London Art News

Pather Panchali

2012-02-01T19:47:00.003Z

Here's a reminder that Valentines Mansion in Valentines Park, Ilford, will be giving a free screening of Satyajit Ray's multiple award-winning masterpiece Pather Panchali (1955) at 6.30pm this Friday 3 February. The film, also known as "Song of the Little Road" is in black and white, lasts 115 minutes, language Bengali with English subtitles. There is no need to book, but seats are limited. First come first served. Click the title link for details.

Lucian Freud Portraits

2012-02-01T17:52:00.002Z

The next biggy at the National Portrait Gallery in London is Lucian Freud Portraits, which opens on 9 February and totters along until 27 May (title link). Freud was collaborating with NPG on this exhibition when he died last year. At least 130 of his portrait paintings will be on display, showing how his style went from bad to worse. Early example: Girl In A Dark Jacket (1947). The sitter was Kitty Garman, Jacob Epstein's daughter, soon to become Freud's first wife. The show would be worth a visit but for the admission price: £14 adults, £13 silver surfers. If you must go, book now.

Change of ISP

2012-02-01T17:25:00.003Z

Please note that links to my website Coxsoft Art no longer work, due to a change in ISP. The code needs updating before I put it online again. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Fake or Fortune? II

2012-02-01T12:25:00.004Z

Last year's BBC1 TV programme Fake or Fortune stirred more comments on my blog than ever before, especially the episode featuring Winslow Homer's Three Children Under A Palm (CLICK). As far as I know, the disputed ownership of the Homer still hasn't been resolved. The good news is that the BBC has commissioned more episodes of this fascinating series. Art dealer cum art detective Philip Mould is rejoined by intelligent glamour puss Fiona Bruce and technical expert Dr Bendor Grosvenor to investigate more paintings. Filming began in January. This time Philip Mould Ltd of Dover Street, London, is offering to research an artwork submitted by a member of the public (title link). If you think you have a piece of art worthy of investigation, email philip@philipmould.com. And the best of British luck!

Doggy Paintings

2012-01-31T14:48:00.002Z

Here's a British artist I haven't come across before, probably because he specialized in painting dogs for the upper crust. Reuben Ward Binks (1860-1945) trained at Manchester Art School. His career took off when Lorna, Countess of Howe, commissioned him to paint her sporting dogs. She was so impressed by his work that she recommended him to her royal contacts. Kings George V, Edward VIII and George VI all commissioned paintings from him. He spent more than eight months in residence painting the gun dogs of the Maharajah Dhiraj of Patiala. He also travelled twice to America, where he painted over 200 portraits of Mrs Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge's champion pooches. Thirty-one of his paintings come up for sale in Bonhams' New York auction Dogs in Show & Field: The Fine Art Sale on 15 February. The above watercolour up for grabs is Black Retriever with Duck, estimated value $1,000 to $1,500 (title link).

Migrations

2012-01-31T11:37:00.004Z

The latest exhibition at Tate Britain opened today: Migrations (title link). This explores how British art was shaped by waves of immigration from 1500 to the present day, beginning with 16th and 17th century Flemish and Dutch landscape and still-life painters who came to Britain in search of new patrons. James Tissot's Portsmouth Dockyard (c.1877) is a beautiful example of this theme. However the choice of poster to promote the show is inappropriate. What has Keith Piper's Go West Young Man (1987) have to do with migration to Britain? The famous quotation is American and the historic diagram of slaves on a slave ship depicts how they were transported from Africa to America and the West Indies, not to Britain. Its use suggests the show is more about propaganda than a serious attempt to survey foreign art talent in Britain. Migrations runs until 12 August, admission £6 for adults, £5 for silver surfers.
A BBC London video shows modern rubbish (CLICK).

New ACE Fund

2012-01-30T22:44:00.006Z

Only a few days ago I reported that Arts Council England (ACE) had money to burn (CLICK). It's now offering a total of £37m in arts grants to 70 local authorities it claims aren't "engaging" with the arts (title link). Redbridge's neighbouring borough of Barking and Dagenham is one of those councils ACE names. Only six years ago B&D funded a major project - Barking Artscape - to regenerate Barking town centre (CLICK). That was just before the recession. Since then, councils up and down the country have faced massive cuts in Government grants. Old people are being neglected, the disabled losing financial benefits, play centres closed, clubs for teenagers axed, libraries shut, students faced with tuition debts and most of us feeling the pinch. In the current climate, any council that wastes money on frivolous arts projects is likely to anger its residents. Okay, the money on offer from ACE is National Lottery funds, not tax-payers' money, but that's not the point. Look at the outrage sparked by bankers' bonuses. Councillors ready to risk public wrath, CLICK for the ACE Creative People and Places Fund. The above example of "art" is Chris Ofili's zinc plate etching 11.4.93 Easter Sunday (1993) from The Arts Council Collection. Groan!

Medieval Barn

2012-01-30T12:07:00.007Z

English Heritage bought this Grade I-listed Harmondsworth Barn in west London for £20,000 last year to save it from neglect and decay. Built in 1426 for Winchester College, it has an interior worthy of the nave of a large medieval church. No coincidence perhaps, as it was built to store grain from the lands of the Bishop of Winchester. Profits from the grain funded Winchester College. It was still in use until the 1970s and is the best preserved and largest surviving medieval timber barn in England. English Heritage will open the barn to the public on two Sundays a month from April to October and hopes to open it every Sunday in the same period the following year. Click the title link for more information.
Update: BBC London News has posted a video: CLICK.

Top 10 Stolen Artists

2012-01-29T15:37:00.003Z

The Art Loss Register™ (CLICK) has released a list of the top 10 artists with most works stolen:
1) Pablo Picasso - 1,147
2) Nick Lawrence - 557
3) Marc Chagall - 516
4) Karel Appel - 505
5) Salvador Dali - 505
6) Joan Miro - 478
7) David Levine - 343
7) Andy Warhol - 343
9) Rembrandt - 337
10) Peter Reinicke - 336.
That Picasso tops the list is hardly surprising. He churned out his rubbish in vast quantities and art thieves are generally tasteless clots. A worrying statistic from ALR is that 40 per cent of art thefts occurred in Britain and only 16 per cent in America. And we think we're good at protecting art in the UK. How complacent! The painting above is Rembrandt's The Child and the Soap Bubble, stolen from the Municipal Museum of Draguignan, a former convent in southeastern France (title link).

Turner in Margate

2012-01-28T20:39:00.002Z

Today, Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent, opened a major exhibition of Turner paintings: Turner and the Elements (title link). The show brings together 76 of his watercolours and 12 late oil paintings, many from the Tate in London. Above is Turner's The New Moon (1840) subtitled I've lost My Boat, You shan't have Your Hoop. The show runs until 13 May, admission free. CLICK for a BBC slide show of some of the pictures.

