Clandon Park

If you were thinking of visiting Clandon Park in Surrey, run by the National Trust, forget it. The Palladian mansion with grand marble hall and a major porcelain collection has been gutted by fire. The roof and floors collapsed, leaving the outer shell and one room intact. The fire brigade managed to save some treasures on their grab list, but much has been lost. CLICK to see more photos.

Josephine Baker

Intrigued by Douglas Pérez Castro's depiction of Josephine Baker in Pig Whipping (scroll down or CLICK) I did a modicum of research. There is a Josephine Baker website dedicated to her memory (CLICK). A black American born on the wrong side of the tracks, she managed to make a living dancing in the USA, but when she appeared in Paris in La Revue Nègre, her Danse Sauvage proved an overnight success. (Note the poster in the Castro painting.) Josephine subsequently starred in La Folie du Jour at the Follies-Bergère. She was a huge success in Europe and her showbiz career lasted 50 years. She was an animal lover and did include a pig in her menagerie. She died from a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12 1975. The YouTube video shows her dancing to Charleston Baby in 1927.

10 Taliban Jailed

In a closed hearing, a court in north-west Pakistan has jailed 10 members of the Pakistani Taliban for life for the brutal and cowardly attack on education activist Malala Yousafzai in the Swat valley in 2012. She was only 15 at the time. Men boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. She now lives and studies in England, where she was treated for her life-threatening injuries. Last year she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her steadfast advocacy of children's education, despite the threats to her life (CLICK).

Bacon Portraits

Oo-er. It's Francis Bacon's Self-Portrait 1975, one of two re-discovered Bacon portraits to come up in Sotheby-s London Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 1 July. If you have £10-£15 million to spare, no taste in art and you collect Big Names, this is the one for you (CLICK).

Libel Case Won

Kate and Gerry McCann have won their libel case against ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral, the incompetent slime ball who originally headed the enquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portuguese holiday resort Praia da Luz in 2007. He was removed from the case in October 2007 when he faced legal charges, but by then he had already ruined Madelaine's case. The following year he published a book blaming the McCanns for Madelaine's death and disappearance. This fanciful nonsense entitled The Truth Of The Lie has been a bestseller in Portugal and did enormous damage to the search for Madelaine. Yesterday a Portuguese court awarded the McCanns damages of £358,000 and banned any further sales of the book. Shown is a photo of Kate McCann (CLICK).

Pig Whipping

Breeze Little in London is currently showing Douglas Pérez Castro: The Fifth World, the first solo exhibition in the UK of this Cuban artist. Shown is his Bocabajo (2015). Don't ask me why exotic dancer Josephine Baker dressed for her banana dance is whipping a porker. I think it's Castro's idea of a joke (CLICK).

Michael Armitage

Today Inside the White Cube Bermondsey (what a stupid name for a gallery) opened the first solo exhibition in the UK of Kenyan born, London-based artist Michael Armitage, who presents a "visual iconography of East Africa". Ambitious! Shown is his oil painting on Lubugo bark cloth #mydressmychoice (2015) which needs an explanation. In Nairobi women wearing miniskirts have been accused of being indecently dressed, then stripped naked and molested. The two bush babies suggest the viewer’s voyeuristic gaze (CLICK).

Beach Body Ready?

Protein World's daft advert Are You Beach Body Ready? featuring an attractive model implies that you could look as good as she does if you take its protein supplement. Body image campaigner Juliette Burton sent Protein World a broadside and received the following reply: Why make your insecurities our problem? Not the public relations department's finest hour! The advert is currently infesting London Underground and the Advertising Standards Authority has received 216 complaints, which it says are generally about what is seen as the campaign's promotion of an unhealthy body image. Unhealthy? She looks in great shape to me (CLICK).

