Tag Archives: Fine Arts

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – April 3, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – April 3, 2024: The latest issue features:

Spring fever

The reawakening of Nature has inspired artists from Botticelli to David Hockney and beyond. Michael Prodger revels in the artistic beauty of the season

Prepare to be a-maze-d

Few can match the twists and turns of Adrian Fisher’s stellar career. Deborah Nicholls-Lee meets the maze designer behind the chilling climax of Saltburn

London Life

  • Tianna Williams visits a Scottish corner of the capital
  • Need to Know has all the latest happenings
  • William Sitwell welcomes back the big business lunch
  • Richard MacKichan joins the Noisenights crowd

The icing on Nature’s cake

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage celebrates an annual explosion of pink and white blossom with excerpts from his new book

The legacy

Kate Green on how Sir Joseph Banks sowed the seeds of Kew

Leading by example

In the second of two articles, John Goodall puts the spotlight on the superb school buildings of Lancing College, West Sussex

Little April showers

Discover why a thunderous start to the month suggests a good harvest as Lia Leendertz delves into the weather lore of spring

Interiors

Green is the natural choice for a kitchen, as Amelia Thorpe and Arabella Youens discover

A garden from scratch

Caroline Donald marvels at the rapid transformation of the charming seven-acre garden at Charlton Farm in Wiltshire

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson puts British asparagus — a verdant harbinger of spring — back on the menu

Travel

  • Camilla Hewitt raises a glass to Cognac
  • Richard MacKichan explores the Alps in summer
  • Hetty Lintell falls in love with Mallorca
  • Pamela Goodman is in awe of the Alhambra

Gen Sir James Everard’s favourite painting

The president of the Army Bene-volent Fund chooses a wonderful depiction of the Battle of Waterloo

Déjà vu all over again

Carla Carlisle attempts to sort the tragedy from the farce in the baffling world of modern politics

Get the London look

Matthew Dennison charts the rise and fall of fashion label Biba

The good stuff

Mesmerising opals are having a moment — Hetty Lintell dives in

The Arts

150 years of the Impressionists

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – March 27, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

Country Life Magazine – March 27, 2024: The latest issue features:

A prickly subject

Marianne Taylor examines how we can help to halt the worrying decline of the humble hedgehog, Britain’s favourite mammal

Country Life International

  • John Lewis-Stempel reflects on an old way of life in rural France
  • Russell Higham visits Mozart’s Italian muse
  • Arabella Youens hails Mondrian’s De Stijl movement
  • Tom Parker Bowles celebrates Greek cuisine
  • Holly Kirkwood selects the best Iberian properties for sale
  • Eileen Reid explores love and logic in Paris

Bold and beautiful

Charles Quest-Ritson is wowed by the woodland garden created during the past two decades at Broughton Grange, Oxfordshire

Home is where the art is

Iron-man Sir Antony Gormley is taking over Houghton Hall in Norfolk with 100 life-size figures, as Charlotte Mullins discovers

The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle’s favourite painting

The Dean of Westminster picks a striking work that is all about looking — and then looking again

A silent witness

In the first of two articles, John Goodall visits Lancing College Chapel, West Sussex, a masterpiece 154 years in the making

The legacy: Roy Plomley

Kate Green tunes in for Roy Plomley’s Desert Island Discs

A real nest egg

John Lewis-Stempel marvels at one of the smallest, yet mightiest miracles in the natural world

Room with a pew

Your seat in church once told a lot about your status in the parish, reveals Andrew Green

Once more into the abyss

It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it: John Lewis-Stempel hauls an errant heifer from a ditch

The Editor’s Easter quiz

Spring has sprung — how many native wildflowers can you name?

Luxury

Hetty Lintell explores exquisite gilets, bespoke tailoring and sparkling aquamarine jewellery

Interiors

Giles Kime is armed with a crystal ball for his latest building project

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson on spinach

Don’t mock them

Plant a Philadelphus, says John Hoyland, and enjoy an explosion of blooms and scent this summer

And much more

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – March 20, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – March 20, 2024: The latest issue features:

Riding to the rescue

James Alexander-Sinclair hails the remarkable revival of the gardens at Dowdeswell Court, Gloucestershire, the charming Cotswolds home of Jade Holland Cooper and Julian Dunkerton