Tiwani Contemporary

2012-01-28T13:53:00.003Z

Today BBC News posted a video about Tiwani Contemporary, a new African art gallery in London, 16 Little Portland Street, W1W 8BP. There's only one problem: the video shows the inaugural exhibition The Tie that Binds Us, which closed a week ago (CLICK). Whoops! Bit late, Auntie. The next exhibition - curated in Paris, not Africa - is Synchronicity II, which runs from 3 February to 17 March. Whatever happened to Synchronicity I? Bombed in Paris? I'm afraid Tiwani Contemporary is typical of contemporary art galleries in that it is long on bull and short on talent (title link). I know a number of talented African artists who could do far better than what I've seen of Tiwani tripe.

Wallflower

2012-01-28T10:49:00.004Z

Look carefully and you'll see Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes in one of her Camouflage Body Series photos, face down with her arms outstretched. This one is Rhythmic Garland (2009). As Cecilia can't paint her own body, she needs an artist to do that for her. So I guess that makes her a conceptual artist. She comes up with the idea and a real artist does the biz. If you fancy playing Spot the Cecilia, The Telegraph has posted a slide show some wag has called Wallflower (title link).

Brothel Token?

2012-01-27T12:20:00.002Z

The Museum of London has put on display what is believed to be a Roman brothel token, depicting a couple on a couch with the number 14 on the other side. Service 14? The mind boggles. This is probably the first such token - a spintria - to have been discovered in Britain, certainly in London. It was discovered in Thames mud by that new breed of mudlark using a metal detector. Little is known about these brothel tokens. Could they have been the Roman way of solving an early euro crisis? Christine Lagarde of the IMF take note. The display runs until April.

ACE Bonfire

2012-01-26T23:15:00.004Z

Arts Council England (ACE) has money to burn. It donated £3,000 to the second Manchester Artists' Bonfire (CLICK). Around 30 purported artists will be paid to burn their unsold rubbish (title link). Organisers claim this is "a research project into art and activism...beneficial to supporting artists and discussing art in a new way...." What a load of ACE bullshit, attempting to justify wasting money. ACE's budget needs slashing again.

Hajj at BM

2012-01-26T17:21:00.004Z

For some reason best known to itself, Outlook Express put the latest e-letter from the British Museum straight into my junk box. Having transferred it to my inbox, I found that the museum is bragging about staging the world's first Hajj exhibition: Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam (title link). There is nothing artistic or interesting about this show, which opened today and runs till 15 April. It depicts centuries of religious lunacy and hints at the creeping Islamization of Britain. Even the BBC video couldn't spark my interest: CLICK. And do note the new form of apartheid: one entrance for Muslims only, another for non-Muslims. Who in his right mind is going to pay £12 for this?

Works on Paper Fair

2012-01-26T11:57:00.002Z

The Science Museum, South Kensington, London, once again hosts the Watercolours + Works on Paper Fair, from 2 to 5 February (title link). Leading art dealers from across the UK will be showing original drawings, watercolours, prints, photographs and posters from the 16th Century to the modern day. Prices start at £500. The watercolour above is John Absolon's The Transept from the South Gallery, The Great Exhibition of 1851, exhibited by Guy Peppiatt Fine Art. It will set you back £12,500. Admission to the fair costs £12 in advance or £15 on the door. No concessions for silver surfers!

Pirates Update

2012-01-25T17:25:00.000Z

Aardman Animations has heeded the complaint from Lepra Health in Action about a leper's arm falling off in the trailer to The Pirates! Band of Misfits (CLICK). A spokesman for Aardman said the scene would be changed "out of respect and sensitivity" for leprosy sufferers (title link). The movie is due to be released in March.

Panda Tartan

2012-01-25T17:15:00.003Z

While I'm on the subject of fashion, here's the latest Scottish tartan: a Panda Tartan. Edinburgh Zoo is so chuffed with its new pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, on 10-year loan from China, that it commissioned a local firm to create the new tartan. The panda colours are obvious. What is difficult to see in the photo is a triple red stripe which runs through the tartan, representing China and the lucky number 3 (title link). This could be a nice little earner for the zoo. Imagine millions of Chinese decked out in Panda Tartan. But will they plump for kilts?

Golden Spider Silk

2012-01-25T16:22:00.003Z

Today a cape and shawl made of golden spider silk went on display at the V&A Museum, London, in Room 17a. Admission is free (title link). Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley fashioned these garments from the silk of more than one million female golden orb-weaver spiders collected in the highlands of Madagascar. The colour is natural. Take a close look at the graphic and you'll see one of the spiders embroidered. CLICK for a BBC video.

Abject Expressionism?

2012-01-25T11:23:00.006Z

I recently came across an unfamiliar art term: Abject Expressionism. Abstract Expressionism, a post-WW II New York phenomenon, keeps raising its ugly head, mainly in the dire tripe of Mark Rothko and Jackson "Jack the Dribbler" Pollock (CLICK). But Abject Expressionism? The earliest mention I found is in the title of a book by Ron English: ABJECT EXPRESSIONISM: The Art of Ron English (2007). Do I detect a touch of Ron's humour in this title? Anyway, the Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) uses the term in its latest exhibition: L.A. RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy (title link). It seems to mean "figurative expressionism", example William Brice's Untitled (Malibu Figure) from 1968. If you're thinking of visiting the show, note that discretion is advised: "This exhibition contains mature content". Oo-er.

Oscar Nominations

2012-01-24T23:05:00.007Z

Martin Scorsese's 3D adventure film Hugo, starring young Londoner Asa Butterfield in the title role, leads the pack at this year's Academy Awards with 11 nominations. The Artist, starring an incredibly cute Jack Russell terrier named Uggie nominated for the Golden Collar Award (CLICK), comes second with 10 nominations. CLICK for the rest. As regular readers know, I home in on the Best Animated Feature Films. Shock! Horror! No nomination for The Adventures Of Tintin or Arthur Christmas! The nominations are for A Cat in Paris, Chico and Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and Rango. Having viewed their trailers, I haven't the slightest interest in sitting through any of these poorly animated and/or unfunny feature films next Christmas. Groan! Click the title link for the full list of nominees. The Adventures Of Tintin appears under Best Original Score, a cracker by John Williams.