Spitfire For Sale

I trawl through so much junk masquerading as art that it's a pleasant surprise to come across an artistic photo as powerful as John Dibbs' Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1A (2011). Christie’s London will be putting this fully restored Spitfire up for sale for charity with an estimate of £1,500,000 - £2,500,000 in The Exceptional Sale on 9 July. There are only two original Mk I Spitfires left in the world that can fly (CLICK).

Made In China II

Back in January I reported on Made in China: A Doug Fishbone Project at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. He commissioned a Chinese replica of one of the Gallery's 270 Old Master paintings and replaced the original with the replica (CLICK). Could the public spot it? According to the Chief Curator at Dulwich, the project has been a huge success with many visitors taking up the challenge. Nearly 3000 people submitted their vote via iPads in the Gallery. 10% of those who voted got it right. The mystery painting has now been revealed as Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Young Woman. The original portrait is shown with the copy.

Kathmandu

The death toll in the massive earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday has risen to over 3,600, with more than 7,000 people injured. No doubt these figures will rise (CLICK). Much of Kathmandu's rich cultural heritage has been destroyed. The 19th century Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu, shown here in a photo taken in 1998, has been reduced to a stump. Aftershocks threaten those who search for survivors....

Twerking Taboo

YouTube celebrates its 10th birthday this year and now, believe it or not, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, from IS beheadings to Gangnam style (CLICK). One thing I've learnt from YouTube is that twerking is taboo in Russia. The BBC reports that a court in Novorossiysk has jailed three women for performing a twerking dance in front of a World War Two memorial. Two of the dancers were sentenced to 10 days in jail each, a third to 15 days and two others received fines on charges of petty hooliganism. The Beeb also points out that Russian authorities have closed a dance studio after a YouTude video was released.of its 16-year-old students twerking in a number entitled Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees (CLICK). The video has been seen 4 million times. Of course Auntie daren't show it. Here it is, so you can see what all the fuss is about.

Hubble is 25

The US-European Hubble Space Telescope is 25 years old. It was launched into orbit by the space shuttle Discovery on 24 April 1990. The BBC is celebrating Hubble's birthday with a small collection of mind-blowing images it has sent to Earth over the years (CLICK). Shown is the Eagle Nebula. Who could have imagined the beauty of such pictures from deep in space? Hubble has helped astronomers calculate the age of the Universe: about 13.7 billion years old. That upsets a few antiquated theories about the Creation.

Sony Photos 2015

Yesterday the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition opened in the West Wing of Somerset House in London. The exhibition showcases the winning and shortlisted photographers of submissions from across all disciplines. A record 173,444 images from 171 countries were submitted this year. Here is the photo that won 19-year-old student Yong Lin Tan from Malaysia the Youth Photographer of the Year award. It shows an alley behind his grandmother's house in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia. This thumbnail doesn't do it justice; the stars in the night sky are awesome. Entry costs £10 for adults or £5 for silver surfers weekdays only (CLICK).

Elephant Bird Egg

Today Sotheby's in London put on public display this extremely rare Elephant Bird Egg in its galleries at 34–35 New Bond Street. It will be on view for only five days prior to Sotheby's Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History auction on Thursday 30 April. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view an egg from this Madagascan bird, which has been extinct for about 400 years. Sir David Attenborough counts such an egg amongst his most prized possessions and featured it in a recent TV programmes. His egg was pieced together from fragments. Lot 26 is intact. Can the Natural History Museum afford £30,000 to £50,000 (CLICK)?

Carbisdale Auction

On 20 May Sotheby's London will auction 17 sculptures from the Carbisdale Castle Collection in its 19th & 20th Century Sculpture sale. Shown is Pasquale Romanelli's Venus and Cupid in white marble on revolving verde antico column, estimated at £60,000 to £80,000 (CLICK).

Chauvet Cave Replica

A huge replica of the prehistoric Chauvet Cave in southwest France, which contains hundreds of works of art radiocarbon dated to be more than 35,000 years old, has finally opened. Hi-tech scans, 3D-modelling and digital images of the original cave were used to create the copy, which took eight years to build and cost 55m euro thingies. The stalagmites and stalactites were remade in resin (CLICK).

