Category Art

The Met, grilled cauliflower, and a jagged little pill
How better to start the first day in New York than with an uncle/niece breakfast date at Le Pain Quotidien. Thus did Brynn encounter the glory that is Belgian hot chocolate. Then off to the Metropolitan Museum of art, with a brief pause at Grand central Station to marvel at the stars. In the best […]

Art installed!
As we ease our way out of the covid shutdown I’m slowly ticking off the unfinished projects of moving in. The last big one, and certainly the most anticipated, was hanging the artworks I brought back from London. As it happens, hanging large and heavy works of art is nearly as intimidating as buying it […]

Amy’s here!
My doorbell rang at noon and who should be outside? None other than my dear Amy who has flown all the way from Seattle for a little vacation avec moi: a few days in London, followed by a few days in Paris, before a long weekend in Iceland (where we’re hoping to see some northern […]

The pink lady, or the one that almost got away
Remember the Pink Lady at the art fair? You know, that stunning work by Dutch artist Isabelle van Zeijl which caught my eye and imagination but was out of my comfort zone in both subject matter (no architecture!) and price (gulp) and therefore was not among my purchases that weekend? Well, I couldn’t stop thinking […]

My sense of scale
It would seem my sense of scale could use a little fine-tuning. When I saw this piece hanging at the art fair yesterday (in a cavernous former agricultural hall), I would have described it as medium-sized, perhaps even on the smaller side of medium. But now that it’s in the flat, that doesn’t seem quite […]

Visit to the London Art Fair
The London Art Fair happened this week literally across the street from where I live. That, plus the free tickets that the gallerist around the corner sent me, seemed like a sign that universe wanted me to go. Held inside a massive Victorian agricultural hall, the venue was enormous and, on preview night on Tuesday, […]

Exploring Auckland
Sunday was my day to explore Auckland. I caught a mid-morning ferry to the CBD . . . . . . and made my way to the Auckland Art Gallery, which with its striking wooden awning is my certainly favourite building in Auckland so far. The gallery has an impressive collection of Maori art . […]

As one turns 40
Somewhere across town the London Symphony Orchestra is performing Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet for an audience of n minus 1, as I think the expression goes. That’s because instead of occupying seat C42 in the Circle, I’m sitting cozily in my living room, enveloped in wool and candlelight and the sounds of a Beethoven symphony […]

Ceramics and rain in Oxford
Remember how last year I brought that (allegedly) 18th Century Chinese dish home from the Cotswolds and used it for eating burrito bowls until I broke it by tapping it gently on my granite countertop? Well, it occurred to me (and some of you — Susan!) that this might be an interesting opportunity to try […]

Lungs and late at the Tate
Sometimes a play’s title sheds light on what’s to come. Sometimes it doesn’t. Last week I saw a play that fell into the latter category: Lungs, at the Old Vic. I still have no idea why it’s called Lungs. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it! Ninety minutes of Matt Smith and Claire Foy […]