The cutting-garden diaries

In the second of a series of articles, Oxfordshire flower grower Anna Brown shares her tips on creating a floral spring spectacular

Great nurseries

Growing sweet violets has been a family passion since 1866 at Groves Nursery in Bridport, Dorset, as Tilly Ware discovers

 ‘After everything they do, we owe them’

Service dogs and horses risk life and limb to keep us safe. Katy Birchall salutes the work of a charity supporting these animal heroes in retirement

Mark Cocker’s favourite painting

The Nature writer lauds a work by a masterful wildlife painter

Where traffic stops for sacred cows

Dairy farmer Jamie Blackett is heartened to witness cattle worship on a trip to Rajasthan

New series: The legacy

In the third instalment of this new series, Kate Green celebrates the Revd John Russell’s role in the emergence of the terrier

The very nature of Middle-earth

James Clarke visits the magical Malvern Hills to explore a land-scape that so inspired Tolkien

Planters punch

Amelia Thorpe picks garden pots that make a sizeable statement

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell ushers in spring with a selection of floral favourites

Interiors

Soak up the style with an array of elegant bathroom fittings and furnishings from Amelia Thorpe

Kitchen garden cook

Fresh spring onions steal the show, says Melanie Johnson

Grandeur in granite

The restored Cluny Castle in Aberdeenshire is equipped for a future as prosperous as its colourful past, finds John Goodall

It’s a kind of dark magic

Whitby jet and mourning go hand in hand, but is it time to reassess this beautiful heritage gemstone, asks Harry Pearson

How to revive a classic

Michael Billington puts himself in the director’s chair as he ponders spectacular remakes of plays by Ibsen and Chekhov

Back to square one

What is it about cryptic crosswords that has kept us racking our brains for the past 100 years? Rob Crossan has all the answers

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – March 6, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – March 5, 2024: The latest issue features The Country Life Top 100 – Britain’s leading exponents of country-house architecture, interior design, gardens and specialist services…

The Top 100 builders, architects, interior decorators and garden designers in Britain

Welcome to the eighth edition of our guide to Britain’s leading exponents of country-house architecture, interior design, gardens and specialist services

New series: The legacy

In the first of this new series, Kate Green celebrates Dame Miriam Rothschild’s remarkable contribution to the nation as a pioneer of wildflower gardening

Reach for the Skye

Following in the slipstream of swimming cattle, Joe Gibbs enjoys safe passage to the Isle of Skye courtesy of the world’s last manual turntable ferry

Hail the conquering heroes

Jack Watkins is in the saddle for a canter through 100 years of the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival’s Blue Riband event, the Gold Cup

Arts & antiques

Works by a whole host of great artists are more accessible than you might imagine. Carla Passino talks to leading art dealers about the Old Masters you could collect

Sir Alistair Spalding’s favourite painting

The artistic director admires a religious fresco that encourages contemplation and reflection

Out of Africa

Carla Carlisle reflects on the life of Karen Blixen after visiting the author’s former home in Kenya

Renewal and recovery

The restoration of Boston Manor House in Greater London offers a fascinating insight into changing tastes, reveals Charles O’Brien

The Devil wears parsley

March can be the month of all weathers, warns Lia Leendertz

The masked singer

Jack Watkins goes in search of the elusive, enchanting woodlark

London Life

  • Cashing in with Russell Higham
  • Celebrating Claridge’s
  • Revisiting James Burton’s beat with Carla Passino
  • Jack Watkins finds change in the air at the Natural History Museum

Stancombe revisited

Marion Mako visits Stancombe Park, Gloucestershire — Waugh’s garden inspiration for Brideshead

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson harnesses the subtle depth of flavour of leeks

And so to sleep…

Hemlock is a pretty addition to riverbanks, but its charm ends there, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee

The claws are out

Simon Lester shares the thrill of an encounter with the secretive native white-clawed crayfish

The good stuff

Patterned or pastel? Hetty Lintell showcases the finest waistcoats

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 28, 2024

Leave a comment
Country Life - Country Life

Country Life Magazine – February 27, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Britain’s Top Dogs’ – Our favorites, decade by decade…

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 21, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 21, 2024: The ‘The Fine Arts Issue’ – Artists who say it with flowers and the AI debate; Wig law, daffodils and how does your hedgerow grow?….

Artificial art

With the technology powering artificial intelligence advancing so rapidly, what can artists do to protect their original work?

