Author: jaywp

Not the person, but the portrait of Jackson by Maggi Hambling (perhaps an opportunistic choice of subject by the artist) was rejected by the Royal Academy’s ‘Summer Exhibition’, following distaste expressed by Anthony Green – who holds no little sway…

The Chelsea flower show once again grabbed all the headlines in the colour sections at the end of May. Tate Britain attempt to hijack the thematic approach, with their exhibition ‘Art and the Garden’, running to 30 August 2004. What…

The enigma of de Kooning’s late works, when he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, persists; they are notorious if only for the cloud that hangs over them. The centennial exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in New York, closing on 19 June…

Isabel Rawsthorne, the subject of famous portraits by Francis Bacon, died in 1992. She had met Bacon in her late forties, having earlier been painted by Picasso while living with André Derain in Paris. Bacon was fascinated by her, and…

For the period through to the end of May, White Cube will be showing works by one of the world’s most recognised sculptors, Antony Gormley. His new work, ‘Clearing’ at White Cube, is composed of 7 km of rod that…

Brian Sewell was right to question (The Independent, 6 April 2004) the attempt to resuscitate the revered name of Bugatti in the 21st century. Surely the untimely end of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 aged 66, and of his son Jean,…

The nation’s love affair with BritArt was hyped up as recently as last February, when Sotheby’s sold 14.7 million-worth of the genre. Can it really be true that, ‘Britain’s love affair with BritArt meant that a new generation of young…

The John Murray publishing house would have had little difficulty in finding a home and a purchaser for its archive, which is thought to be worth some 45 million. However, it is intended that it will go to the National…

The Russian magnate Vladimir Logvinenko has the ambition to bring into St Petersburg again and to other Russian Museums, outstanding paintings. For a long time, he could not bring this to fruition. But the removal of Russia’s 30% import tax…

Not many art enthusiasts will have been able to visit the exhibition ‘The Snow Show’, on at Kemi and Rovaniemi in Northern Finland, until 31 March 2004. Kemi is on the Northern edge of the Gulf of Bothnia, an hour…

The fact that David Hockney is spending more and more time in Britain, either in Yorkshire or in London, suggests that he is here to stay, as much as one might be prepared to commit to anywhere nowadays. This could…

Louse MacBain is moving into pole position in the international world of art media. The purchase of Art + Auction last year by MacBain has already much improved the visual presentation of the journal, a notable form manual for the…

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, erstwhile architects of the National Gallery, London, (‘More Post Office than Post Modern’, according to one critic) spoke at the Royal Institute of British Architects on 15 March 2004. They rely upon being controversial,…

A rare conjunction of musical and architectural genius has been brought about by the provision of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s 12.5-second reverberation time, found now to perfectly accommodate Sir John Tavener’s ‘The Atma Mass’, at Liverpool’s great Anglican cathedral. Tavener…

Daniel Libeskind slipped unobtrusively back into London from New York, again, for 8 and 9 March 2004 to attend the opening of London’s stealthiest new acquisition, the Graduate Centre for London Metropolitan University on the Holloway Road in North London.…

The once semi-derelict Isokon building, in Belsize Park in North London, has now reopened, and following a 2.3 million renovation, the flats are being snapped up. But in a unique adherence to social ethos, some 25 of the 36 flats…

Sir Peter Blake and Sir Colin St John Wilson, as interviewed by Peter Stanford in The Independent on Sunday (14 March 2004) seem more like mentor and student than buddies. But buddies they are, and they represent a revealing slice…