Art

I never thought of this as a blog about art, but I’ve noticed that when I write something on the subject, it often gets more – sometimes many more – views than anything else on the site. So if your interest is primarily in art and you’d like to read more, here is a list of my mainly arty blogs.

A new gallery for London
Bloomberg’s new London HQ (Nov 8 2017)

Scythians in the new British Archaeology
Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia, at the British Museum (Oct 6 2017)

Wilmington Man in Morley College
On the lost Morley College murals (Jun 6 2017)

Richard Long in Norfolk
Exhibition at Houghton Hall (Apr 28 2017)

Moving stories worth a stop
An Asahi Shimbun Display at the British Museum (Apr 19 2017)

Britain’s fabulous totem poles
Survey of native Canadian and American carved cedar poles in the UK (there are 16!) (Apr 5 2017)

The 7 Ages of Hockney
On Tate Britain’s retrospective (February 6 2017)

Dunelm House
A crumbling 1960s building refused listing by the Culture Secretary (December 16 2016)

Paul Nash at Tate: archaeology and trauma
(December 14 2016)

Why I cried at the new V&A show
“You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966–1970” (September 7 2016)

The age of A’a
New radiocarbon dates for a Pacific wood carving (August 16 2016)

Paul Nash: A Private World
Photography (August 2 2016)

Boris Anrep National Gallery mosaics
With floor plans (July 31 2016)

The New Tate Modern – and what it made me think about the British Museum
Immediate thoughts at London’s fabulous new gallery spaces (June 15 2016)

#lookdown Boris Anrep
Photos of National Gallery mosaics (June 10 2016)

Janet Hodgson
Short tribute to an artist I met at Stonehenge (April 15 2016)

Madagascan martyrs
Some remarkable Madagascan missionary art (April 4 2016)

Great to hear Phyllida Barlow will be at 2017 Venice Biennale
Snapshots in Tate Britain (March 4 2016)

Wonderful Calder show makes me think of ice age art
Tate Modern’s exhibition of early Alexander Calder work (Nov 10 2015)

Ai Weiwei in London is the most exciting thing since Sensation. Here’s why
I really liked the royal Academy’s exhibition (Sept 16 2015)

Miss Maurice’s organ case
A lovely piece of early 20th century furniture at Great Chelford Manor (Aug 16 2015)

Ai Weiwei: Bringing Human Remains to London
Looking forward to the RA exhibition (June 28 2105)

How the Magpie Musicians came to stand for free Stonehenge
What feels like the proper explanation for some curious photos (April 5 2015)

Empty plinths
(Mar 13 2015): BM Parthenon Galleries, Wukun Wanambi and Gift Horse

Last chance to see Emily Carr in London
(Mar 11 2015): Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt

Sarah Raphael in David Inshaw mood
(Aug 28 2014)

Keeping up with Happisburgh
(Aug 28 2014): features a John Sell Cotman watercolour

Trains, trees, stones and statues
(May 6 2014): includes Fischli/Weiss’s Rock on Top of Another Rock in Kensington Gardens

Easter Island – alive and well in Soho?
(Apr 13 2014): London murals by Christos Tolera and Simon Withers

Stonework
(Feb 3 2014): on a book by Mark Edmonds and Rose Ferraby

Alan Sorrell has arrived at Sir John Soane’s Museum
(Nov 8 2013): the under-appreciated British artist’s first proper solo show, featuring more than his archaeological work

Nicholson’s Nek
(Jun 4 2013): a painting by Ernest Griset for sale

Googling digging Google doodles
(Apr 2 2013): archaeological doodling

Ernest Griset in London
(Feb 11 2013): long post on the occasion of the first significant public hanging of 14 paintings by Victorian illustrator Ernest Griset, in the Quadriga Gallery in the Wellington Arch, London

On a portrait of Charles Darwin
(Feb 1 2013): when was photo now at Darwin’s home at Down House taken?

The other night at Stonehenge
(Jul 12 2012): La Compagnie Carabosse’s Stonehenge Fire Garden

A quick guide to bouncy druids
Jun 30 2012
Sacrilege on tour
Jun 26 2013
Bouncyhenge is here!
Apr 20 2012: on Jeremy Deller’s inflatable Sacrilege!

New discovery: TWO photos of the Magpie Musicians at Stonehenge in 1896
(Jun 10 2012): on a pair of Victorian photos

What’s that hole in Soane’s model?
May 15 2012
More on cork henges
May 19 2012: a model from Sir John Soane’s collection

Will Freeborn’s Stonehenge
(Apr 30 2012): sketch by Glaswegian artist

I’m a great fan of Stephen Fry, but…
(Apr 3 2012): on the British Museum’s Parthenon marbles

Why that John Lewis ad was genius
(Jan 4 2012): exactly

Eagle and salmon
(Jan 3 2012): chance purchase of an old art card by Henry Hunt, Canadian First Nations artist

Richard Hamilton (1922–2011)
(Sep 18 2011): something he did for a BBC QED film in 1993

Tania Kovats
(Aug 31 2011): a drawing

Adventures in archaeology
(Aug 16 2011): Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, written and drawn by Hoshino Yukinobu

Farewell McQueen
(Feb 16 2010): Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood

Two days to see Simon Callery show
(Oct 30 2009): how Oxford Archaeology’s Thames Gateway excavations inspired the artist

On the beach
(Jul 12 2009): Antony Gormley’s Another Place at Crosby