Blooming marvellous

Michael Prodger examines how flowers have inspired artists for centuries, from the ancient Egyptians up to the present day

On a wig and a prayer

The periwigs that were a 17th-century status symbol are still a mainstay of our legal system, as Agnes Stamp discovers

Hedge of eternity

They have long been used to contain cattle or define boundaries, but hedges can be beautiful, too, argues Charles Quest-Ritson

Trumpet majors

Alan Titchmarsh takes a wander with Wordsworth as he dreams of spring daffodils ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze’

Norman Foster’s favourite painting

The architect falls under the spell of a gritty, but humorous work

All in a day’s work

Jamie Blackett is ready to man the barricades to scupper plans for an unwanted national park

Brothers in art

John Goodall applauds the restoration of Leighton House in London, which formed the hub of a 19th-century celebrity circle

Man of the world

Mary Miers follows the globe-trotting Sir John Lavery from Ireland to Africa and beyond

Follow your art

An inspiring oil painting was at the centre of a heist with a happy ending, reveals Carla Passino

Where be dragons?

A protective force in China and Wales, but a symbol of greed and evil in England: Lucien de Guise delves into dragon lore

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell celebrates the best of the Art Deco era with earrings old and new, but always modern

Is this London’s most exquisite hotel room?

The astonishing King’s Lodge suite at The Connaught is fit for a monarch, finds Rosie Paterson

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe shares the very best of London Design Week

A seed of an idea

Tilly Ware meets the wild-seed pioneer ‘nurturing the future’

A tower of thorns

Ben Lerwill finds the salt of the earth on the coast of Scotland

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson on rhubarb

Love and marriage

A real-life couple are in harmony on stage, finds Michael Billington

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 14, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 13, 2024: The latest ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ – Let me count the ways; Rough collies, red roses and royal caviar; Glass acts – the coolest conservatories; Head start – why real gentlemen wear hats….

The romance of the rose

With its velvety, softly scented depths, the red rose has long beguiled lovers. Charles Quest-Ritson falls under its spell

Thoroughly good eggs

Tom Parker Bowles savours the unctuous delights of caviar from the mother-daughter team at King’s Fine Foods, ethically farmed and utterly delicious

Taking the rough with the smooth

Famed for their loyalty, rough collies are happy finding hidden sheep, bounding up Munros or simply curling up with children. Katy Birchall meets Lassie

In the hat of the moment

Time was when every gentleman of every background wore a hat. It’s time to fall back in love with bowler, beret and bonnet, recommends John F. Mueller

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe admires the most stylish conservatories

Sir Karl Jenkins’s favourite painting

The composer chooses an ethereal Italian scene that literally reflects his own music

Behind the scenes at the cathedral

Fiona Reynolds explores the environs of St Albans in Hertfordshire, from the longest nave in Europe to the River Ver

A Georgian reinvention

With imagination and style, late-18th-century Marlwood Grange in Gloucestershire has been transformed into a family home fit for the 21st century, discovers Jeremy Musson

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell gets a handle on the most colourful handbags

Music to our ears

As the famous opera house at Glyndebourne, East Sussex, turns 90, the gardens are more glorious than ever. Tiffany Daneff admires a symphony of planting

More pudding, pease

Tom Parker Bowles tucks into the succulent, comforting suet pudding, an old favourite that deserves to return to our plates

More than a pretty face

Admired for his portrayal of dewy eyes and diaphanous fabrics, John Singer Sargent rose to the top of the portrait-painting world. Mary Miers follows his career from peripatetic childhood to Society favourite

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine- February 7, 2024

Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 6, 2024: The latest features The Travel Issue – View the world from the very best hotels; The map-makers who broadened our horizons; Out of the ashes – Chillingham Castle rescued and Waxwing explosions and snowdrop heaven….

