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…
Hannover Police showing confiscated Besseres Hannover flag I love Twitter the social networking site that encourages the concise use of language and, yes, freedom of expression. For all those moaning voices that lament the modern age of the Worldwide Web, I…
Horace Regular readers of this blog will be delighted, I hope, to learn that my old friend Horace the spider is back in his usual Autumnal place outside my bathroom window. Now, before spider experts start lecturing me on my…