Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War at the British Library has been hailed as “a once-in-a-generation exhibition“. Edoardo Albert finds that, in this giant treasure-hoard, the brightest jewels are often in the smallest details. Would you give a thousand acres of the best land for a book? Benedict Biscop, founder of the double monastery at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, did. […]
Windrush: Songs in a Strange Land
Jason Hewitt visits the Windrush exhibition at the British Library. Tucked away in one of the many audio recordings at the British Library, a Caribbean woman describes her first experience of the ‘strange’ English custom of eating fish and chips out of newspaper. It is one of the hidden gems within the British Library’s new Windrush […]
Van Gogh and Japan
Lesley Downer visits the new exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. ‘All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art,’ wrote Vincent Van Gogh. This absorbing and beautiful exhibition at the glitzy Van Gogh Museum explores Van Gogh’s fascination with Japanese art and with Japan – you could almost call it obsession […]
The Reformation: The John Rylands Library
Historia editor Katherine Clements visits the new exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of The Reformation at The John Rylands Library, Manchester. “So, what exactly is the Reformation?” asks one of my fellow journalists at the press preview of John Rylands Library’s new exhibition. There’s a pause from our guide that suggests this is not a new question. Then […]
Hokusai: Beyond The Great Wave
Lesley Downer visits the new Hokusai exhibition at the British Museum. The British Museum Hokusai exhibition is full of dazzling works yet The Great Wave still leaps out. Its strong, rhythmic, instantly recognisable lines have made it quite simply iconic. The froth of the waves, as Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, is […]
Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths
The British Library’s new exhibition marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Jason Hewitt gets a sneak preview. As we have all experienced, the last twelve months has seen a series of seismic political shifts taking place across the western world. Whether it’s the surprise Brexit vote, the election of Trump, or France’s ousting of her political […]
Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty
The latest exhibition at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery is a celebration of the work of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), the Czech artist whose stylishly elegant theatrical and advertising posters are synonymous with the late nineteenth century Art Nouveau movement. It is a beautifully-curated show full of all the lush familiar images I expected, but this is […]
Emma Hamilton: Seduction & Celebrity
Now largely remembered as the woman who captured the heart of the nation’s hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson, Emma Hamilton was an extraordinary woman in her own right. Sophia Tobin visits a new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum that celebrates her life. In the second room of the exhibition Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity, the teenage […]