I'm so proud of my new exhibition at the RWA in Bristol! Dance Out is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and film that celebrates dance as an everyday human activity, both solitary and social. The RWA itself will shape-shift during the exhibition, with the main daylit galleries hosting a series of dance and dance-related events. I co-curated the show with David Remfry; we've brought together…
Georg Wilson, Vespertine (Thorn Apple), 2025, oil on linen Until the other day I don't think I'd ever walked the length of Savile Row, a street that was once the byword for elegant English tailoring but which is now being infiltrated by art galleries - Hauser and Wirth at one end and at the other a space recently opened by Pilar Corrias. This feels like a former shop, with black and white tiles in…
Caroline Walker, Table Laying, Late Morning, May 2020, oil on canvas (artist copyright) On a walk round the autumn sales exhibition at Sothebys last year there were a few works that really jumped out: a smallish Francis Bacon that dominated a room containing a much larger Rodin; an Anselm Kiefer so vast you would need an aircraft hangar to keep it in; and downstairs a painting by Caroline Walker…
Jamie Luoto, The Swallowing, 2025 (copyright the artist) I recently went along to the private view of an exhibition by an artist I'd never heard of, at a gallery I'd never visited before, braving the south London rain to do so and - thanks to a delayed train - having to run to get there before the end. I don't run often, but something about the image of the work sent out in the Kristin…
Eric Ravilious, Tea at Furlongs, 1939, watercolour Hello! To mark the tenth anniversary of my 2015 exhibition Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery I’m giving a celebratory double lecture online, 2 x 50 minutes with an interval. As well as introducing the life and work of Eric Ravilious to people who are not that familiar with the artist, the longer format will allow time to introduce some less…
Tirzah Garwood, untitled embroidery (woman watering) It's always gratifying to get some press for an exhibition, but the reviews of Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious have been particularly enjoyable. Writers seem to have enjoyed coming face to face with an artist they haven't really seen before, and to have been affected by Garwood's peculiar magic as I was and as visitors to the gallery seem to…
Tirzah Garwood, Erskine Returning at Dawn, 1950, oil on canvas I'm thrilled that my exhibition Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious will be opening at Dulwich Picture Gallery on 19 November. It's been a fascinating journey since I suggested the show to them three or so years ago, not least because so little study has been made of Garwood's work before. Her life is quite well-documented, thanks to her…
Exhibition catalogue published by PWP/Bloomsbury , design by Lucy Morton I've been fascinated by Tirzah Garwood (1908-51) ever since I began researching her first husband Eric Ravilious (1903-42). The works I saw here and there seemed dark and strange, not at all like his and not really like anyone else's either. As a writer, her voice runs through the Ravilious in Pictures series I wrote for the…
Tirzah Garwood, Hornet and Wild Rose, 1950 (Towner) Another lengthy silence and another valid excuse... I've been hard at work putting together the first major museum exhibition devoted to the art of Tirzah Garwood (1908-51) since the memorial exhibition shortly after her death. Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious will open at Dulwich Picture Gallery in November, and I am absolutely delighted to be…
Eric Ravilious, New Year Snow, 1938, watercolour I wrote the note below for Dreweatts, who were selling New Year Snow in their recent auction, Robert Kime: The Personal Collection ... Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE This atmospheric watercolour depicts a picturesque valley in the Welsh borders and, at the same time, shows us a master at work. Early in 1938 Ravilious travelled to…
'Gramophones', from Boutiques , illustrated by Lucien Boucher Exciting news for lovers of astonishing books: Tim Mainstone has just published the third in his remarkable trilogy of books celebrating both a golden age of illustration and a glorious epoch in the history of shopping. Details of the Boutiques trilogy are available on the Mainstone Press website, but if you want to get a real sense of…
Soutine I Kossoff exhibition at Hastings Contemporary from Hastings Contemporary on Vimeo .
