Category Archives: Architecture

Architecture, Art, Caravaggio, Dutch Art, Exhibitions, Giovanni Bellini, Italy, MIlan, Renaissance art, Travel, Vermeer

What to look forward to in 2017…

2 Comments

Chateau_de_Chantilly_garden.jpg

For me, my artistic year really doesn’t get going till next weekend when we are going to be visiting Lisbon to see just four paintings! Yes, I know, but to be honest I’m sure we’ll have a great time and with a Raphael, a Piero della Francesca and a Durer amongst others on the ‘must see’ list it will be great.

My visit this weekend to see the Australian Impressionist exhibition at the weekend left me with the distinct feeling that the National Gallery has lost its way a little. I’ve not really enjoyed the last 3-4 exhibitions and other UK based Galleries don’t seem to have the same draw for me as they did with some great shows like Giorgione at the RA in 2016.

So this year I’ll be casting my net a little further afield. Continue reading What to look forward to in 2017… →

Architecture, Art, Bronzino, Canova, Exhibitions, Lists, Travel, Vermeer, Washington DC, Worlds most visited Museums

Topping the list: Is the National Gallery of Art really the best in the world?

Leave a comment

National_Gallery_of_Art_-_West_Building1.jpg

I’m a serial lover of lists, especially those about art and art museums around the world. A few years back I read a ‘Worlds 50 Best Art Gallery’s’ feature in The Times and thought that I needed to do more to get around them. I kept the paper and I’ve annotated each entry with the date I visited so far managing 29/50 in almost four years. You can read the feature (even if you aren’t a subscriber) on the following three links.

There are many other lists out there: Trip Advisor even has its own crowd sourced version, the Independent has a particularly good list of the UK and the Telegraph has a decent one on a largely European city basis. You can even do the online equivalent of rating yourself using this link. I make the top 1% Continue reading Topping the list: Is the National Gallery of Art really the best in the world? →

Architecture, Art, City of Culture, EU, Hull, Italy, Mannerism, Mantua, Renaissance art, Travel

A tale of two Cultural Cities

Leave a comment

mantua-253903

The very concept of what constitutes culture arouses a fair bit of discussion even in my office, not least as one of my colleagues originally hails from Hull. On 1st January 2017 the city will take up its place as the UKs City of Culture. I could just about cope with understanding the concept behind Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. But I just don’t see Hull as cultural. Perhaps it’s simply because I grew up not a million miles away.

The UK isn’t alone in having its own city of Culture and I was recently fortunate enough to spend a day in the beautiful northern Italian town of Mantua. Continue reading A tale of two Cultural Cities →

Architecture, Art, Canova, Travel, Venice, Vienna

One you won’t find in the guide book… Vienna

Leave a comment

parlament-viennaVienna is a beautiful city with attractive architectural delights and an array of fantastic coffee houses such as Demel or Hotel Sacher. There is so much to see and do that invariably you need a guide to help you plan beforehand. We have found the Lonely Planet Guides as good as any and have a shelf full of them at home.

But they really don’t cover everything. Continue reading One you won’t find in the guide book… Vienna →

Architecture, Art, Bronzino, Dutch Art, Giovanni Bellini, Rembrandt, Renaissance art, Travel, Venice, Vermeer, Vienna

If you could take away just one thing from… Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

1 Comment

Maria-Theresein-Platz, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

The Kunsthistorisches Museum or KHM, as it’s known to locals, is an absolute must on any trip to Vienna. Its collection is a superb treasure trove of art to rival the worlds very best. The building itself is in my humble opinion the most beautiful major museum in the world. I’m not trying to do down either the Louvre or the Hermitage (both are beautiful), it’s just that the KHM edges them out. Continue reading If you could take away just one thing from… Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) →

Architecture, Art, Country Houses, Portland Collection, Travel, Wellbeck Abbey, Yorkshire

Michelangelo and other treasures from the Portland Collection

Leave a comment

Portland Collection.JPG

I love going home to Yorkshire but often I need something else to do to help pass the time. Family chit chat isn’t really me. So when I first read of the opening of the Portland Collection at The Harley Gallery, I thought it made the perfect trip. Art and history combined in less than an hour’s drive from my parents.  Continue reading Michelangelo and other treasures from the Portland Collection →

Architecture, Art, Country Houses, Travel, Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire

Wentworth Woodhouse: a slumbering great English country house

Leave a comment

 

The Palladian east faÁade of Wentworth Woodhouse, which lays claim to be the longest in the country

Blenheim, Burleigh, Chatsworth and Castle Howard: the English country house is a thing of beauty. Each year millions of us visit these great ancestral piles from a bygone age. One long forgotten house deserves to be returned to the roll call of the greats. More fortunate than some, Wentworth Woodhouse has not survived until today without showing her age.  She is, however, even in her present condition, exceptional.

Continue reading Wentworth Woodhouse: a slumbering great English country house →