Rockwell's America 2

2012-01-24T14:27:00.002Z

Remember Norman Rockwell's America at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which I previewed in 2010 and described as "a must" (CLICK)? English journalist and historian Paul Johnson, writing in the December/January 2012 issue of The American Spectator magazine, has judged the exhibition London's best in 2011 (title link). He remarks on the enduring popularity of Rockwell's direct pictorial storytelling and, conversely, its unpopularity with art critics. "Of course the art critics hated him... He left them with no function to perform. He spoke directly to the public" (title link). Yup.

In Numbers at ICA

2012-01-24T12:30:00.004Z

It's a miracle! Tomorrow the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) opens an exhibition that might actually be worth seeing: In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955, previously shown in New York. It's an international collection of what one might term "underground" art publications. Above is a detail from Buster Cleveland's ArtForum (1993—1998). CLICK for the full graphic. The show is free and comes with a warning: "This exhibition contains provocative material that may cause offence and is unsuited for minors" (title link). What are you waiting for?

Kids In Museums

2012-01-23T20:43:00.004Z

Last year I twice posted news of the Wallace Collection's surprising use of children as curators in its Shhh! It’s a Secret exhibition (CLICK). Recently the Kids in Museums charity launched its 2012 Manifesto at the Wallace Collection (CLICK). The Manifesto is compiled from visitors’ comments, including children, teenagers and families. More than 300 museums now use it as a guide to becoming more family friendly. Why not libraries too? Click the title link to read the Manifesto. The illustration is Quentin Blake's design for the Kids in Museums Logo.

Happy New Year

2012-01-23T01:01:00.003Z

Although today is the start of the Chinese New Year, the main celebrations in London - the largest outside Asia - take place on Sunday 29. The day starts at 10.15am with a parade on Rupert Street and ends with a firework display in Trafalgar Square at 5.40pm. And it's free. Click the title link for the full timings.

China Art Sales

2012-01-21T21:38:00.003Z

Whatever you think of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's slash-and-burn budgets, you must admit his plan to make London a major international centre for trading China's currency is a shrewd idea (CLICK). Take a look at Qi Baishi's Eagle Standing on Pine Tree and you'll see what I mean. It was auctioned by China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd in Beijing for more than RMB 425.5 million (USD 67.4 million, £43m), making it the most expensive artwork sold at auction anywhere in the world in 2011 (CLICK). The Beijing auction house sold over 29,700 lots last year for more than RMB 11.2 billion (USD 1.77 billion, £1.13b). Click the title link to view some of its prize goodies.

Audubon's Birds

2012-01-21T16:21:00.002Z

In case you're wondering what happened to that rare first edition set of John James Audubon's Birds of America I mentioned a fortnight ago (CLICK), it fetched $7.9m at Christie's New York auction yesterday. CLICK to view the four-volume set, which stands 3 and a half feet tall. The title link takes you to a Telegraph slide show of some of the 400 plates.

Vermeer's Women 2

2012-01-21T14:10:00.000Z

Back in September I previewed the Fitzwilliam Museum's exhibition Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence (CLICK), which brought Vermeer's The Lacemaker (c.1669-70) to the UK for the first time, on loan from the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The exhibition closed on 15 January and proved to be the Fitzwilliam's most successful show ever, attracting well over 150,000 visitors. The final Saturday brought in a record 6,000 visitors. Critics, scholars and the public loved the show, which it is claimed has set a new standard for exhibitions outside London (CLICK). The title link takes you to the museum's website to see what else it has to offer.

Valentines Mansion

2012-01-20T23:42:00.003Z

Valentines Mansion in Valentines Park, Ilford, will reopen to the public on Tuesday 24 January, following its winter clean. This grade 2 listed building has a recreated Victorian kitchen and Georgian rooms plus historic gardens surrounded by parkland. The top floor of the mansion has been converted to artists' studios. Open days provide the opportunity to visit these studios, meet the artists and view their work. Among forthcoming events, I noticed a free film screening of Satyajit Ray's multiple award-winning masterpiece Pather Panchali (1955) at 6.30pm on Friday 3 February. No need to book, but spaces are limited; first come first served. Click the title link for more information.

Bad Day at Black Rock

2012-01-20T12:00:00.005Z

If you're one of the UK's nearly three million unemployed, cheer up. You get to view classic movies in the afternoon, whereas all that workers get to view when they come home are cookery shows, quizzes, celebrities visiting places and general cheapo rubbish (excepting Earthflight, of course). Today's offering on Channel 4 at 1.35pm is John Sturges' Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). From the moment you watch the title sequence of a train speeding through an American desert, you know you're in the hands of a master. One-armed Spencer Tracy dismounts from the train at Black Rock and walks into trouble with three of Hollywood's greatest heavies: Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin. The fight scene in which Tracy demolishes a cock-sure Borgnine is one of the best fight sequences ever filmed. Terrific.

Crazy Coffins

2012-01-20T10:14:00.004Z

May I interest you in a Cocoa Bean Coffin, sir? The Southbank Centre in London is celebrating death with a series of displays. Its latest offering opened today: Boxed: Fabulous Coffins from UK and Ghana, a free exhibition of bespoke coffins supplied by Crazy Coffins in Nottingham and the Pa Joe workshop in Ghana (title link). The show lasts until 29 January, so look sharp or you'll miss it. CLICK for a video in which David Crampton of Crazy Coffins shows the BBC round his storeroom. CLICK for a Telegraph slide show of 18 stunning coffins in the exhibition. These are works of high craftsmanship which expose most modern art for the junk that it is.

Land Art

2012-01-19T16:40:00.003Z

The Telegraph has posted a slide show of Land Art by Richard Shilling (title link). Richard has taken a leaf or two out of Andy Goldsworthy's book. He discovered one of Andy's sculptures near where he lives and was inspired to follow suit. The example shown is Autumn Rowan leaves frozen into a disc of ice, Birk Bank, near Lancaster, Lancashire (2010). CLICK for Richard's website.

Your Film Festival

2012-01-19T14:56:00.002Z

Fancy yourself as a film-maker? Sir Ridley Scott and YouTube have teamed up to select 10 videos for the Venice Film Festival 2012 (title link). Each video must tell a story within 15 minutes. Submissions for Your Film Festival open on 2 February and close on 31 March. Fifty will be chosen. World-wide YouTube visitors will select the 10 Venice entries and the overall winner to receive a $500,000 grant to create a new work with the help of Ridley Scott's production company. Watch the video.

Moving Focus

2012-01-19T12:49:00.003Z

Those of you who can't afford the RA admission charges for its David Hockney exhibition, take heart. Today the Alan Cristea Gallery at 34 Cork Street, London, W1, opened Moving Focus, a free exhibition of Hockney’s largest and most colourful lithographs, made at the studios of master printer Ken Tyler. Shown is Hockney’s Amaryllis in Vase (1984). The exhibition runs until 18 February. Click the title link for more information.

