A portrait of the Queen by Australian artist Ralph Heimans has gone on show at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. It shows the monarch at night in Westminster Abbey standing on the spot where she was crowned 60 years ago. She looks like a giant genie has suddenly appeared from the train of a… Continue reading Another portrait of the Queen
BBC arts programming… and the shock of something good
My word what a revelation Robert Hughes’ The Shock of the New has been second time around. It was pretty good when first aired all those lifetimes ago in 1980. The fourth episode, it had Utopia in the title, reviewing the history of trendy architecture in the 20th century, was the best television about art… Continue reading BBC arts programming… and the shock of something good
Hockney’s charitable works
Approached by Bridlington council officials to appear as a town tour guide during a summer charity weekend, David Hockney generously consented and, to the great amusement of the crowd, threw in a hitherto unknown talent for gurning. “He was easily the great attraction of the weekend, like the Pied Piper,” said council leader Bill Cumming.… Continue reading Hockney’s charitable works
The Motya Charioteer
Explanations to date concerning this marvellous figure are inadequate. What precisely is it? Where did it come from? And what date is it? The Motya Charioteer stood for six weeks until the middle of September in the large gallery housing the Parthenon pediments and frieze in the British Museum. It was worth making a special… Continue reading The Motya Charioteer
1988 … Year zero
… when branding and art formed a marriage of convenience, argues artist John Kelly. 1988 is the seminal year, the year that our concepts of art, money and values changed irredeemably. It was the year I came to London as a 23-year-old artist, having taken an opportunity to play league cricket in London. It was… Continue reading 1988 … Year zero
Top people
The new Culture Minister is Maria Miller. Her background is in marketing (Texaco and an ad agency) which means she’ll be in heaven when blather is required. She was born in Wolverhampton and is MP for Basingstoke, both places whose connections to Culture are so obvious they don’t need repeating here. She joined the Conservative… Continue reading Top people
Is this the masterpiece of British land art?
The Jackdaw was given exclusive advance access to a grand project which seems certain to become a place of pilgrimage for intrepid devotees of Land Art. Dixon Smith reports. Already being hailed by the few allowed to see it as the masterpiece of Land Art in the British Isles, In Transit has been one of… Continue reading Is this the masterpiece of British land art?
Olympic posters: our native genius
The Turner Prize nominees and winners came up with a predictable set of embarrassing posters for the Olympics. Apart from the perpetrators themselves, no one could be found to say a good word about their efforts. Someone needs to get a grip. First we were presented with an inept logo which had cost £400,000 for… Continue reading Olympic posters: our native genius
Melting in the sun
After a large sculpture was stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire in 2005 security was tightened up. They have obviously enjoyed some success, if only because the works now getting stolen are a little smaller. The latest to disappear is a bronze sundial from the Yorkshire sculptor’s garden. Melted down, the 1965 piece… Continue reading Melting in the sun
Griselda and Moondance
It won’t have escaped the eagle eyes of either of The Jackdaw’s readers that our favourite bit of raven-tressed gallery fluff, Griselda van Bonkhorst, resurfaced pretending to hold up Constable’s The Lock. She was last found swooning over a Rembrandt and before that upstaging a Stubbs with her impeccable embonpoint. What with her fashionably unironed… Continue reading Griselda and Moondance