Downton Abbey’s Secret Code
Have you ever wondered why the makers of that tedious piece of High Tory propaganda, Downton Abbey begins with a shot of a dog’s ass? Well, it always confused me until I noticed that the shot also contains the name…
Have you ever wondered why the makers of that tedious piece of High Tory propaganda, Downton Abbey begins with a shot of a dog’s ass? Well, it always confused me until I noticed that the shot also contains the name…
6th May 2009 Unsurprizingly no one was taking photographs of me four years ago today. I didn’t look too good – much worse in fact than the picture above. It was the day I had a serious brain hemorrhage and…
It’s a pleasant, slightly breezy Autumnal morning here in Lewes, UK, but enjoying it is a guilty secret on the day that Hurricane Sandy is on its perilous journey towards the coast of the USA. I’m hoping that it won’t…
Chatterton (1855-1856) by Henry Wallis. Tate Britain, London I couldn’t let my week of blogs about the wonderful Pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain go by without mentioning the one painting exhibited there that has a personal significance for me beyond…
Work (1852-1865) by Ford Madox Brown. Manchester Art Gallery. In case we are ever tempted to think of those arty Pre-Raphaelites as mere fey decorative artist intellectuals, we should think of Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893), the painter who stood on…
Astarte Syriaca (1875-1876) by Gabriel Dante Rossetti. Manchester City Art Galleries. I went to the “Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian Avant-Garde,” Tate Britain’s Pre-Raphaelite exhibition last weekend and the face that stays with me is that of Jane Morris, the wife of William…
Ophelia (1851-1852) by John Everett Millais. Tate Britain, London. As much as I probably prefer Edmund Burne-Jones to the other Pre-Raphaelite artists, I also love the work of John Everett Millais (1829-1896) and there’s probably no doubt that was the best…
The Baleful Head from The Perseus series by Edward Burne-Jones (1887) Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. At the weekend, I went to see the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition that is currently showing in London’s Tate Britain, “Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian Avant-Garde” billed as the first major…
Tomas Tranströmer It was what I would call a busy weekend. I wasn’t gardening, doing any essential DIY, shopping, socializing or even going to the gym. I was busy in my head. I went to the powerful and very large…
Alban Gerhardt Kurt Masur This weekend will be dominated by Beethoven and Schumann and the exciting young German ‘cellist Alban Gerhardt in a concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall. I don’t go to orchestral concerts enough but I’m excited about…