Under the Influence: John Deakin and the Lure of Soho, The Photographers' Gallery until 13 JulyJohn Deakin, contact sheet of self-portraits, for Vogue (1952)
I first came across the photographer John Deakin through the various memoirs of Daniel Farson. Back in the 1960s, Farson was … Continue Reading ››
William Kent (1685-1748) was the leading architect and designer of early Georgian Britain. A polymath, he turned his hand to everything from painting to designing sculpture, architecture, interior decoration, furniture, metalwork, book illustration and landscape gardens. Kent's life coincided with … Continue Reading ››
Engraved by John Rogers after George Bryant Campion, pub. 1830
A good friend of mine from Brühl in Germany has just given me this picture, having come across it in an antique printshop in Cologne. … Continue Reading ››
Last year David Buckman published his extensive research on the East London Group of Artists in his fascinating book From Bow to Biennale: Artists of the East London Group. Now here's the exhibition to accompany the book - and it's a corker.
The East … Continue Reading ››
Probably the most photographed painting in the Rijksmuseum.
Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, Known as de ‘Night Watch’, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1642
Stern carving from the Royal Charles, c. 1660
This is possibly one of the most intriguing exhibits (for me) in the whole of the Rijksmuseum's collection. These arms of Charles II once adorned the stern transom, or 'counter', of the English flagship the Royal Charles. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch bombarded then captured Sheerness … Continue Reading ››
William Kent (1685-1748) was the leading architect and designer of early Georgian Britain. A polymath, he turned his hand to everything from painting to designing sculpture, architecture, interior decoration, furniture, metalwork, book illustration and landscape gardens. Kent's life coincided with … Continue Reading ›› 
Last year David Buckman published his extensive research on the East London Group of Artists in his fascinating book From Bow to Biennale: Artists of the East London Group. Now here's the exhibition to accompany the book - and it's a corker.
The East … Continue Reading ›› 
This is from the exhibition Mondrian and Cubism: Paris 1912-1914 at the Gemeente Museum den Haag. You can hear me talking about Mondrian and discussing the exhibition on Episode 11 of the Serendipitous Compendium. 