The prolonged lack of activity on this site is due, not to laziness as you might think, but to me having been working flat out on the exhibition opening at the end of next week at Hastings Contemporary... SOUTINE | KOSSOFF HASTINGS CONTEMPORARY 1 APRIL – 24 SEPT 2023 Opening at Hastings Contemporary in April 2023, Soutine | Kossoff pairs two major figures of 20th century painting: one a master of…
If you're an admirer of Paul Nash then this new book may already be on your radar, but I would also recommend it to people who don't know much about the debonair but sometimes challenging British artist. Pyramids in England has the two main characteristics of a good art book: a wide range of images that are excellently reproduced; and just the right amount of brisk, readable text. The author has…
Eric Ravilious, Pilot Boat, 1939 Having spent some time in a private collection in the United States, Pilot Boat is back in the UK and up for auction at Sotheby's. I'm not sure I've ever seen this watercolour in person so I'm looking forward to visiting on Sunday, when I join Frances Christie and Simon Martin for a panel discussion about Place in Modern British Art (see previous post for details).…
This time last year I was busy writing the introductory essay for a remarkable book. Revisiting Modern British Art is not a traditional art history book, being neither a historical survey nor a study of a particular artist or group. Rather, as the title suggests, it is a book which revisits a familiar period and seeks to understand it differently. Each of the writers brings their own expertise and…
From Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden and Paul Nash to Elisabeth Frink, David Hockney and Lucian Freud some of the biggest names in British art are coming together in a vibrant, wide-ranging exhibition at The Higgins Bedford that explores the history of British art of the 20 th and 21 st centuries. Changing Times: A Century of Modern British Art brings together more than 80 works from the Ingram…
Well it's less than a minute long, but I think this is a great introduction to my exhibition Seafaring , which runs at Hastings Contemporary until the autumn. Made by Ali Jassim - who can find on Instagram as @just_jassim - the film follows two young visitors as they tour the exhibition, stopping to look at an array of works by artists such as Cecily Brown, Eric Ravilious and Maggi Hambling.…
I'm very much looking forward to discussing 'Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War' with the film's director Margy Kinmonth, on Weds 6 July. Since we've talked about the film a lot over the past few years we thought it would be fun to have a fairly informal chat about the making of the film, with some behind-the-scenes pictures and discussion of our favourite Ravilious works. We're actually doing a live…
Eric Ravilious, Submarine Commander Looking Through a Periscope, lithograph, 1940-41 I'm sure you've had the experience of watching the film version of a novel you love... and wishing you hadn't. It took me years to see The English Patient , so powerful was my own impression of the story, and I've still never seen The Great Gatsby on screen. I don't know if there's a film of Ulysses or To the…
The private view of the 2015 Ravilious exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery was a bit of a blur, but one moment that stuck in my mind was meeting Margy Kinmonth for the first time. I had really enjoyed her film about LS Lowry, and when she appeared out of the crowd that evening and said she was making a film about Ravilious I was intrigued. Not long after that we met up and had a chat about the…
Over his long and successful career David Remfry MBE RA RWS has achieved a mastery of watercolour that few have matched. Unusually for the medium, he works on a large scale and often focuses on people, exploring the dance hall and the nightclub in breathtaking images that are at once beautiful and edgy. This book is the first full-length monograph devoted to the artist's watercolours. Its author,…
Richard Eurich, Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship, 1942, Tate From fishermen to submariners, migrants to merchant seamen, people throughout the ages have shared the experience of being at sea. Seafaring explores the perils and pleasures of life at sea, while at the same time taking visitors on an art historical voyage from the early 19th century to the present. At the heart of the exhibition is Lost…
A Ravilious Coronation Mug features in this linocut by Angie Lewin I'm looking forward to joining artist and designer Angie Lewin on March 23 for an online event exploring her career-long fascination for Eric Ravilious. With Kirsty Rodda of Hampshire Cultural Trust keeping us in order, we will spend an hour looking in-depth at Rav's achievements in wood engraving, watercolour and ceramic design. I…
Eric Ravilious, Train Landscape, 1939, Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museum Please join me for a feature-length online introduction to the life and work of the much-loved artist and designer. Two 45-minute lectures with interval! Eric Ravilious was only 39 when he died on active service as a war artist in 1942, but he had already achieved incredible things. This colourful two-part lecture explores the…