Artist of Peace

If you're planning a holiday around Lake Windermere during the summer, take note that today Blackwell The Arts & Crafts House opened Evelyn De Morgan: Artist of Peace, which runs until 13 September. Wife of Arts & Crafts ceramicist William de Morgan, Evelyn was a prolific artist in the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. She was also a supporter of the suffragette movement and a pacifist. Many of her works chosen for Blackwell were included in her solo exhibition held in the spring of 1916 in aid of the Red Cross, her pacifist contribution to the war effort. Shown is her S.O.S. (1914-16) short for Save Our Souls (CLICK).

Pick Me Up 2015

Today Pick Me Up: Graphic Arts Festival 2015 opened in the Embankment Galleries, South Wing of Somerset House, London. The Festival runs until 4 May, admission £10 for adults, £8 for silver surfers or £17.50 for a Festival Pass. CLICK for the full schedule of events.

Saint George's Day

Happy Saint George's Day. Here's my favourite painting of Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1460) one of two by Paolo Uccello. (CLICK to see a larger graphic or visit The National Gallery in London to view the original.) England is the only country in the UK that doesn't have a holiday for its patron saint. Not that I'm into saints, but fair's fair. Will any political party in the general election pledge a holiday for Saint George? Come on. This could be the issue that breaks the deadlock.

Indigenous Australia

Today The British Museum opened Indigenous Australia enduring civilisation, organised with the National Museum of Australia and supported by BP. This is the first major exhibition in the UK to present a history of both Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, diverse cultures which have survived for over 60,000 years. Shown is a Bark painting of a barramundi, Western Arnhem Land (about 1961). Admission costs £10 (CLICK). View The British Museum YouTube video introduction, published today.

Portrait Painters

The Mall Galleries in central London is currently holding the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. There is a wide range of styles, media and prize-winners. Shown is Fabio by Brendan Kelly RP. Admission costs £3 for adults, £2.50 for silver surfers. CLICK for more pictures.

Earth Day

Did you know it is Earth Day today? (CLICK.) It's been going for 45 years and US President Obama has only just woken up to the fact that the world's finite resources are being gobbled up. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has taken the opportunity to blame all the world's ills on eating animals. US model Kelly Chin is the latest Name to get her kit off in the vegan cause. Here she is in Beijing, her skin painted with the oceans and continents of planet Earth. Nice, but global warming isn't all due to cow farts.

Pierre-Paul Prud’hon

The Dulwich Picture Gallery in London will be joining in the bicentenary commemorations of the Battle of Waterloo this June with Napoleon’s draughtsman: Pierre-Paul Prud’hon. An exceptional talent working in post-revolutionary Paris, Prud’hon caught the attention of Napoleon Bonaparte during his reign as Emperor I. The Dulwich has borrowed 12 works on paper from Gray’s Musée Baron Martin in France, never before seen in the UK. Shown is Prud’hon's superb chalk drawing Male Nude, Arm Extended. The display runs from 23 June to 15 November (CLICK)

No Privatisation

Staff at the National Gallery in London are striking again this week. No Privatisation is the call. They also want the London living wage, which they've been promised but not been granted, and the reinstatement of their PCS negotiator Candy. CLICK to see their support.

Waterloo Ignorance

The National Army Museum in London conducted a survey to find out what the British public knew about the Battle of Waterloo, one of the most momentous events in European History. 73% of respondents had little or no knowledge of the battle. Only 53% knew it was the Duke of Wellington who led the allied forces to victory. The remaining 47% thought it was Sir Winston Churchill, King Arthur or even Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series! Of the group aged 18-24, 84% said they know little or nothing about Waterloo and 12% said they had never heard of ir. 14% thought the French defeated the British at Waterloo, while a third had no idea who won (CLICK). As at least 25% of people living in London are foreigners, I'm surprised the results were this good. Politicians who advocate multiculturalism and witter on about immigrants learning British values haven't a clue what they're on about. Battle of Waterloo (1898) by William Holmes Sullivan was painted decades later. There were no war artists in those days. Shame.

