Royal Collection Trust (October 30, 2023) – Explore the art of the image-maker of the Tudor court in the Royal Collection. Watch the film to discover the importance of the drawings, paintings and miniatures in the Royal Collection.
Discover how Holbein rose to become Henry VIII’s court painter and find out more about the techniques he used. See a rare moment where Holbein’s preparatory drawing and finished painting were reunited. Hans Holbein was one of the most talented artists of the 16th century.
From his arrival in England in search of work he rose to royal favor, chosen to paint the portraits of Henry VIII, his family and leading figures, among them Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More. By his death, Holbein’s work was as admired by his contemporaries as it is today. His portraits inspired the next generation of artists in their depictions of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
Country Life Magazine – October25, 2023: The new issue features Native Breeds – celebrating the noble Shire horse; Taken by storm – artists from Rembrandt to J.M.W. Turner in the eye of the storm; Lighting-up time – Magical autumn colours make Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex….
Native breeds
‘England’s past has been borne on his back’: Kate Green cele-brates the noble Shire horse, a gentle and patient servant
Taken by storm
Michael Prodger examines the artist in the eye of the storm, from a gale-tossed Rembrandt to a J. M. W. stomach-Turner
And still, as he lived, he wondered
More than a century after The Wind in the Willows was written, the exploits of Ratty, Mole and Toad continue to entertain, as Matthew Dennison discovers
In for a penny-farthing
Riding a Victorian high wheeler for 400 miles across war-torn Ukraine was a real eye-opener for adventurer Neil Laughton
Interiors
Kitchens can be so much more than mere functional spaces, as three leading interior designers reveal to Arabella Youens
Lighting-up time
Magical autumn colours make Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex a place for all seasons, suggests Charles Quest-Riston
Jamie Hambro’s favourite painting
The Guide Dogs for the Blind chairman selects his favourite characterful animal painting
Medieval modernism
Mary Miers finds that the spirit of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement is alive and well as she visits Ballone Castle, a remarkable Scottish tower-house restoration
The whorled wide web
Simon Lester endeavours to untangle the natural wonder that is the spiderweb—gossamer thin, but stronger than steel
Scaling heart-attack hill
John Lewis-Stempel conquers the timeless Sussex Downs, before an October storm forces him to beat a hasty retreat
Luxury
Hetty Lintell explores bespoke eyewear, Penhaligon’s potions and remedies, and the life and legacy of Coco Chanel, Prof Tim Spector shares his favourite things, plus beautiful and practical navigation watches
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson welcomes pumpkins to her autumn kitchen
Country Life Magazine – October18, 2023: The latest issue features Norfolks – Little pockets of fun; The real Macnab – great adventures in the field; Britain’s loneliest trees; Beethoven’s Austria and Amsterdam’s canal life, and more…
I’m still standing
In memory of the Sycamore Gap tree, so callously cut down, we salute its fellow arboreal sentinels of Britain
Following in the footsteps of John Macnab
The Editor and The Judge set off across the Tulchan estate in pursuit of a stag, a brace of grouse and a salmon, in the spirit of John Buchan’s hero
Country Life International
Anna Tyzack uncovers Monaco’s unexpectedly magnificent restoration
Deborah Nicholls-Lee settles in to an Amsterdam canal house
Tom Parker Bowles gorges on Alpine cheese
Russell Higham explores the Austrian countryside that inspired Beethoven
Holly Kirkwood picks the best Caribbean properties
Mark Frary straps on his pads for a spot of cricket in the Windward Islands
Felix Francis’s favourite painting
The author picks a scene full of the thrill of the racecourse
Totally foxed
The rural people of Scotland are reeling under a prejudiced new law on hunting. Jamie Blackett despairs for the fox
The Englishness of English architecture
What makes a building English? Steven Brindle considers the answer, from soaring cathedral vaults to austere Palladian villas and rambling country piles
Native breeds
Kate Green luxuriates in the luscious locks of the Leicestershire Longwool
Come hell or high water
Few creatures face as difficult a journey as the salmon does to and from its spawning grounds. Simon Lester follows in its wake
Interiors
A dramatic kitchen and why it’s time to cuddle up in British wool
Plant theatre
Charles Quest-Ritson takes the well-worn path to the famed nursery of Larch Cottage in Cumbria
Having a field day
Behind hounds or on the marsh, casting for a salmon or stalking a stag, nothing stirs Adrian Dangar’s heart as fieldsports do
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson finds the perfect pairing for hazelnuts
Simon Lester swings into the win-at-all-costs world of that old playground chestnut: conkers
Last call for the corncrake
This small and secretive bird is becoming ever-more rare, but there is hope, finds Vicky Liddell
Doing it by the book
Independent bookshops are thriving against the high-street odds. Catriona Gray selects a few of her favourites from the shelf
Interiors
Giles Kime picks 10 blasts from the past that are back in fashion, Eleanor Doughty marvels at Nels Crosthwaite Eyre’s light touch, Bee Osborn hails the rise of the super cottage and Amelia Thorpe visits a resurgent Pimlico Road
Nine centuries of service
In the second of two articles, John Goodall focuses on London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital
Native breeds
The ‘picturesque’ New Forest pony is central to centuries-old grazing rights, finds Kate Green
Colour supplements
Fiery autumn tints catch the eye of Jane Powers in the secluded Cliff House Garden in Co Dublin
We reap what he sowed
Katherine Cole hails campaigner Miles Hadfield, who fought to save a host of historic gardens
Having a gourd time
Pumpkins and squashes have long been an inspiration to chefs and artists, reveals Lia Leendertz
The good stuff
Brown is the colour this season, so it’s chocs away for Hetty Lintell
Literary Review – October 2023: The new issue features How Bond Was Born; Impressions of Monet; Inequality through the Ages; Adam Smith the Socialist, and more…
Anthony Powell, two and a half years older than Ian Fleming, remembered him as ‘one of the few persons I have met to announce that he was going to make a lot of money out of writing novels, and actually contrive to do so’.