Eagle Nebula

2012-01-18T21:45:00.003Z

Here's another of those images that show science beating art at its own game. Europe's Herschel space telescope has produced this brilliant picture of the Eagle Nebula, designated M16, a vast region of gas and dust approximately 6,500 light years from Earth, a birthplace for new stars. Click the title link to read more.

Survival Video

2012-01-18T21:21:00.004Z

This is Survival International's "history of the world’s tribal lands in under 60 seconds". It also shows how the sociopaths of big business are destroying our planet. Global warming starts here. Click the title link to learn more about the Survival International movement.

Hockney On Show

2012-01-18T12:29:00.002Z

Is there anyone on the planet who is unaware that David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture opens at the Royal Academy of Arts on 21 January? Since I mentioned the exhibition 10 days ago (CLICK) Hockney has been getting more publicity than Moneybags Hirst with a bevy of semi-naked pop divas. The photo above shows him facing a crouching of press cameramen. He's been interviewed by BBC's Arts Editor Will Gompertz (CLICK, CLICK) and charmed by BBC London News' Brenda Emmanus (title link). He took it all in his unassuming stride and made some pertinent comments about the current art scene. Conceptual "artists", take heed.

Pirates v Lepers

2012-01-16T19:45:00.002Z

Pirates in trouble! Lepra Health in Action has thrown a wobbler over a film trailer for Aardman Animations' The Pirates! Band of Misfits (title link). The original title The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists seems to have been abandoned by Sony Pictures. Yanks think pirates are fun, scientists boring, possibly even unAmerican if they provide statistics that demonstrate global warming. Anyway, back to the plot. In the trailer, the pirates are seen invading a "leper boat" and an arm drops off one of the lepers (CLICK). This isn't gentle British Aardman humour, but crass Yankee "humour" aimed at the US market. Blame Sony Pictures, not Aardman. It doesn't augur well for the movie.

Catlin Guide

2012-01-16T16:37:00.003Z

The Catlin Guide 2012 launches at The London Art Fair on 18 January 2012, priced at £12.99 (title link). This is a selection from 600 UK art graduates of the 40 "artists and work showing significant potential". It's also the long list for the Catlin Art Prize, worth £5,000. BBC News has posted a slide show of some of the lucky 40, including this picture by Katrine (CLICK). How many of these art graduates do you think might contribute to a follow-up of The Adventures Of Tintin? "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" seems a fitting quotation (Ozymandius by Shelley).

Tintin Wins Globe

2012-01-16T14:55:00.004Z

You've probably seen all the A-listers clutching their Golden Globe Awards, but did you notice that Best Animated Feature Film went to The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)? In Britain it's called The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011). I guess we like longer titles here. This is modern art. If you don't believe me, take a look at the long lists under Art Department and Visual Effects (CLICK). The big question is: Are our art schools training artists to enter this field or are they merely churning out inartistic clots hoping to win the Turner Prize? The Adventures of Tintin cost an estimated $130m. And look at the companies involved: Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Hemisphere Capital, Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films Production, Kennedy/Marshall Production. In comparison the Turner Prize is very small potatoes. Yet the purported elite of British artists is a handful of its nominees and winners. Artists are being led up the garden path by the Brit. Anti-art Establishment. Above is Wallpaper 7 featuring Tintin and Snowy (2011). Click the title link for the full list of Golden Globe winners. There are links to wallpapers too.

Leonardo Anatomist

2012-01-15T14:34:00.003Z

Those of you who failed to get tickets for the National Gallery's blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan might like to know that not all is lost. On 4 May The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace opens Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (title link). The Royal Collection holds many anatomical drawings which Leonardo intended to publish in his Treatise on Anatomy, begun in 1489. He dissected corpses by candlelight in the night. He hadn't completed his treatise when he died in 1519. The fruits of his anatomical research were buried in his private papers and lost to science for centuries. Above is his A Nude Man from Behind. CLICK to view more of his anatomical drawings. Tickets are bookable now: £9.25 adults, £8.50 silver surfers, £4.65 under 17's, under 5's free. Don't miss out on this exhibition too.

No 10 In Sugar

2012-01-15T13:41:00.004Z

Northern Ireland artist Brendan Jamison has been chosen for an exhibition inside 10 Downing Street. His sculpture of the No. 10 doorway, made from 5,117 sugar cubes, took two months to sculpt (title link). He likes to use sugar because it sparkles. Let's hope visiting African bigwigs don't object to Brendan's wasting food.

Eva Caridi Nude

2012-01-15T11:48:00.006Z

Are conceptual artists trying to bore us into submission? First it was Moneybags Hirst's spotty tosh. Now it's Eva Caridi's Nude at Ambika P3, University of Westminster, London. This is one of those installation thingies. It consists of two metal labyrinths. The first takes you to a video of females in the three stages of life: girl, woman and elderly lady. The second contains 20 life-sized female "sculptures". They look like plaster casts to me, and all the photos I've seen show them in knickers. Nude? All this pretentious nonsense is supposed to represent the human condition, but it shows only the female half of humanity. Feminist message? The only good thing I can say about this tripe is that admission is free, but you must book in advance (title link). Why bother? The last day of the show is 22 January.

Love Pastels 2012

2012-01-14T16:38:00.003Z

There's quite a gap before the next show at the Mall Galleries in London opens on 14 February: the 112th Pastel Society UK Annual Exhibition Love Pastels (title link). In addition to pastels there will be artworks using other dry media: charcoal, conté, oil pastels, graphite and coloured pencils. Above is Cheryl Culver's They Hang Suspended until Winter takes them all. Looks like a Hockney. Admission is £2.50 adults, £1.50 silver surfers. The show runs until 25 February.

Etam in Musée d'Orsay

2012-01-14T11:13:00.003Z

I thought you might like to peek inside one of the world's greatest museums: the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Try to ignore the three giggling girls flashing Etam knickers about the place. For the past few months the Musée has been showing an exhibition previously shown at the V&A last year: The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860 – 1900 (CLICK). Slight change of name. The Musée calls it Beauty, Morals and Voluptuousness in the England of Oscar Wilde (title link). They know how to sell art exhibitions, as well as knickers, in France. The last day of the exhibition is tomorrow.

JC Harrison Sale

2012-01-13T16:42:00.002Z

A week ago I posted news of the Bonhams London auction of the Andrewartha Collection of avian paintings by John Cyril Harrison, which begins at 11am on 25 January (CLICK). Today BBC News posted a slide show of some of these magnificent watercolours (title link). Above is Morning Flight, estimated value £3,000 to £5,000. When you think that crap by Picasso sells for millions, these bird paintings are cheap, cheap, cheap. The entire collection of 100 paintings is worth about £300,000. This is real art, not gimmicky tripe that befuddles ignorant punters into thinking they're avant-garde. CLICK to register to bid in Bonhams sale room.