Travel

  • Richard MacKichan rides with the eagle hunters of Mongolia
  • Jo Rodgers asks what makes a good hotel great as we introduce Country Life’s inaugural list of the world’s top establishments
  • All the latest travel news and new openings with Rosie Paterson
  • Nigel Tisdall tails the elusive jaguar in Belize
  • Catherine Fairweather is on the strait and narrow in Istanbul
  • Richard MacKichan puts the fun back into flying
  • Pamela Goodman swims with pigs in the Caribbean

A castle of curiosities

The history of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland is a turbulent and memorable one, peppered with family disputes, imprisonments and a live toad. John Goodall explores

Windows on the world

The urge to chart our surroundings is centuries old. With map in hand, Matthew Dennison ventures forth in search of mammoth tusks and globes

Irruption of the waxwings

Mark Cocker marvels at the exquisite plumage of this European songbird as it flocks to our shores to feed on a glut of its favoured winter berries

Get down on your knees

James Alexander-Sinclair joins the wandering throng as snow-drop lovers descend on Thenford in Northamptonshire to luxuriate in 900 varieties of Galanthus

Joanna Jensen’s favourite painting

The founder of Childs Farm chooses a rural scene to sum up ‘a picture of my England’

Groundhog day

The shortest month can also feel like the longest, delaying the arrival of spring, but what can February tell us about the year ahead? Lia Leendertz reveals all

Thunderous waterfalls and torrents hoarse

From the most dramatic plumes to the calmest cascades, we seek out the corners of the kingdom where water and gravity collide to magical effect

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell says green for go with a selection of stylish and useful khaki travel accessories

Interiors

Sally Stephenson on the secrets of illuminating period houses and Amelia Thorpe’s lighting picks

London Life

  • Russell Higham on piazza plans for the Docklands
  • Carla Passino meets the man who shaped Mayfair
  • Martin Fone reveals the saga of ‘London’s Eiffel Tower’

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson harnesses the delicious flavours of rosemary

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 31, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

Country Life Magazine – January 30, 2024: The latest issue features How British Rivers Got Their Name; Where to find a really wild man; Miniature collecting and more…

‘Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide’

From the Piddle and the Polly to the Yox and the Yeo, the meanings behind the namesof Britain’s rivers run deep, as Vicky Liddell discovers

Call of the wild

The protective, stick-wielding Wild Man that strides through much medieval art has taken on fresh meaning in recent times, reveals Susan Owens

Chainsaw gardening

Taking a blade to our gardens may seem drastic, but a severe pruning sometimes leaves plants and trees in better health, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson

There is wonder in the little things

Huon Mallalieu puts miniatures under the microscope and finds a world of small marvels celebrating power, loyalty and love

Allan Mallinson’s favourite painting

The military historian chooses a moving First World War scene

Murder most pitiful

John Goodall investigates the dramatic events that shaped the history of 18th-century Gilmerton House in Lothian

The devil makes work for idle hands

As dedicated craftspeople fashion a revival in the art of needlepoint, Matthew Dennison can see a pattern emerging

‘Full of a watchful intentness’

John Lewis-Stempel embraces the ‘faerie enchantment’ of the heath as he visits the inspiration for a classic Thomas Hardy novel

Interiors

Matthew Dennison celebrates the Soane chimneypiece that is still hot property after 200 years and Amelia Thorpe’s selections keep the home fires burning

Lord of the rings

Ben Lerwill meets Simon Turner, an arboreal artist who creates wonderful ceramics using the contours and curves of trees

Luxury

Hetty Lintell on high fashion in the Highlands, switching off the stress and astonishing rubies, plus some of McFly drummer Harry Judd’s favourite things

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson knows her onions, giving an understated kitchen staple a starring role

Ireland’s call

The well-oiled Ireland winning machine can repel France’s strength in depth to retain rugby’s Six Nations Championship, argues Owain Jones

And much more

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 17, 2024

Leave a comment
Image

Country Life Magazine – January 17, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Floral Fireworks’ – The National Collection of Dahlias; The Bridges of Britain; and the Arts-and-Crafts masterpieces of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire…

Floral fireworks

Kirsty Fergusson visits the new home of the 1,700-strong National Collection of Dahlias and reveals which blooms to order now for late-summer colour

The Bridges of Britain

Our greatest bridges span the ages and have the power to inspire both awe and admiration, as Jack Watkins discovers

Cold cures

The beautiful and practical cast-iron Victorian cloche is making a comeback. Tiffany Daneff investigates the revival of the miniature glass house

Twist and shout

Tiffany Daneff visits Morton Hall Gardens in Worcestershire to discover the secret of its owner’s intriguing new clematis-training technique

Why, why, why weigela?

New forms of this easy-to-grow garden shrub have repeating flowers in wonderful colours — no wonder they are hot sellers, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson