London Art News

Alexander Litvinenko

2016-01-22T12:27:00.000+00:00

This painting by Dmitry Vrubel and Viktoria Timofeyeva on display in the Marat Guelman gallery, Moscow, in 2007 depicts Alexander Litvinenko on his deathbed in London in 2006, suffering from radiation poisoning by polonium-210. Sir Robert Owen's long-awaited inquiry found that he was poisoned by Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun in the Pine Bar of London's Millennium Hotel. They left a trail of polonium-210 behind them. "His murder was 'probably' approved by President Vladimir Putin" (CLICK).

Galaxy Quest

2016-01-19T10:50:00.000+00:00

Galaxy Quest (1999) is a terrific send up of Star Trek conventions. It stars the late and much lamented Alan Rickman with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. Aliens have been watching terrestrial TV show Galaxy Quest and wrongly think it is reality. "Never give in. Never surrender." That's when the fun begins (CLICK)

Rattle That Lock

2016-01-10T11:29:00.000+00:00

David Gilmour's latest record Rattle That Lock has won Art Vinyl's annual prize for the year's best album artwork, selected from 50 entrants (CLICK).

Naked Protest

2016-01-09T12:17:00.001+00:00

Here's another of those so-called "performance artists": Milo Moire. She stripped naked outside Cologne Cathedral to protest against the assaults against women on New Year's Eve. She holds a poster reading "Respect us! We are no fair game, even when we are naked!!!" (CLICK).

Death in Paradise

2016-01-07T17:24:00.001+00:00

I must admit I'm still hooked on Death in Paradise, despite the loss of Ben Miller and sara Martins. It's so different from the BBC's usual dross. The new series begins this evening on BBC ONE at 9pm. Shown is Joséphine Jobert, who plays the glamour cop (CLICK).

Ski Posters

2016-01-07T11:40:00.001+00:00

Christie’s in London will present its annual sale of ski posters on 21 January 2016. This is the only auction dedicated to ski posters worldwide. Prices start at £700. Shown is a Ski Poster by Hans Schilter from 1957, estimated at £2,000 - £3,000 (CLICK).

Giant Mao Zedong

2016-01-06T11:40:00.002+00:00

This huge gold-painted statue of Mao Zedong - some 37 metres high - has been erected in Henan province by a group of Chinese capitalists at a cost of 3 million yuan ($460,000). It took 9 months to construct and was completed in December 2015. The fact that Moa's economic policies caused an estimated 40 million Chinese people to starve to death seems to have slipped their minds (CLICK).

FBA Futures 16

2016-01-04T11:15:00.002+00:00

On 19 January the Mall Galleries opens FBA Futures 2016, a dip into the outstanding art graduates of 2015 selected from across the UK by members of the Federation of British Artists (FBA). Christopher Gray's Gold on Blue will set you back £3,800. Admission is free (CLICK).

Sherlock Holmes

2016-01-03T11:56:00.001+00:00

Having watched mind-boggling sci-fi hokum Sherlock: The Abominable Bride on BBC ONE yesterday, starring Benedict Cumberbatch whisked back to 1895, all I can say is bring back Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson (CLICK).

One Million Years

2016-01-02T11:10:00.000+00:00

How's this for an ego trip? So-called "conceptual artist" On Kawara has installed this tripe in Trafalgar Square. Two performers in a glass booth read for seven days and seven nights Karawa's ten-volume work, "One Million Years". Where does the art come in?

Happy New Year

2016-01-01T09:48:00.000+00:00

Happy New Year from London Art News.

BBC Attack!

2015-12-31T10:32:00.002+00:00

The BBC seems to have been subjected to a denial of service attack. Not the best way to end the old year. Whatever next?

Lumiere London

2015-12-27T10:40:00.001+00:00

From 13 - 17 January creative producers Artichoke will present London’s first Lumiere light festival, showing the work of more than 20 pioneering international artists all commissioned to transform buildings and streets in the capital over four winter evenings (CLICK).

