisms? The use of torture on prisoners in Guantanamo Bay was known as "enhanced interrogation techniques"! This watercolour by Steve Mumford isn't a torture device, although it looks like one. It's a Restraining Chair for Forced Feeding, Detainee Hospital, Guantanamo Bay (16/5/13). Steve made two visits to Guantanamo Bay to paint anything but the prisoners. The BBC has posted a video of his excellent watercolours and his explanation of what he painted (CLICK). His exhibition The Snow Leopard is on display at the Postmasters Gallery in New York City (CLICK).

Eva Jocelyn

Of all the images of destruction that have emerged from Typhoon Haiyan's attack on the Philippines, this one sticks in my mind. It shows the ship Eva Jocelyn, which the powerful, tsunami-like, storm surge lifted and tossed upon the shore. Note the two barefoot boys trying to salvage something from the wreckage. I wouldn't walk across that dangerous mess in hobnailed boots. The survivors of all this destruction urgently need food, fresh drinking water and shelter or the death toll will rise. The head of the Red Cross in the Philippines has described the devastation as "absolute bedlam" (CLICK).

Typhoon Haiyan

It is difficult to comprehend the enormity of Typhoon Haiyan's destructive power across the Philippines. To learn that the coastal city of Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte, was obliterated doesn't mean much without population figures - 200,000 -, but that's still too big a number to grasp. It's only when you look at these little girls that the scale becomes human. Are their parents alive or dead? Is there an extended family that can care for them? What if all their kin were swept away? How good are Philippines orphanages? No answers, but CLICK for photos and CLICK for video.

Lord Mayor's Show

Tomorrow the streets of London will pound to the Lord Mayor's Show 2013, with 21 bands, 150 horses, numerous vintage cars, helicopters, robots, unicycles, dancers and a camel. In addition the parade will sport two unusual items. The first is this Metropolitan Railway Carriage Number 353 (1892) which is there to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Tube (CLICK). The second is the new Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, only the second female Lord Mayor in 800 years. The weather forecast is abysmal. BBC One will be televising the show from 10.45am (CLICK).

Pudding Lane

Last month I posted news of Pudding Lane Productions' winning the Crytek Off The Map competition with its digital animation of London before the Great Fire of 1666 (CLICK). The BBC has posted this animation online with additional news (CLICK).