You long for sublime artists to be sublime people. Or, if they’re bad, to be magnificently so. Possessing ‘a vanity born of supreme egoism’, Claude Monet ‘believed his art conferred a right to good living’ and that ‘his welfare must be … the immediate concern of others’, writes Jackie Wullschläger, chief art critic of the Financial Times. With great honesty, Wullschläger records her subject’s wearisome scrounging letters and his propensity for petty and often pointless mendacity.
Country Life Magazine – October 4, 2023: The latest issue features the silvery spectacle of ethereal mist as it coats the countryside; Autumn’s beauty as a source of inspiration for artists from van Gogh and Monet to David Hockney, and more…
On gossamer threads
John Lewis-Stempel revels in the silvery spectacle of ethereal mist as it coats the countryside, moving in its mysterious ways
Season of mists and mellow artfulness
Autumn’s beauty is a source of inspiration for artists from van Gogh and Monet to David Hockney, finds Michael Prodger
A living fossil
In the first of two articles, John Goodall explores the founding of St Bartholomew’s in London
Country Life Magazine – September 27, 2023: The new issue features The Need For Tweed; A perfect pre-trained gundog; A new Jacobean drawing room is the crowning glory at Shilstone, Devon, and more…
The need for tweed
A true Hebridean hero weaves his magic to create an ‘estate’ Harris tweed for David Profumo
Here’s one I trained earlier
Has your over-excited pup left you red-faced on a shoot day? Katy Birchall has the answer: a perfect, pre-trained gundog
Loved to life
A new Jacobean drawing room is the crowning glory at Shilstone, Devon, discovers John Goodall
Country Life Magazine – September 13, 2023:The new issue features the more outlandish and risqué techniques plants have developed to spread their seed, a magical garden restoration at Aldourie Castle in Inverness-shire, the origins of Spetchley Park, Worcestershire, and more…
Fifty shades of green
John Wright investigates some of the more outlandish and risqué techniques plants have developed to spread their seed
A Scottish fairy tale
George Plumptre is spellbound by a magical garden restoration at Aldourie Castle in Inverness-shire
An architectural accident
In the first of two articles, John Goodall explores the origins of Spetchley Park, Worcestershire
Natural History Museum (September 12, 2023) – The Isle of Wight is full of beautiful landscapes, from rolling hills and luscious vegetation to dramatic cliffs and golden, sandy beaches. But have you ever wondered what it would be like to see it all from a bird’s-eye view? Well now you can! So, sit back and relax as we take to the air and soar across the island’s breathtaking land and seascapes.
Literary Review – September 2023: The new issue features Yoga Goes To Hollywood by Dominic Green; How England Lost France; Who’s Afraid of AI?; Don’t Mention Tiananmen; Anne Boleyn’s Ascent and Tastes of China….
Turning Points: Crisis and Change in Modern Britain, from 1945 to Truss By Steve Richards
In the good old days, dates were for foreigners. France, to take the obvious example, had repeatedly been turned upside down by war, revolution and changes of regime. But the English tourist in Paris rarely bothered to find out which of these distasteful events might be commemorated by, say, the rue du Quatre Septembre. The history of England (this was less true of Scotland and not at all true of Ireland) was a smooth and mostly benign progression. Educated people could tell you what the Glorious Revolution was but might be hazy about when exactly it had happened.
The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs By David Runciman
Artificial intelligence, it is commonly acknowledged, will pose one of the gravest challenges to humanity in the coming years. In the minds of some, it is already the most urgent problem we face. While there are a number of possible dangers that might bring about the extinction of our species, AI confronts us with a particularly dire situation, because it may well be that we have only a brief amount of time – perhaps a generation – in which to set up norms and constraints on the development of autonomous, non-human intelligences that may otherwise escape our control.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Natural History Museum
Boomers Daily 