Quentin Blake Show

2012-01-12T23:37:00.004Z

Today the Foundling Museum in Holborn, London, opened Quentin Blake - As Large As Life, an exhibition of cartoons commissioned by four hospitals in France and the UK to cheer up their patients. What a brilliant idea. Over 60 new works created for a children’s hospital, a maternity hospital, young people with eating disorders and older patients with mental health problems will be shown. Above is Blake's cartoon of a new mum greeting her baby, one of 11 for a French hospital's delivery suites. The exhibition runs until 15 April (title link). CLICK for a Telegraph slide show of delightful pictures.

Spots On Display

2012-01-12T12:39:00.002Z

I find it incredible that Gagosian has gone to the trouble of collecting more than 300 of Moneybags Hirst's spot paintings - most borrowed from private individuals and public institutions - and putting them on display simultaneously in its 11 galleries across the world, from London to Hong Kong. The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011 opened today in all 11 venues (title link). Could this be a world record attempt at staging the most boring and inconsequential art show ever? I find it equally incredible that Hirst has sold 300 versions of his spotty tosh, which he admits he can't be bothered to paint himself. Banksy's rat knows more about art than do the punters who buy Moneybags' pustules.

Frontline

2012-01-11T23:20:00.002Z

Tomorrow Somerset House in London opens a free photo exhibition that comes with a warning: Frontline: A Year of Journalism & Conflict. Parents are advised that there are some disturbing images in the show, which focuses on four of the major news stories of 2011: the Egyptian revolution, Syria, the Libyan conflict and the UK riots. It offers a "unique insight into the editorial, political and human aspects of news reporting". Above is a photo showing the liberation of Tripoli, Libya, last August. You'll find the exhibition in the Embankment Galleries, South Wing, until 5 February (title link).

Bashar's Iron Fist

2012-01-11T19:58:00.004Z

Following his "iron fist" speech on Tuesday, today Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended a rally in Damascus to express his love for the Syrian people (title link). Who is the chinless wonder trying to kid? Certainly not the Arab League observers. One of them, Anwar Malek, has already resigned, describing the mission as "a farce". He said "The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people”. CLICK for Avaaz torture allegations and sign the petition.

Bus Stop Art

2012-01-11T16:21:00.003Z

Here's the latest example of Arts Council England (ACE) wasting taxpayers' money: Bus-Tops. It's also another example of the dire tripe being foisted on us for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. It cost £500,000 to install this inartistic tosh on the top of 30 bus stop shelters in 20 London boroughs! Matthew Morris of BBC London News took a bus ride to try to spot some of them, without much success (title link). BBC News' Jenny Minard took a sycophantic view of the nonsense (CLICK). This is also a good example of how the BBC wastes public money. Why send two journalists to cover the same story? ACE invites the public to submit its own art to the Bus-Tops website (CLICK). Don't all rush at once with your obscenities.

Electric Dreams

2012-01-10T15:12:00.004Z

Here's a most unusual painting of Keira Knightley in a slightly sinister urban setting, looking like a 1950's cover for a knitting pattern, her mascara running down her cheek. This is Together in Electric Dreams (2011) by Stuart Pearson Wright, whose second solo exhibition at the Riflemaker gallery in London opened today and runs until 15 February. Click the title link to find more of Wright's excellent paintings at Riflemaker.

Greek Theft Update

2012-01-10T13:59:00.004Z

This is Piet Mondrian's Windmill (1905) stolen from the Athens National Gallery yesterday morning (title link).

Greek Art Theft

2012-01-09T16:54:00.003Z

A thief or thieves raided the Athens National Gallery in the small hours of this morning and cut four paintings from their frames: Woman's Head by Picasso, two paintings by Piet Mondrian and this Sketch of St Diego de Alcala by Guglielmo Caccia. It seems there was only one security guard on duty who was distracted by various alarms going off. He caught sight of a person running from the building and gave chase, causing the thief to drop a Mondrian landscape. The BBC News item is somewhat garbled. It appears that two Mondrian paintings were taken and one dropped. The Picasso is a ghastly cubist daub, but worth big money (title link). The Caccia sketch is irreplaceable.

Daan's Marbles

2012-01-09T12:40:00.003Z

If you're one of those touchy feely punters compelled to finger works of art, you could try giving Daan Roosegaarde's Marbles a prod, like the child in the photo. They're interactive thingies which opened to the public today, the latest in Canary Wharf Group's dire offerings of modern art. You'll find them in Jubilee Park, on top of the Canary Wharf Jubilee Line Station, until 2 March (title link). Take the boys. Marbles tend to be a boy's thing. “Techno-poetry”? Gimme a break.

Roald Dahl Stamps

2012-01-09T11:46:00.003Z

Tomorrow, 10 January, Royal Mail celebrates the 30th anniversary of The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) by issuing a collection of goodies including a miniature sheet of 4 stamps featuring Quentin Blake's illustrations from the book, 3 first day covers and a set of 6 stamps showing other Dahl titles: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Twits and The Witches (title link). Ignore the BBC News item which claims the stamps have been issued today. Wrong again, Auntie. BBC journalism sinks lower and lower. I have complained.

RA Denial

2012-01-08T16:14:00.004Z

The Royal Academy of Arts has issued a statement denying that David Hockney had criticised Moneybags Hirst for using a team of about 100 employees to do most of the work on his purported artworks (title link). "The Royal Academy wishes to make it clear that, contrary to some recent press reports, David Hockney has not made any comments which imply criticism of another artist's working practices. Nor are there any words to this effect on the poster promoting his forthcoming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts." The exhibition David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture opens on 21 January and runs until 9 April (CLICK for video). Above is a Hockney landscape used as a banner ad for the show. To the left is Damien Hirst. Miffed? No, doing his thing for the press.

Ed, Man of Steel

2012-01-08T11:02:00.002Z

Ed Miliband, Man of Steel.
According to BBC News, Ed Miliband has described himself as "someone of real steel" (CLICK). According to the Telegraph, it was shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg who described Ed as "a man of real steel and grit" (title link). Either way, I couldn't resist twiddling some graphics to create the above picture.

Race Against Time

2012-01-07T14:12:00.002Z

Some people will go to any lengths to promote Modern Art and persuade punters it's worth viewing. Tate has announced a new game Race Against Time for mobile phones (title link). The user plays as a time-travelling chameleon racing through major art movements from 1890 to the present in order to stop evil Dr Greyscale from removing all the colour from the world. This is a game to occupy kiddies while on the bus to school. Will it brainwash them into loving modern art? Time will tell.

