On a beautiful Autumn day, we visited Charleston in Sussex, the home of the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. The two artists were part of a wider circle known as the Bloomsbury Group. They moved here on the suggestion of … Continue reading A kind of time capsule…
A visit to the BP Portrait Awards in the beautiful National Portrait Gallery. “The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world and represents the very best in contemporary portrait painting.” These are my favourites… My absolute favourite was ‘Tim and the dog’ by Jack Freeman, but all were fantastic to see and wonder at. Almost all were realistic, and some hyper. You can see all the exhibitors here. A cup of beautiful Golden Assam tea and back in again and ready for another look at the 20th Century portraits floor – oh so good. Will have to go back … Continue reading A flood of realism…
A friend read my blog post yesterday and sent over this article by Fiona Bruce in The Telegragh… It gives you more of a feel for the woman that Maggie was, and some gossip! Continue reading Shrewd, vulgar, snobbish but always entertaining…
Polesden Lacey, the weekend party house of Edwardian socialite Maggie Greville, was designed to impress and entertain. From the décor in the gold saloon to state-of-the-art conveniences such as Maggie’s personal lift, no expense was spared when Ritz architects Mewès and Davies renovated the house ready for Maggie’s first house party in 1909. A great day out at this house in the Surrey countryside. As K and I arrived, a house tour was just starting so we tagged along, and then had a good look on our own as well. Then we were invited on a behind the scenes tour … Continue reading Polesden Lacey
The Watts Cemetery Chapel is a working village parish chapel in the village cemetery of Compton in Surrey. A Grade I listed building. When Compton Parish Council created a new cemetery, local resident artist Mary Watts, the wife of Victorian era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts, offered to design and build a new mortuary chapel. A group of local amateurs and enthusiasts constructed the chapel from 1896 to 1898; virtually every village resident was involved. The ground plan is essentially circular. Local villagers were invited to decorate the chapel under Mary’s guidance, resulting in an interior that fuses art nouveau and Celtic influences, combined with Mary’s own original style. In 1895, Mary … Continue reading The Watts Cemetery Chapel
Set in 700 acres of Capability Brown landscaped deer park, Petworth House displays the finest art collection in the care of the English National Trust. Rooms of it. There are over 300 paintings at Petworth that include 20 by Turner, 17 … Continue reading Four art collectors at Petworth House
We only had a very short time to check out Crawford Art Gallery but two the exhibitions that we saw were great. Doug DuBois’ ‘My Last Day at Seventeen’ was a series of large coloured photographs. DuBois spent his summers in … Continue reading Crawford in Cork
At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, there are plenty of Moore sculptures dotted through-out the 500 acres. Stunning always. And I have seen a few Henry Moore sculptures since being in England. But when we visited the Park last weekend, there was also … Continue reading Henry Moore: Back to a Land
Another venture to the theatre – this time to see Runnymede Drama Group who were performing at the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton on Thames – Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene. The building started life as an ordinary … Continue reading Travels with My Aunt
I’m a dark painter, usually purples, greens and browns served with lashings of velvety charcoal. So a challenge thrown up by Wendy Harsant of NorthArt to paint a white painting for White Night, was just that, a challenge. Nothing worked, … Continue reading Painting in White for White Night, White Works, a challenge
Art and art doings from Jo Dalgety 