Apsley House

Apsley House, the London home of the Dukes of Wellington, has been tarted up to celebrate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). The Iron Duke held lavish banquets annually in the Waterloo Gallery to celebrate his victory. English Heritage has relaid the huge banqueting table with over 1,000 pieces from the silver Portuguese Service. The Gallery contains 83 paintings from the Spanish royal collection. Admission costs £6.30 for adults, £5.70 for silver surfers (CLICK). Shown is Antonio Canova's Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker (1806) prior to his defeat. I thought Mars was the god of war!

R2-D2 Dreamliner

There's nothing like jumping on a bandwagon. All Nippon Airways (ANA) has released images of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the livery of Star Wars' robot R2-D2 (2015). It will go into service on an international route later this year ahead of the release of Star Wars The Force Awakens, which is due to infest cinemas this Christmas. Fans await the movie with baited breath. CLICK for more images.

No Set Rules

The Ben Uri Art Museum in London is celebrating its centenary this year. It claims the Ben Uri Collection is the world's most distinguished body of work by artists of European Jewish descent. Shown is Amy Drucker's terrific lithograph on paper Portrait of A Man with a White Neckscarf. The museum's current exhibition, which opened on 15 April and runs until 15 June, is No Set Rules: A century of selected works, co-curated with the Schlee Collection, Southhampton. Admission to the exhibition is free (CLICK).

British Photos

Claire and James Hyman have put online the Hyman Collection of over 3,000 artworks with the emphasis on British photography from the 19th century to the present day. They seek to support British photographers through acquisitions and commissions, research, an award, online exhibitions and their free portal to British Photography: CLICK. Shown is Bert Hardy's photo Gorbals Boys, Glasgow (1948). Note the date. These two filthy urchins in Glasgow's Gorbals slums look as though they belong to the Victorian era. 1948!

Bacon and Masters

Today the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich opened Francis Bacon and the Masters. Over 100 works have been brought together with 30 loans from the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, marking the UK/Russia Year of Culture. The loans include works by Velázquez, Rembrandt, Titian, Michelangelo, Rodin, Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse, many of which have never before been seen in the UK. Shown is Alonso Cano's The Crucifixion (1638). Admission costs £12 for adults, £10.50 for silver surfers (CLICK). The exhibition took four years to plan and was curated by Dr Thierry Morel, who also curated Houghton Revisited (CLICK).

Mac Conner

If McCauley "Mac" Conner's painting We Won't Be Any Trouble reminds you of the work of Norman Rockwell, it's because Rockwell was one of Conner's artistic heroes. He admired Rockwell's sense of humour. In the 1940s and 1960s Conner's outstanding work in advertising and editorial illustrations for major magazines helped shape the image of postwar America. Mac Conner: A New York Life at the House of Illustration features over 70 original works by Conner. Admission costs £7 for adults, £5 for silver surfers (CLICK). Conner is now 100 years old. In the YouTube video below, he reflects on his life and art with many illustrations shown.

Hattie Stewart

Today the House of Illustration opened Hattie Stewart: Adversary in its South Gallery at 2 Granary Square, King's Cross, London, which it opened last year. This is the first of a series of illustrator commissions. Hattie Stewart is one of London's bright young things making a name for herself with dreadful tripe like Katepoop (CLICK). Is that pink thingy inspired by Megumi Igarashi's vulva? CLICK to compare.

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Prunella Clough

Today the Osborne Samuel Gallery in London opened Prunella Clough: Unconsidered Wastelands, a major retrospective of painter, draughtsman and printmaker Prunella Clough (1919-1999). The exhibition features her paintings from the 1940s through to the 1990s, most for sale and some on loan from private collections. Shown is her Printer Checking Proofs (1953). The exhibition runs until 16 May (CLICK).

