Dali and Dante in London’s Bermondsey Street

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EAMES FINE ART Gallery is in south London’s Bermondsey Street. It specialises in original prints and paintings by Modern and contemporary masters. Whenever we are in Bermondsey Street (usually to visit the White Cube Gallery and the wonderful Vietnamese eatery called Caphe House), we take a look at what is being shown at Eames. Until 18 May 2025, they are showing a collection of wood engravings that the surrealist artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989) first created as watercolours before supervising their transfer onto woodblocks to make prints based on these paintings.

In 1950, the Italian government commissioned Dali to produce a set of images to illustrate the “Divine Comedy”, which was composed by Dante Aligheri (c1265-1321) between about 1308 and 1321 AD. Dante’s work is one of the treasures of Italian literature, and the commissioning of Dali, who was not an Italian, was so controversial that it was debated in the Italian Parliament, after which Dali’s contract was cancelled. As the gallery’s website notes:

“Undeterred, Dalí, with the help of the French publisher Joseph Forêt, decided to complete the project himself and produced 100 sumptuous watercolours in a searing evocation of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory in response to Dante’s text..”

It was these watercolours that were transformed, under Dali’s supervision, into the prints, which are currently on display at Eames. I was interested to see them because usually the only works by Dali that I have seen have been his oil paintings. The images that have been created from these watercolours by Dali are more impressionistic and freer in form than the almost crystal clarity of the images in his oil paintings. I am pleased that we took a look inside Eames. We had no idea that they were showing such an interesting collection of works.

Marilyn, Mao, and more at Milton Keynes

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ONCE AGAIN, THE MK Gallery at Milton Keynes has put on a superb exhibition. Until 29 June 2025, there is a show of artworks by the artist and film maker Andy Warhol (1928-1987), who was born in the USA. Best known for his multiple portraits of figures such as Marilyn Monroe and Mao Tse Tung and Pop Art images, there is much more than this on display at the MK.

The first room of the show contains work that Warhol created in the 1950s and early 1960s. Like artists such as Picasso and Hockney, whose creative lives began with works that were not as experimental and novel as their later works, Warhol’s earlier, less revolutionary, images show that he was a competent draughtsman capable of producing highly acceptable ‘straightforward’ compositions. It was interesting to see his earlier works because they are rarely displayed in public galleries. And it is always nice to see how an artist who is best known for his or her more extraordinary creations began his or her creative output.

The exhibition includes many of Warhol’s Pop Art images including those of Marilyn and Mao, but also there are several of his portraits of other figures. These include the artist Basquiat, the politician Barry Goldwater, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, Muhammad Ali, and Liz Taylor. What I found interesting was that amongst the portraits on display, there were a few of the British artistic couple Gilbert and George. As the exhibition booklet related:

“The British artistic duo Gilbert and George , like Warhol, explored the interplay between personal and public identity, often blurring the lines between performance and art.”

Warhol’s portraits of this couple reflect their own graphic artistic style.

Other images on display relate to the Cold War and to the electric chair. The images on display in the show include drawings, prints, posters, and photographs (often adjusted to create interesting artistic effects). There are also exhibits relating to Warhol’s prolific output of films. He made about 600 of them. It would have been interesting to have been able to see extracts from some of them.

In brief, this is an exhibition that is worth travelling to. Apart from being beautifully displayed alongside helpful information panels, it is worthy of a visit to be able to enjoy seeing this artist’s rarely seen early works.

An artist from Aberdeen in west London

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SURROUNDED BY SOCIAL housing, the Frestonian Gallery is within a stone’s throw from the Westfield shopping mall in west London’s Shepherds Bush. This small but elegant commercial gallery hosts well-chosen artworks at temporary exhibitions. The artists whose works are displayed there are not as well-known as those shown in some of the larger and longer established galleries in Mayfair, but all of them deserve to be recognised as worthy exponents of their craft and creativity.

The current exhibition, which continues until 13 June 2025, is of paintings by Barry McGlashan, who was born in Aberdeen (Scotland) in 1974. Trained in painting at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, he went on to teach in its painting department between 1998 and 2005. He now lives and works in Edinburgh.

At first glance, many of Barry’s paintings have a hazy or misty appearance. After a few moments, the mist seems to clear, and the viewer can enjoy beautifully painted scenes. The paintings have a dream-like quality, and as the gallery’s handout notes, some of his images are:

“… at once so vivid and yet close to slipping away entirely …”

Barry refers to a concept embraced by the Elizabethan John Dee (1527-1608). Namely, that the world around us is far more unseen than seen. Barry’s pictures do depict such an idea very well.

Rather than wasting time and money in the Westfield shopping mall, feed your eyes on the lovely paintings currently on show at the Frestonian. You will not regret visiting this gallery.

Address: 2 Olaf St, London W11 4BE

It is that time of year again at the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park

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WORDS ARE INADEQUATE to describe the magnificent display of colours that can be seen in the Isabella Plantation at Richmond Park at the end of April and the start of May. I have written about this lovely garden many times before (e.g. https://adam-yamey-writes.com/2021/05/21/a-floral-fireworks-display/) and outlined its history, Do not take it from me that this display of flowering plants (including azaleas, rhododendrons, camelias, bluebells, and much more) is unbelievably beautiful, but hurry there and see it for yourself!

