Some years ago my curiosity was piqued by an Indian ring-necked parakeet in an early 15th century Flemish altarpiece, Detail of the Madonna and Canon van der Paele (1434): Jan van Eyck (c1390-1441): Groeninge Museum, Bruges and an Australian sulphur crested cockatoo in one of 1496 painted for the Dukes of Mantua in Italy. This altarpiece was… Continue reading Study Day – Hidden in Plain Sight. 7th December, 2019. West House, Pinner, London.
Recently I was contacted by Susan Abernathy suggesting I might be able to help the owner of this painting who has owned the panel for the past thirty odd years and is still none the wiser as to who painted it, what it commemorates, who is portrayed and where it has been until it was… Continue reading Solve the puzzle of this 16th century painting for a £5,000 reward!
In my previous post I wrote about cubism, a movement that ran parallel with art nouveau. Unlike cubism, art nouveau is for everyone, not just an artistically intellectual elite. Since this late 19th/early 20thcentury exquisitely sensual style influenced so many elements of everyday life this article will have to be an over view. The movement lasted about twenty… Continue reading An overview of art nouveau
I met Ian earlier this year when he presented a paper at the conference, Maritime Animals, held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich in April. That paper was a fascinating insight into how an 18th century midshipman in His Majesty's Navy supplemented their diet with rats. In this article Ian is looking at a particular… Continue reading Guest Post: The Case of the ‘Mad Middie’ – August 1796.
The face of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), faithful servant of Henry VIII first as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1525-1529, then as Lord Chancellor from 1529-1532, is known to us because Hans Holbein the Younger (c1497-1543) painted the portrait that now hangs in the Frick Collection, New York. Sir Thomas More as Chancellor… Continue reading Sir Thomas More – how we know him & his family
In simple terms, the who is easy – Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and George Braques (1882-1963) are credited with ‘inventing’ this style of art. When? 1907 is the first year a work in this style is exhibited. The why and what is cubism are questions that are not so easy to answer. The 19th century saw rapid… Continue reading What is Cubism, who invented it, when did they do it and why?
Below is the outline for the paper I will be presenting at the international conference titled Maritime Animals being held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, between 25-27th April 2019. This paper will discuss just one element of my research into the visual evidence of trade with the Far East that is evident in surviving… Continue reading Hidden in Plain Sight :Visual evidence of travellers’ tales & trade in birds & other marvellous beasts