Criminal Mischief

2012-01-07T11:50:00.004Z

Meet Carmen Tisch, 36. Or perhaps you'd prefer not to. She looks like an old-fashioned hippy having a mid-life crisis. She is accused of damaging a painting in the newly opened Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, USA, on 29 December 2011, allegedly punching and scratching it before dropping her knickers and sliding her bum down it (title link). Investigators are still wondering why she acted in this way. I would have thought it was obvious. The painting she attacked was a load of abstract expressionist rubbish - Clyfford Still's 1957-J-No. 2 - worth an estimated $30m to $40m. It's too horrible to post on my blog. The money raised by selling it could feed thousands of starving children in Africa. Still, that's no excuse for "criminal mischief". Tisch, tisch.

Olympia Returned

2012-01-07T10:34:00.001Z

In September 2009 I reported that Rene Magritte's Olympia (1948) had been stolen at gunpoint from the Rene Magritte Museum in Jette, Belgium (CLICK). Yesterday the museum announced that the painting has been returned, because the thieves had given up trying to sell it and wanted to be rid of it (title link). Sensitive crooks! It would have been safer for them to destroy it.

Great Barrier Reef

2012-01-06T17:51:00.004Z

The beach scene below reminds me that the first episode of BBC's new three-part nature series exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef is repeated this evening on BBC2 at 7pm. I missed it first time around. The graphic is a still from a sequence of lemon sharks feeding on a shoal of fishes. Click the title link for details and iPlayer.

French Whoopsie

2012-01-06T16:17:00.002Z

La Redoute, one of France's biggest mail-order retailers, has apologised for a photo of children advertising beachwear in which a naked man can be seen paddling in the background. Nobody noticed him before publication. Whoops! Photo editor for the chop, methinks. You can't blame the photographer, who was concentrating on his action shot of lively kids.

London Art Fair

2012-01-06T16:02:00.002Z

The Business Design Centre in Islington will host the London Art Fair 2012 from 18 to 22 January (title link). It claims to be the premier fair for modern British and contemporary art. Tickets cost £11.00 (+ £1.50 booking fee) or £16.00 on the door. No concessions for silver surfers, presumably because the organisers don't expect them to pay silly money for pseudo art. Photo50 is part of the fair. showing 50 "artists" who do daft things with photo prints, example Julie Cockburn's Boy (2011) made of found plastic on a found photo. Ho hum.

Star Trek Villains

2012-01-06T11:57:00.005Z

The Telegraph is so excited by the prospect of Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock) playing a villain in Star Trek II the sequel that it has posted a slide show of what it regards as the best Star Trek villains of all time (title link). It's a feast of prosthetic makeup. But there is no mention of the sexiest villain of them all: the Borg Queen, played with sparkle by Alice Krige. Anyone with a smile as angelic as that, can't be all Borg.

Bird Art

2012-01-05T15:06:00.004Z

Ornithological art is taking flight at auctions on both sides of the Atlantic this month. Christie's New York is selling a rare first edition of John James Audubon's sumptuously illustrated The Birds of America, depicting more than 400 life-sized North American species in four monumental volumes, estimated value $7m to $10m. The set will be on view at Christie's Rockefeller Center galleries from 14-19 January (CLICK). Bonhams in London will auction wildlife photographer Terry Andrewartha's collection of 150 watercolours by John Cyril Harrison, who excelled at painting birds in flight. Above is Harrison's Curlews at Holkham Gap, Norfolk. The auction takes place on 25 January (title link). And don't forget Earthflight on BBC1 at 8pm this evening, soaring over Africa.

Kate Chooses Art

2012-01-05T12:53:00.003Z

The Duchess of Cambridge, seen here looking incredibly cute in a jaunty titfer, has been mulling over what charities to support and has plumped to become patron of four: Action on Addiction, East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), the Art Room and the National Portrait Gallery. Ex-Brownie Kate will also become a hands-on volunteer in the Scout Association. I can imagine her tent surrounded by royal bodyguard tents with an outer circle of beavers and cubs. Let's hope the bodyguards' jolly campfire songs aren't too risqué! Art and kids seem to be her current priorities. The Art Room provides art therapy for children with issues like low self-esteem and Asperger's syndrome at centres in Oxford and London. I'm not sure the National Portrait Gallery needs a royal patron, but I suppose every little helps.

Top 5 Pirated Games

2012-01-04T17:09:00.002Z

Here's a backhanded compliment if ever there was one. The 5 most pirated games on the PC in 2011 were:
1. Crysis 2 (estimated 3.9 million)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (3.6m)
3. Battlefield 3 (3.5m)
4. FIFA 12 (3.3m)
5. Portal 2 (3.2m).
Above is a screen shot from EA's Crysis 2.

Vinnie Jones CPR

2012-01-04T15:03:00.002Z

One of Coxsoft Art's unsung certificates is for first aid at work. So I'm keen on the latest British Heart Foundation advert in which Vinnie Jones demonstrates hard and fast CPR. Reminds me of my own trainer. CPR isn't for sissies. First you need a fresh corpse, ideally less than 3 minutes since expiry. Click the title link for more information.

Art Pass Update

2012-01-04T12:43:00.002Z

Back in April I posted an item on the new National Art Pass, launched by Britain’s fundraising charity the Art Fund (CLICK). It has proved a success. The Art Fund reports that its membership has increased by 15% to nearly 90,000 members in 2011 (title link). Sales of the Pass go toward helping museums buy art. Some of it is great art, some of it not so great. Above is Alex Katz's Anna Wintour (2009) which the Art Fund helped to buy.

Art Vinyl Prize

2012-01-04T11:54:00.002Z

The winner of the Art Vinyl Prize 2011 is Zack Nipper with his design for Bright Eyes' The People's Key on the Saddle Creek record label. Cults' Cults came second, art direction and design by Dave Bett and Jeannette Kaczorowski at Sony Music Entertainment. Gregory Euclide came third with his design for Bon Iver's Bon Iver. Click the title link for the complete top 50.

Ronald Searle RIP

2012-01-03T21:54:00.005Z

British cartoonist Ronald Searle has died in his sleep in a hospital in Draguignan, France, aged 91. He was famous for creating the fictional girls' school St Trinian's, but many other Searle cartoons enlivened magazines in Europe and the USA, including Punch and The New Yorker. He won prizes from America's National Cartoonists' Society and also France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur in 2007. The graphic shows the front cover of St Trinian's: The Entire Appalling Business (2008) published following the 2007 St Trinian's movie. Click the title link for a BBC video.

