Salvador Dali Clock - Stephen Dawson / Palm House at Kew Gardens   Few people nowadays give more than a second thought to their clocks: practical, sometimes beautiful, devices that form the background noise of our daily lives. But from their introduction in the thirteenth century onwards, clocks have held a variety of philosophical and […]

Eric Ravilious chalk landscape, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons   Between the world wars a group of British artists explored the downland of southern England, finding in the ancient landscapes of Sussex and Wessex inspiration for modern paintings. Eric Ravilious and fellow artists Peggy Angus and Tirzah Garwood, William Nicholson, and John and Paul Nash […]

John Constable, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons   2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the quintessential English landscapist John Constable.  Enormously popular and endlessly reproduced, his paintings today are familiar – perhaps over-familiar.  But his modern reputation masks a radical, experimental artist who pushed the boundaries of art of his time just […]

Insert Attribution Here   The development of the portrait in Spain is traced from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century. Court portraits by the great Spanish artists El Greco, Velázquez and Goya are shown, and include equestrian and hunting subjects as well as children, family groups and churchmen. 19th century artists, Sorolla, Miró, […]