Der Clapham Strassenbahn When very young, and when not train spotting, I was a keen bus spotter. It was an ideal apprenticeship for a fledgeling art historian. It involved identifying, sometimes at a considerable distance (through rain), the beautifully crafted, hand-built models, of which there were many different marques and specifications. Every town corporation in… Continue reading Editorial – July 2016
Alexander Adams: Canon Fodder – November 2017
Alexander Adams investigates the status of the canon in art under Post-Modernism and the dangers of undervaluing it The canon of great art has never been the target of greater ire than it is today, but many leftist critics and their traditionalist opponents misunderstand the canon. The truth is unsettling for both groups. This essay… Continue reading Alexander Adams: Canon Fodder – November 2017
Alexander Adams: New Order – September 2017
Alexander Adams seeks to explain how identity politics, Feminism and New Criticism underpin the ideology of a generation of curators, and concludes by discussing the probable direction of the Tate under Dr Balshaw An Allegory Once upon a time there was a society which made objects that had meaning and that people enjoyed looking at.… Continue reading Alexander Adams: New Order – September 2017
Alexander Adams: Why are artists poor?
Imagine the most absurd and outrageous provocations about art that you can. For example: there is no such thing as a pure work of art; artists are unusually ill-informed; there is no market reward for good art; government subsidies make artists poor. Both defensive supporters of state funding and critical traditionalists will be muttering that… Continue reading Alexander Adams: Why are artists poor?
Dick French: On The Town – November 2017
It used to be said that a night out with John Bellany would take three years off your life. I’ll find out one day. We were both great friends of Cyril Reason, who was one of our tutors at the RCA, and although Cyril was less extreme than Bellany he was a thirsty man. I’ll… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – November 2017
Dick French: On The Town – September 2017
I’ve just been to see an exhibition by an artist whose name for the moment escapes me. He is having an exhibition of his furniture-friendly Pop-Art style abstractions. They’re copies of book covers – title above, abstraction below. A few years ago there was someone, perhaps it was the same bloke, doing large pictures of… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – September 2017
Dick French: On The Town – July 2017
I heard on the wireless that Cornelia Fluff has just been appointed ‘Official Sculptor’ for the General Election. What can this mean? She’s obviously a bit of a Leftie so maybe she could run up a big bronze statue of Compo on his bicycle for Islington Green. Mr Serota has left the Billabong and moved… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – July 2017
Dick French: On The Town – May 2017
Mr Wu was on the wireless last night. A very long programme on the World Service, but still I learned very little about him. He speaks as one heavily sedated. Talk about insclutable. He dwells in a large bunker under Berlin with 6,000 three-legged stools and some lifejackets. There was no mention of the poison… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – May 2017
Dick French: On The Town – March 2017
Now my wedge is worn down to a nubbin so I’m trying to scratch a few dibs out of this art world. I’d done a few beauty panels and I’m punting them round town when I meet this dame in Covent Garden. I’ve known her a year or so and now she’s working the spigot… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – March 2017
Dick French: On The Town – January 2017
“For we know it’s right, it’s in black and white, and it’s written down in his diary.” The immortal words of Benny Hill came to mind as I purchased the complete set of Samuel Pepys’s diaries for fifty quid. This pleased me exceedingly as such a set can usually cost – the venality of bookmongers… Continue reading Dick French: On The Town – January 2017