Octopus in London

2012-01-03T10:41:00.003Z

If you trip over a large, multicoloured Octopus in Thomas More Square, London, don't blame me. You have been warned. It's the work of Marialuisa Tadei, who is the best thing since sliced bread according to various art critics. Octopus has been installed by Land Securities, which owns the site, in partnership with Hay Hill Gallery of Cork Street. Metal thieves please note that its steel core is surrounded by concrete and hand-cut glass tiles.

Newcomer Awards

2012-01-02T16:41:00.005Z

The shortlist for the inaugural abstract critical Newcomer Awards, worth £5,000, has been announced (title link). The uninspiring example shown is Dan Roach's Inscape (2011). The 5 shortlisted graduate artists will display their work at Kings Place Gallery in London from 30 March to 20 April (CLICK) when the winner will be awarded his or her prize. I've yet to see any abstracts that compete with the beauty of Fractal Art (CLICK).

Ragamala Paintings

2012-01-02T11:53:00.003Z

On 25 January the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London opens Ragamala Paintings from India: poetry, passion, song. A ragamala is a set of miniature paintings depicting Indian musical modes or ragas with a brief caption or poem that describes the mood of each raga. The show features a rare collection of 24 miniatures from the Claudio Moscatelli Collection. Shown is a detail from Bhairava Raga, Pahari, Nurpur (c. 1690). Click the title link for the exhibition web page. Click the YouTube video for an introduction by co-curator Lizzie Watson, who is rather tasty herself.

London Fireworks

2012-01-01T15:42:00.006Z

In the 12-bong countdown at midnight in London, fireworks exploded from Big Ben. Then came the London Eye and a huge display of fireworks from barges on the Thames, watched by an estimated 250,000 people. If you missed the display, which lasted for about 11 minutes, click the title link for a BBC video of the event, which was set to music for the first time, following a recording that Britain was lumbered with the 2012 Olympics.

Hockney For Merit

2012-01-01T11:15:00.002Z

The controversial New Year Honours List, which includes at least one jailbird businessman and also an ex-ghetto gangster, fails to mention any artist that I noticed. However, as though to make up for this failure, Buckingham Palace has announced that David Hockney has been appointed a member of the Order of Merit by the Queen (title link). He isn't granted a title, but he gets to wear a lapel badge to show he belongs to this exclusive club of 24 members, all of whom have achieved great distinction in their fields of endeavour. Sir David Attenborough is another member of this exclusive club. Above is Emily Port-Salmon's Portrait of David Hockney (2011). Left is Hockney's iPad doodle of a pot of lavender from his show in Paris: Fresh Flowers (2010).

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:02:00.001Z

Dickens' Ghosts

2011-12-30T23:36:00.002Z

Still on the subject of ghosts, the British Library has a small exhibition in The Folio Society Gallery A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural until 4 March 2012. Small, but free (title link). A Christmas Carol must be the most famous ghost story of all time. Above, Ebenezer Scrooge meets Marley's ghost.

Curious Warnings

2011-12-30T13:01:00.004Z

Award-winning British sci-fi and fantasy artist Les Edwards, alias Edward Miller, has updated his two websites for 2012 with news and new artworks. His major project this year was illustrating Curious Warnings; The Great Ghost Stories of M.R. James, edited by Stephen Jones, published by Jo Fletcher Books (to be released on 26 April 2012). The anthology includes 10 monochrome paintings and 10 line drawings. Shown is his frontispiece for Curious Warnings: The Gate Keeper (2011). Les also had his pen drawing of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine included in the British Library exhibition Out of this World; Science Fiction, But Not As You Know It. CLICK for the Edward Miller website.

Louvre Kerfuffle

2011-12-29T22:45:00.003Z

Have restorers at Le Louvre made a pig's ear of Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne? Two French art experts have quit Le Louvre's advisory committee over the restoration, which they claim has been over cleaned and is now too bright (title link). I tend to agree. The painting looks as though it needs an XnView gamma resetting to give depth to the dark areas. The child's shaded tummy seems to have vanished too. Another Brillo pad job. Groan!

Earthflight

2011-12-29T17:55:00.005Z

A second BBC trailer did the biz for me in recent days: Earthflight. This is the latest BBC nature series, which begins this evening at 8pm on BBC1. It uses spy cams on the backs of large birds flying over 6 continents, starting with North America (title link). Many intimate flying shots such as the one above are also included.

ACE Junk

2011-12-29T12:04:00.003Z

In my opinion, anyone who claims that these two Pratt & Whitney TF33 P9 engines decommissioned by the United States Air Force are a work of art is a liar and a charlatan. Step forward Turner Prize nominee Roger Hiorns, based in London. He was commissioned to produce this junk by the Art Institute of Chicago last year. It seems the museum didn't want to hang on to it. So, with a little help from Corvi Mora and the Henry Moore Foundation, Roger donated it to Arts Council England. And ACE accepted it! I would have sent Roger packing. Hasn't anyone told ACE that space costs money? The first showing in the UK of this colossal junk is in The Sculpture Show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It's name is Untitled (title link). If Government needs to make further savings in grants to the purported arts in 2012, ACE is asking for it.

Kinetica Art Fair

2011-12-28T17:32:00.004Z

The next Kinetica Art Fair is from 9 to 12 February 2012 (title link). Tickets cost £8.00 or £15.00, which seems very expensive for a load of rather silly installation thingies. Art that moves has been common since the advent of computers with graphic capabilities. It's becoming increasingly intrusive with animated adverts on many websites. This graphic is Dianne Harris's neon heads from last year's show, photographed by Alex Robertson.

Great Expectations

2011-12-27T15:24:00.004Z

I've commented on the BBC's inability to produce trailers that make its forthcoming programmes appear worth viewing. Here's an exception. The trailer for Charles Dickens' Great Expectations creates the impression that David Lean's 1946 masterpiece has finally been equalled in quality. Gillian Anderson's beautiful, ghostlike Miss Havisham adds new depth to the character, her voice a delicate balance of charm and menace. What idiot jilted this terrific lady? Oscar Kennedy as Young Pip stands suitably entranced before Miss Havisham as though hypnotised by a snake. But can any girl surpass Jean Simmons as young Estella? I can hardly wait to view Episode 1 of Great Expectations tonight on BBC1 at 9pm (title link). Above: Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham and Oscar Kennedy as Young Pip.

Driven to Draw

2011-12-27T12:05:00.004Z

Here are two drawings from an exhibition in the Tennant Gallery of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Above is a detail from a magnificent Portrait of A.H. Mackmurdo (1945) by Sir Frank Brangwyn RA. To the left is a Life Drawing of a Seated Female Nude (1917) by RA student Winifred Broughton Edge. Driven to Draw: Twentieth-century Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Royal Academy’s Collection continues until 12 February 2012. Click the title link for more information.

