Anthony Daniels I see that the architect, Richard Rogers, is to retire at the age of 87. This is an excellent thing, of course, but unfortunately it comes seventy years too late. Rogers has done as much as anyone to make the world a little uglier (and locally, much uglier); in that sense he has… Continue reading The Philistine: Nîmes Old and New
Alexander Adams: The Colston Statue Affair
Alexander Adams This article briefly outlines what happened with the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, why it happened and its ramifications. On 7 June 2020, a large protest took place in the centre of Bristol, ostensibly against racism. The large gathering was in contravention on national and local restrictions on public gatherings… Continue reading Alexander Adams: The Colston Statue Affair
William Varley: Art: Cool and Uncool
William Varley reviews Addicted to Sheep So, as all cool sentences begin, I think that the best TV programme I saw last was Addicted to Sheep. In many ways this BBC4 documentary was reminiscent of the French film Être et Avoir about a remarkable teacher in a school in the remote Auvergne, although a good… Continue reading William Varley: Art: Cool and Uncool
Charles Thomson: Lies, Damned Lies and Serota at the BBC
Charles Thomson Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Gallery, has used the platform of the BBC in a blatant attempt to deceive the nation. Either that or he is genuinely deluded himself. Both options render him unfit for major public office. He was confronted on Radio 4 programme The Reunion: Tate Modern on September… Continue reading Charles Thomson: Lies, Damned Lies and Serota at the BBC
Giles Auty: Money Culture Notes
Giles Auty This was the last piece Giles submitted to The Jackdaw. He died suddenly in September, aged 86. It’s all about the money honey. When I awoke to see the front cover of the weekend Australian’s review section on June 20th it was rather like being thrown back into some weird and most unwelcome… Continue reading Giles Auty: Money Culture Notes
Selby Whittingham: The Temptations of the Wallace Collection
Selby Whittingham “I’m just a slave / only a slave to you, temptation”. So sang Bing Crosby in 1933 in a song, Temptation, repeated by many famous singers since and, in 1970, in a German TV act of Sid Millward & The Nitwits. That shows (it was recorded) Sid presiding over players prey to temptations… Continue reading Selby Whittingham: The Temptations of the Wallace Collection
Alexander Adams: Canon Fodder – November 2017
Alexander Adams November/December 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… Continue reading Alexander Adams: Canon Fodder – November 2017
Giles Auty: The Vital Value of Dissent
Giles Auty From the raised kitchen window of my house I can see most of the birds which regularly visit the garden. In summer these are mostly magpies, currawongs and cockatoos while in winter quite large flocks of pale green female satin bowerbirds arrive which are often accompanied by an all-black male. The latter is,… Continue reading Giles Auty: The Vital Value of Dissent
Eric Coombes: The Destruction of Art Education and its Implications for School Pupils
Eric Coombes The near-destruction in the western world of a centuries-long tradition of visual education could be described – hyperbolically but not misleadingly – as having been accomplished overnight. The inherited gifts of that tradition are now being casually, ungratefully and even malevolently thrown away. In its chronologically long-range survey, What Happened to Art Education?… Continue reading Eric Coombes: The Destruction of Art Education and its Implications for School Pupils
Selby Whittingham: Curatorial Incontinence
Selby Whittingham When Napoleon removed Europe’s art treasures to France on the grounds that their rightful place was not with “slaves” but “in the bosom of a free people”, some might cynically think that this was not just a piece of enlightenment, but that it was very convenient that the new home for them happened… Continue reading Selby Whittingham: Curatorial Incontinence