[Photo: Brian Sibley]
Sunday, 16 April 2017
Friday, 14 April 2017
Thursday, 13 April 2017
INCONVENIENCED
I'm a big fan of Tate Britain, but their disabled loos are the most inconvenient conveniences I have ever used, BECAUSE...
...it is impossible to use the loo without triggering the hand dryer which remains at full throttle for the duration, reaching incendiary levels of heat whilst blowing the loo-paper out of reach.
Having been built to accommodate a wheelchair, there are acres of wall space that could have been used to mount the dryer other than right above where you sit!
...it is impossible to use the loo without triggering the hand dryer which remains at full throttle for the duration, reaching incendiary levels of heat whilst blowing the loo-paper out of reach.
Having been built to accommodate a wheelchair, there are acres of wall space that could have been used to mount the dryer other than right above where you sit!
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
SCARFE-FACED
The unmistakable work of the (truly) legendary artist and satirist, Gerald Scarfe...
We were in celebrated company: in addition to Gerald, his wife, Jane Asher, and their son, Frederick, there were – among others – Felicity Dahl (widow of Roald) and Donald Sturrock (Dahl's biographer) and sitting next to David (to his great delight) Nick Mason of Pink Floyd!
The sale features a staggering range of Scarfe's work including many delicious inky assassinations. Here are Thatcher, Blair and Obama...
A sardonic future-vision: Prince William, leapfrogging his father, Prince Charles to seize the crown...
A clutch of Showbizers: Mick Jagger, Julie Andrews (in Mary Poppins), Nigel Hawthorne (in Yes, Minister) and Ian McKellen...
Also for sale are examples of Gerald Scarfe work for the theatre: McHeath in The Beggar's Opera and a costume designs for Drosselmeyer in the ballet, The Nutcracker and for the title-character of the operatic version of Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr Fox...
And, of course, Scarfe's work on two memorable – vastly different – film projects: Pink Floyd – The Wall and Disney's Hercules...
On a wall by itself in the pre-sale exhibition (and in a class-act all of its own) hung one of Gerald Scarfe's most celebrated – and, at the time, notorious – portraits.
In 1964, The Times commissioned the artist to mark Winston Churchill's final day in the House of Commons, but the submitted picture was deemed too controversial to publish.
The drawings is an extraordinary piece of work: the pathetic, decaying, sunken-eyed Churchill dominates the meticulously drawn architectural setting with Conservative politicians (including Reginald Maudling and Alec Douglas-Home) peeping out from behind his hunched bulk and the Speaker of the Commons, Sir Harry Hylton-Foster, lurking in the shadowy recess of the Speaker's Chair.
Six months later, when Churchill died, Peter Cook used the drawing on the cover of the satiric magazine, Private Eye...
Bidding opens on this piece of British national (and cartoon) history at £100,000...
Saturday, 1 April 2017
THE TELLER OF TALES
One of my favourite contemporary illustrators, Michael Foreman, is the subject of a major retrospective selling exhibition at Chris Beetles Gallery, London.
Telling Tales will be on show from 5-22 April and features Foreman's radiant artwork for some of the greatest classics of childhood: Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Wendy, A Child's Garden of Verse, The Wizard of Oz, a pre-Quentin Blake interpretation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and examples of the artist's illustrations for books by Terry Jones.
The hallmarks of Foreman's work are a quality of dynamic energy, a singularity of perspective and his skill at creating enchanting visions of the fantastic with a subtlety of line and a colour palette of transcendent luminosity...
The exhibition is accompanied by a fabulous, 140-page, illustrated catalogue (£15 + p&p) containing over 260 full-colour reproductions.
Chris Beetles Gallery can be found at
8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6QB
Open: Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:30
Tel: 0207839 7551 email: gallery@chris Beetles.com
Telling Tales will be on show from 5-22 April and features Foreman's radiant artwork for some of the greatest classics of childhood: Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Wendy, A Child's Garden of Verse, The Wizard of Oz, a pre-Quentin Blake interpretation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and examples of the artist's illustrations for books by Terry Jones.
The hallmarks of Foreman's work are a quality of dynamic energy, a singularity of perspective and his skill at creating enchanting visions of the fantastic with a subtlety of line and a colour palette of transcendent luminosity...
The exhibition is accompanied by a fabulous, 140-page, illustrated catalogue (£15 + p&p) containing over 260 full-colour reproductions.Chris Beetles Gallery can be found at
8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6QB
Open: Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:30
Tel: 0207839 7551 email: gallery@chris Beetles.com
FOOLHARDY
I'm sure readers of this blog are far too worldly wise to be caught by
any April Fool's Day pranks, but just in case, here's a few facts (or
fancies) about the origins of this strange festivity...
The custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks
upon one's neighbor is universally recognised. Precursors of April
Fools' Day include the Roman festival of Hilaria (celebrated on the
venal equinox to honor Cybele), the Holi festival of India (also known
as the Festival of Colours) and the Medieval Feast of Fools.
In 1561, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote a comical poem about a
nobleman who sent his servant on foolish errands on 1 April supposedly
to help prepare for a wedding feast. In the closing line of each stanza,
the servant says (translated) "I am afraid... that you are trying to
make me run a fool's errand."
The first British reference appears in 1686 in the writings of diarist, John Aubrey whose Remains of Gentilism and Judaism mentions, "Fooles holy day. We observe it on ye first of April. And so it is kept in Germany everywhere."
The April 2, 1698 edition of the British newspaper Dawks's News-Letter reported that "Yesterday being the first of April, several
persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed."
Sending
gullible victims to the menagerie at Tower of London to see the
non-existent ceremony of "washing of the
lions" was a popular April 1st prank and examples of
it being played went on into the 19th Century as can be seen from this
'ticket' for just such an event advertised as taking place in 1857...
A number of vintage cartoons show the popularity of April Fools Day pranks – often at the expense of the elderly or those susceptible to being sent up...
In Italy, France, Belgium, and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and
Canada, 1 April tradition is often known as "April fish" (poissons d'avril in French or pesce d'aprile
in Italian). This involves attempting to attach a paper fish to the
victim's back without being noticed. Such fish feature prominently on
many late 19th and early 20th-century French April Fools' Day postcards...
This blog post was first published on this date in 2015.
Friday, 17 March 2017
PRAYER FOR TODAY
From the Prayer of St Patrick
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.
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