Celia Cruz was arguably the greatest Cuban singer of her age, but sadly the post-revolutionary Cuban Government, instead of celebrating her achievements more or less disowned her. Her death in 2003 as ‘The Queen of Salsa’, resulted in a great outpouring of grief, respect and love from her fans, with more than 200,000 paying their […]
Why do we not learn from the past? We have lost the art of urban planning that creates great spaces for people to work in, live in and enjoy – you only have to look at the redevelopment of Vauxhall. In the UK, we have a reactive system, though there are some bright spots such […]
I last visited the Pallant House Gallery many years ago, just after the new extension, and I had forgotten what an excellent modern art gallery it is – a surprising and pleasant find in Chichester where you don’t expect to find such an excellent gallery of modern art in a historic town, most famous for […]
You might think that only the British would do something as apparently mad and eccentric as collecting, cataloguing and preserving plant seeds. It seems, however, that we are not alone; there are apparently over 1000 seed banks across the world, albeit many are specialised, including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway opened in 2008, […]
The Burlington Gardens wing of the Royal Academy was originally built for the University of London between 1867 and 1870 by Sir James Pennythorne. Long isolated from the main building of the Academy, the recent refurbishment has joined the two buildings together, but its classical interiors have now been disrupted by an architectural installation and […]
We are so used to the nude being part of mainstream art that we forget that there was a period when this was not the case. The nude was celebrated in classical Greece and Rome but in the Celtic, Gothic and Medieval worlds, bodies were clothed and covered up. Nudity was kept for depictions of […]
Brick Lane on a Sunday is a street of contrasts. At the South end, coming from the underground station Aldgate East, very few restaurants, galleries or shops are open. It is a Sunday after all! Then, progressively towards the old Truman’s Brewery, things liven up. There are more shops open, a food street market, a Vintage […]
Many ‘firsts’ are here, including Walt Disney’s first full length film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, the first Star Wars film and the first James Bond movie’ ‘Dr No’ captured in posters from the time the films were released. Sotheby’s New Bond Street entrance is closed for several months for a face-lift, so everyone […]
By happy coincidence, three generations of Spanish artists are on show in New Bond Street: – the Spanish impressionist, Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923), the master of 20th century modern art, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) who was one of the founders of Cubanism, and the contemporary artist Pedro Paricio (born 1982) who has been inspired by Picasso’s work, […]
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