A beach in the heart of London

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The River Thames is tidal where it flows through the heart of London. At low tide, sandy beaches appear alongside the river’s banks. What is often beneath the water is revealed for a few hours. People, known as ‘mudlarks. wander along the sandy beaches looking for objects and fragments that have been thrown into, or lost in, the water over the many centuries that the city has been in existence. I have never attempted mudlarking, but many people enjoy searching for lost treasures.

From goatherd to ceramicist via a Wimpy bar in Hertfordshire

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HITCHIN IN HERTFORDSHIRE is the home of the North Hertfordshire Museum. Until 25 May 2025, it is holding an exhibition of the ceramic artworks of Abdo Nagi (1941-2001).  He began life in Yemen, where during his early years he was a goatherd. When he was 12 years old, against his father’s wishes, he moved to Aden, where he worked for British ‘ex-pat’ families living there. In 1967, he moved to the UK with his then employer, and eventually settled in Letchworth (Hertfordshire). To earn a living, he worked in a Wimpy bar, then a hotel, and then an engineering firm.

After passing O’level and then A’ level examinations in art, Nagi was appointed Assistant art Technician at North Hertfordshire College. It was here that his creativity began to flower. He began creating ceramic artworks that were inspired by his Yemeni background, and made money by selling them. Then he took a degree in ceramics at Middlesex, graduating in 1988. From then on, his artistic career took off. His work was exhibited in important shows all over the country. The North Hertfordshire Museum bought three of them for their collection. Sadly, a heart attack killed him at the age of 60.

The works currently on show in Hitchin’s fine museum are well-displayed alongside pictures of Abdo at work and various portraits of him painted by local artists. I liked almost all of the works on display. Some of them are unusually shaped, possibly inspired by the crafts of his native land. There is nothing in the exhibition that I would not like to possess – and some of the works are on sale. If you happen to be passing anywhere near Hitchin (a lovely historic town), making a detour to see this show would be worthwhile.

A cafe in a church in London designed by Christopher Wren

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in London

ST NICHOLAS COLE Abbey is a church a few yards southeast of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. Like the cathedral, St Nick’s (as it is affectionately known) was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1672 and 1678. The earlier church on this site had been destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was the first of the 51 churches lost in the Fire to have been rebuilt. In 1941, it was severely damaged during a German air raid. It remained a shell until it was repaired and reconsecrated in 1962. Sadly, the windows designed by the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones were destroyed in the air raid. They have been replaced by three attractive windows, which reminded me of the work of Chagall, designed by Keith New (1925-2012).

When we entered the church today (28 April 2025), we found that the floor of its spacious interior was occupied by tables and chairs and along its south side, there was a counter where hot and cold drinks as well as snacks were being served. Most of the tables and chairs were occupied. Some people were enjoying refreshments, others were working with their laptop computers, and yet others were chatting quietly. There are also tables and chairs on the terrace outside the south side of the church. Although the church serves as a café on weekdays, during weekends and on some other days, services are held.

The café has been in existence for about 10 years. Although we have passed the church innumerable times, it was only today that we first ventured inside it. So near to St Pauls and all the eateries catering to tourists visiting it, this church-cum-café seems to be well off the tourists’ beaten track, but well-known to local office workers.

A church with injuries in a village in Cambridgeshire

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WE OFTEN VISIT the excellent Pig and Abbot pub in the tiny village of Abington Piggots in south Cambridgeshire because it has good food and a homely atmosphere. Near the pub stands the parish church of St Michael and All Angels, parts of whose structure date to the twelfth century. It contains many interesting features including a seventeenth century pulpit combined with a reading desk and a clerk’s desk. This is made from timber panelling including some carvings and is probably Flemish in origin. Fascinating as this is, there are two unusual features, which were pointed out to us by a church volunteer when we visited the church in April 2025.

The north door of the nave, which faces the entrance on the south side of the church, has two small squarish holes in it. And if you look carefully at the stone archway that marks the boundary between the nave and the chancel, you can see that a small chunk of masonry is missing. The holes in the door were most likely caused by the sharp tip of a spear or of a pikestaff. The missing chunk of masonry is most likely the result of musket shot having been fired at the archway. It is believed that the damage to the door and the archway was done in the time of Oliver Cromwell, when he had ordered the removal of decorative features from churches, Interestingly, a few panes of mediaeval stained glass remain intact high up in a window in the north wall of the nave. Clearly, Cromwell’s men missed these while they were destroying the rest of the stained glass.

The damage to the church reminded me of our recent trip to Beverley in Yorkshire when we were shown damaged caused by a bullet fired from a Luftwaffe aeroplane during WW2. (see https://adam-yamey-writes.com/2025/04/06/pierced-by-a-bullet-while-praying-in-the-pews/). Clearly nothing is sacred, not even in a church.