Vulva Trial

Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, who answers to the name of Rokude Nashiko meaning "No good girl" or "reprobate child", seems to be enjoying the publicity surrounding her insane trial on obscenity charges. Yesterday was the first hearing of her trial. She denied the charges and promptly gave a press conference sporting some of her vulva-shaped thingies. The obscenity charges arose out of her vagina kayak. (CLICK to read my first post on this subject.) "I am innocent because neither the data for female genitals nor my art works shaped like female genitals are obscene," she told judges at Tokyo District Court (CLICK).

Amedeo Modigliani

Yesterday the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art at 39a Canonbury Square, London, opened Modigliani: A Unique Artistic Voice. The exhibition comprises early and rarely seen drawings on paper, illustrating how Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) developed his unique style. Look at the quiet elegance of this simple drawing: Standing Female Nude in Profile with Lighted Candle (c.1911). The exhibition runs until 28 June, admission for adults £5, silver surfers £3.50, not too pricey for a rare treat (CLICK).

Chinese Photobook

On 17 April The Photographers’ Gallery in London, collaborating with Aperture Foundation, presents The Chinese Photobook. This exhibition explores China's photobook publishing from 1900 to 2014, covering books by early colonial powers in China - France, England and Japan - as well as a selection of books produced during the Cultural Revolution. Shown is Stage Photo from Revolutionary Model Operas (Beijing 1976). The exhibition received critical acclaim when it was first shown last year. This is its first showing in the UK (CLICK).

Sonia Delaunay

Today Tate Modern opened The EY Exhibition: Sonia Delaunay, the first UK retrospective of this key figure in the Parisian avant-garde. She created abstract paintings, textiles and clothes during her 60-year career and collaborated with Diaghilev and Liberty. Shown is her Yellow Nude (1908). How quickly the avant-garde becomes passé! Only an art historian or a chump would pay £16 for this show (CLICK).

Cameron & Selfie

It must be all go being a party leader. Today David Cameron launched the Tory election manifesto for "working people". Yesterday he was in Alnwick, Northumberland, where he got this girl all excited taking a "selfie". Have you noticed a change in tone lately? Ed Miliband has become Lord Snooty and His Pals, while the Tories have become the Bash Street Kids. It has Nick Robinson confused (CLICK).

Medieval Moderns

Here's a Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painting I haven't seen before, because it's been languishing in Australia: Edward Robert Hughes' The princess out of school (c.1901). The National Gallery of Victoria has been collecting Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood paintings since the 1880s and now holds an impressive collection. Its exhibition Medieval Moderns includes more than 100 paintings, prints, decorative arts, furniture, book designs and stained-glass windows by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their followers (CLICK).

V&A Election

April Fool's Day wasn't the best choice for the Victoria and Albert Museum to open an exhibition entitled All of This Belongs to You. "At a time when Britain will be engaged in the democratic process of an election, the V&A examines the role of public institutions in contemporary life and what it means to be responsible for a national collection." Sounds to me like the V&A looking up its own derriere (CLICK).

Moira Gemmill RIP

Tributes have been paid to Moira Gemmill, who was killed while cycling to work in London on Thursday morning. She was struck by an HGV near the junction of Horseferry Road and Millbank, near Lambeth Bridge. Having spent 13 years at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) as director of design, she recently joined the Royal Collection Trust as director of capital programmes and was cycling to her workplace at St James's Palace when she was killed. The lorry driver stopped at the crash scene, but was not arrested (CLICK),

Banksy Door Saga

The saga of Banksy's Weeping Woman (2015) painted on a door in Gaza City has stepped up a notch. Under a court order, Gaza fuzz seized the door from Bilal Khaled, who claimed he represented the artist and paid peanuts for it. The door will be stored at the Khan Yunes public library until the case is heard and the court decides what to do about it. The Darduna family have accused Khaled of fraud (CLICK).