Last Masterpiece

2011-12-25T13:58:00.005Z

No, I haven't suddenly got religion for Christmas. ArtDaily (CLICK) reminded me that Domenichino’s The Adoration of the Shepherds is the last Masterpiece A Month to help celebrate this year's bicentenary of Dulwich Picture Gallery in London (title link). The Governors of Dulwich College flogged this oil painting in 1971 to raise funds, despite an outcry. It was bought by the National Gallery of Scotland, which lent it to Dulwich this month. You have until 8 January 2012 to view it.

Remy the Rat

2011-12-25T13:27:00.006Z

Why is it that people who live in palaces feel obliged to give us all messages on Christmas Day? If they just said "Merry Christmas, peasants" it would be enough; but no, they must deliver sermons. I shall seek my Christmas message from Remy the Rat this year. Here's the lad himself holding the Oscar® he won in 2008 (the Chinese Year of The Rat) for best animated feature film Ratatouille (2007). It starts on BBC1 at 4.50pm, followed by The Gruffalo's Child, which also looks good. ITV1 has another Oscar-winner Happy Feet (2006) at 3.10pm, but I can't tolerate all the adverts. I'll have to put up with them during Downton Abbey at 9pm. I'm hooked.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:46:00.004Z

Click the title link for a heartfelt Christmas message from the Singing Sewermen (and girl) of Thames Water, which serves the London area. Cool it, bag it, bin it.

Dog Tease

2011-12-24T23:04:00.002Z

If you haven't already seen it, click the title link for the Ultimate Dog Tease, which was the most popular YouTube video in the UK this year. The lip synchronization is quite good for amateur work. Dog lovers note the mutt's tail is wagging the whole time. CLICK for the UK's Top 10 YouTube hits.

Oleg Shuplyak

2011-12-24T22:22:00.003Z

Ukrainian artist Oleg Shuplyak specialises in portraits hidden in landscapes or dramatic scenes. This one is Voyeur, which is supposed to depict Sigmund Freud. His nose is a naked women kneeling on a rock. If you're bored with Christmas TV shows, click the title link to view more of Oleg's deceptive paintings.

Happy Birthday

2011-12-24T11:55:00.004Z

London Art News is 6 years old today, still previewing major art shows in London and cocking a snoot at the British Anti-art Establishment, still campaigning against a variety of things from shark fin soup to badger culling, still bemoaning pretentious art-dealer blurbs and still cracking a joke here or there. Sometimes I even get round to a little graphic design too.

Reward Increase

2011-12-23T20:39:00.002Z

Last Tuesday I reported on the theft of Barbara Hepworth's Two Forms (Divided Circle) from Dulwich Park in south London, torn from its base by scrap metal thieves (CLICK). Today Barbara Hepworth's granddaughter, Dr Sophie Bowness, added £4,000 to the £1,000 already offered by Southwark Council for the return of the sculpture and the arrest and conviction of the thieves (title link). My guess is that it is already too late. These criminals have heavy lifting gear and they aren't going to hang about. They had a criminal scrap merchant in mind when they stole the sculpture. The police are useless - they never recover these stolen works - and so is the law. Unless Government gets its finger out, we won't have any public metal sculptures left in London.

Face Britain

2011-12-23T17:22:00.002Z

Kids on holiday cracking you up? How about getting them to join Face Britain created by The Prince's Foundation for Children & The Arts. The project is part of the Olympic Cultural Festival and has the active support of HRH The Prince of Wales. Everyone taking part will help to break the Guinness World Record for "most artists working on the same art installation". Just click the title link to find an online drawing package for kids.

Your Paintings

2011-12-23T15:14:00.004Z

I first mentioned the Public Catalogue Foundation back in 2007 (CLICK). By 2009 it had catalogued all the 2,500 paintings owned by the V&A Museum in London (CLICK). In June of this year the PCF teamed up with the BBC to launch Your Paintings, an online catalogue of the Government Art Collection, to be tagged by the public (CLICK). It is now more than halfway through the 200,000 paintings in the collection. This sumptuous portrait of Marchesa Maria Serra Pallavicino (1606) by Peter Paul Rubens is one of the latest to be added to the online database (title link). She was the wife of a banker! Occupy Wall Street, forget it. You're fighting history.

Lenticular Clouds

2011-12-22T20:34:00.003Z

Here's something you won't find in a landscape painting. Not the wind turbines, but the Lenticular Clouds, a rare cloud formation seen over West Yorkshire today. Some people thought they were UFOs (title link).

Eugene von Guérard

2011-12-22T16:37:00.002Z

Landscapes have been rather sparse on the London art scene lately. So here's a beauty from Down Under: Eugene von Guérard's North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko (1863) which is in New South Wales, Australia. This painting is also a pedant's dream. It was actually painted on Mount Townsend, the second highest peak in Australia, not Mount Kosciusko, the highest. And the spelling Kosciuszko was officially adopted in 1997. This is one of the landscapes in a major retrospective of the artist's work Eugene von Guérard: Nature Revealed at the Queensland Art Gallery until 4 March 2012, admission free (title link). CLICK for another fine landscape.

Designer Crafts

2011-12-22T11:59:00.003Z

Peeping into the new year, the next exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London is Designer Crafts at The Mall 2012, which runs from 6 to 15 January (title link). It is presented by the Society of Designer Craftsmen and includes ceramics, furniture, jewellery, glass and textiles. All work is for sale. Admission is stiffer than usual at £4, but this includes a catalogue. Silver surfers pay £2.50. Shown is a detail from Eyes 2 by An Myung Nam.

Banksy in Mayfair

2011-12-21T17:29:00.003Z

The latest Banksy appeared in London yesterday, halfway up an abandoned building in Mayfair. The stencilled, spray-painted mural shows a woman and her supermarket trolley plunging to the pavement. A comment on Christmas shopping? A second Banksy has turned up on another empty building near Canary Wharf. It reads: "Sorry! The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock". True. Oh well, it's helping to save the planet's finite resources. Click the title link for both graffiti.

St Mary Major

2011-12-21T15:08:00.003Z

A vandal attacked the bronze central door of St Mary Major Basilica in Rome on Monday, making a fist-sized hole in its depiction of The Annunciation. For some reason best known to the artist, the angel Gabriel is giving a middle-finger salute to the elegant, mannerist Virgin Mary. The vandal was collared, whether by Vatican guards or by local fuzz is unknown. The 5th-century basilica is one of four in Rome that are under the jurisdiction of the Vatican.