Happy Christmas

2015-12-25T09:07:00.000+00:00

Star Wars Daisy

2015-12-23T21:15:00.001+00:00

from BBC's soap Casualty to international stardom in Disney's Star Wars: The Force Awakens in one mighty bound! And boy, can she run! British actress Daisy Ridley is already reading the script for Stat Wars VIII. So I guess she comes out all right in The Force Awakens.

This Wild Life

2015-12-23T17:49:00.001+00:00

BBC TWO is rerunning This Wild Life over Christmas, perfect family viewing for the festive season. Wildlife expert Saba Douglas-Hamilton, together with her husband Frank and their three young children set up a safari camp in the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya (CLICK).

Anti-pee Paint

2015-12-19T11:13:00.002+00:00

Here's the most intriguing graphic I'v seen all week. It shows anti-pee paint (right) causing urine to splash back on the offender. It's being trialed on walls in Shoreditch and Dalston by Hackney Council, which spends £100,000 a year cleaning urine off walls and pavements (CLICK)

Melted For Scrap

2015-12-18T12:17:00.000+00:00

Historic England has belatedly twigged that publc "art" is "diappearing before the public's eyes". A growing number of sculptures, architectural friezes and murals made between WWII and the mid-1980s have been destroyed, sold, lost or stolen. Lynn Chadwick's The Watchers (1960) was stolen from Roehampton University, South West London. A load of tripe, it was begging to be melted down (CLICK).

New Collecting

2015-12-16T12:17:00.000+00:00

Here's a happy bunny. Jenny Lund is Curator of Fine Art at the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. The Art Fund had awarded her £80,000 to build a nationally significant and inspiring new collection of artists’ moving image works. Sounds a tall order to me. She is one of six winners of the Art Fund's New Collecting Awards. CLICK to learn about the other winners across the UK.

Ray Harryhausen

2015-12-13T17:41:00.000+00:00

Yesterday I watched a fascinating hour-and-a-half documentary on the art of Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan. It follows his stop-motion techniques from earliest days to his retirement, with contributions from everyone in the business, from Nick Park to Steven Spielberg. For some reason best known to itself BBC TWO has it on iPlayer for 5 days only: CLICK.

Franz von Lenbach

2015-12-13T11:53:00.000+00:00

Here's an artist I haven't come across before: Franz von Lenbach (1836 - 1904). He was born in Schrobenhausen in Bavaria and was destined to become a mason. Shown is his Young Shepherd (1860) who seems more interested in having a snooze than in looking after his sheep.

Joplin's Porsche

2015-12-12T11:25:00.001+00:00

Art-on-cars buffs might like to know that Janis Joplin's 1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet fetched a record-breaking price of $1.76 million, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's Driven by Disruption auction of sports cars in New York. CLICK for a larger graphic.

Lego at Excel

2015-12-11T12:03:00.001+00:00

If you're into Lego, here's the exhibition for you: Brick 2015 at the ExCel in London (CLICK). Shown is an exhibitor with his model of the Titanic made from Lego. The exhibition runs from 11 - 13 December, just in time for Christmas. Admission costs £15.

Mona Lisa Secrets

2015-12-10T11:46:00.001+00:00

Did you watch art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon's Secrets of the Mona Lisa, screened yesterday evening on BBC TWO? If you're in the UK, you can catch the programme on BBC iPlayer: CLICK. If not, you can read about it in ArtDaily: CLICK. I found it rather tedious and didn't get much out of it. The Russian Mona Lisa is a fake. Shown is Andrew Graham-Dixon with the Isleworth Mona Lisa.

V&A Europe

2015-12-09T12:39:00.001+00:00

Today the Victoria and Albert Museum in London opened its new Europe 1600-1815 suite of seven galleries, displaying the V&A's unrivalled collection of 17th- and 18th century European art and design. Shown is a V&A assistant posing in a Parisian Cabinet Room (CLICK).