Orientalist Sale

Sotheby's in London is holding an Orientalist Sale on 21 April. Among the 42 choice lots on offer is Ludwig Deutsch's The Palace Guard (1893). Note the date; he painted a different palace guard a few years later. These European painters who travelled what was then called the "Orient" - Turkey, the Levant, Middle East, North Africa and even Persia and India – fed their home countries with fascinating pictures of far-off lands. Their paintings are now being collected as historical documents of bygone eras (CLICK).

Lucian Freud Sale

Oo-er. Somebody needs a gastric band. Lucian Freud's Benefits Supervisor Resting (1994) comes up for grabs in Christie’s New York sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art on 13 May with an estimate of $30-$50 million! Masterpiece or not, I wouldn't want it on my wall at any price (CLICK).

Tampon Tax

Now here's a woman you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night: UKIP deputy chairman Suzanne Evans. In a bid to attract female voters to UKIP she promises to remove VAT (currently at 17.5%) on sanitary products. UK newspapers have called this the Tampon Tax (CLICK). Farcically the BBC sent a reporter to interview a team of female rugby players to ascertain what they thought. They agreed with the idea, but said it wouldn't persuade them to vote for UKIP. Blame the EU. Sanitary products are taxed as a luxury!

Aintree Ladies

There's not much doing in the art lark lately, maybe because of the election. Here's the most arty thing I spotted today: a pair of Bambi-style high-heeled shoes worn on Aintree Ladies Day 2015. Pity about the chubby ankles. Aintree racecourse managing director John Baker said he wanted to protect women against "unfair" coverage this year, He threatens any photographer who takes shots reinforcing negative stereotypes with having their accreditation revoked. But how can negative stereotyping be avoided when women dress like this and show themselves to be vain, self-centred, empty-headed and merely decorative? CLICK to see more.

Woman in Gold

Movies about Nazi art loot seem to be the in-thing at the moment. The latest is Woman in Gold starring Dame Helen Mirren as Maria Altman, an Austrian Jewess who took Austria to court to recover this famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was friend and patron of Klimt. She was Maria Altman's aunt. The film goes on general release tomorrow (CLICK).

Head Down

Photographer Stefan Rousseau caught the snap of the election when six-year-old Lucy Howarth put her head on the desk while Tory leader David Cameron was reading to her class. Social media are having a field day with this photo. BBC News has posted some of the most amusing comments (CLICK). My take is "Do we have to suffer another month of all this political codswallop?" None of the parties will win my vote. As a humanist, I want to see all faith schools closed and children taught critical thinking, instead of being brainwashed into one fruitcake religion or another. As an atheist, I want to see Sharia Law banned in the UK, because Muslims regard atheism as an insult to Allah and the penalty is death. No party is offering me what I want.

Nude Tours

It started in Germany. Now the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra has jumped on the bandwagon of conducting nude tours of its latest exhibition, a James Turrell retrospective. Naked artist Stuart Ringholt led the one-hour, adults-only tour, which ended in the bar with everyone still in the buff, except for pink fluffy slippers The first event, limited to 50 flashers, was a sell-out (CLICK).

Portrait Painters

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters opens its annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in central London on 16 April. The advantage of a show like this, if you want to commission a portrait, is that you can judge the quality of the works on display. The quality varies from excellent, such as the example shown, to complete junk I wouldn't take from a skip. Ironically many of the worst artists demand higher prices for their work than do the better artists. Admission costs £3 adults, £2.50 silver surfers (CLICK).

Monteverdi

If you missed Monteverdi in Mantua - the Genius of the Vespers on BBC Two, it's available on iPlayer and well worth viewing. Award-winning actor and art historian Simon Russell Beale CBE narrates the story of Claudio Monteverdi (c.1630) and his relationship with the notorious Duke of Mantua, out of which came Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. Excerpts from this major landmark in western choral music are sung by The Sixteen, led by Harry Christophers. If you enjoy quality choral music, it's a must (CLICK).