Modernist architecture on a popular shopping street in central London

Posted on by
Reply

AT GROUND LEVEL, London’s Oxford Street is lined with numerous retail outlets, many of which can be seen on shopping streets and in malls all over England. Raise your eyes above ground level, and you will notice that the shops are beneath buildings designed in a bewilderingly wide range of styles. Today (the 22nd of May 2024), I spotted a Modernist style building, number 219 Oxford Street, which is on the corner of Oxford Street and Hill Street. Its ground floor has become part of a Zara shop’s showroom.

The upper floors of the five-storeyed number 219 retain their 20th century Modernist style architectural features, and its Oxford Street facade is adorned with three bas-relief plaques. One of them, at the fourth-floor level bears the date ‘1951’ and a logo. Despite its date, the building has remarkably clean lines and an elegant simplicity. There is much information on the Internet about this edifice, but even though I have walked past it many times, it was only today that it caught my attention.

The Historic England website (https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1352668?section=official-list-entry) revealed that the building:

“… was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners in 1950 for the landlord Jack Salmon, who took the second-floor suite for himself. The scheme was revised in February 1951, but was not built until after August 1951 (explaining the plaques celebrating the Festival of Britain – an event which was held in the summer of that year), and appears not to have been completed until 1952, as evidenced by the dated tile near the door to the upper floors. Despite the delay in its construction the building was among the very earliest post-war commercial buildings to be put up in the capital.”

Another website (https://lookup.london/219-oxford-street-history/) provided some detail about what is depicted on the plaques. The plaque with the date 1951 also contains the (1951) Festival of Britain logo. Above this, the top plaque shows the Royal Festival Hall and next to it the Shot Tower from Lambeth Lead Works, which stood close to the Hall, but was demolished in 1962 to make way for the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The lowest plaque depicts the Skylon, which was also part of the Festival of Britain complex of structures (on the South Bank), but no longer exists.

Number 219 was threatened with demolition in 2004, but luckily for us it escaped this fate, and is now protected as a Grade II Listed Building.

Houses in England built with money made in India

Posted on by
Reply

DURING A VISIT TO Basildon Park near Reading, I spotted a display of photographs of “Nabob houses in the Indian Style”. A ‘nabob’ was someone who was conspicuously rich, having made his fortune in India. These were buildings constructed by people who had made their fortunes while working in India. for the British East India Company. Some, but not all of these, buildings incorporate architectural features derived from the architectural styles that the British found when they visited India.

Late 18th century Basildon Park, which was built by a Brit who had made his money in India, is a Nabob’s house, but without any features borrowed from the Indian subcontinent. It is a Palladian-style building. It was one of about 30 houses built in Berkshire for the nouveau-riche British ‘nabobs’, who had enriched themselves in India.

Much Moore to be seen at Kenwood House in north London

Posted on by
Reply

INSIDE KENWOOD HOUSE (in north London), the visitor can see a glorious collection of paintings by famous artists such as (to name but a few): Vermeer, Rembrandt, Constable, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Cuyp, Romney, and Van Dyck. These works are part of the Iveagh Bequest, which was the collection of paintings bought by the art collector, Irish brewing magnate, and philanthropist Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847-1927).

In the grounds of Kenwood House, there are two sculptures created after Iveagh’s death. They are both by sculptors, who are considered as some of the greatest British artists of the 20th century. One of them, which is near the house, is by Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), and the other, which we examined when we walked past it today, illustrated above, is by Henry Moore (1898-1986). His large bronze sculpture is called “Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 5”, and was completed in 1963-1964. It has been lent to Kenwood by the Tate Gallery.

Apart from being superb sculptors and having works at Kenwood, Hepworth and Moore have other things in common. Both studied at the Leeds School of Art, where they met. And both lived in Hampstead, which is close to Kenwood, for a while between the two World Wars. While they were in Hampstead, they had studios close to each other: Hepworth in Mall Studios, and Moore in nearby Parkhill Road. You can find out more about their lives in Hampstead in my book “Beneath a Wide Sky: Hampstead and its Environs”.

Art works by Graham Sutherland for Coventry Cathedral on display in a country house in Berkshire

Posted on by
Reply

ON THE FOURTEENTH of November 1940, Coventry’s cathedral was badly damaged by bombs dropped from aircraft of the German Luftwaffe. After WW2, a new, modernist cathedral was constructed next to the shell of the damaged one. Designed by Basil Spence, the new cathedral was built between 1956 and 1962. Visitors to this magnificent replacement cathedral can hardly miss seeing the enormous tapestry that hangs at the eastern end of the church. Depicting “Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph”, it was the creation of the artist Graham Sutherland (1903-1980). I have seen this work and admired it on several occasions, but little did I expect to find a connection with it when visiting a National Trust property not far from Reading – Basildon Park.

Set in lovely grounds surrounded by rolling hills that lead down to the rows of trees growing near the Thames, the house at Basildon Park was largely completed in the Palladian style by 1783. After a series of owners, including the military during the two World Wars, it was bought by Lord and Lady Iliffe (later known as ‘the 2nd Baron and Lady Iliffe’) in 1953. They restored the house, and filled it with artworks they collected. A great patron of the arts, Lord Iliffe was a friend of the artist Graham Sutherland. He and his wife were able to purchase many of the studies that Sutherland made when planning the great tapestry that hangs behind the high altar in Coventry Cathedral. Some of these were donated to the Herbert Museum in Coventry, and several of them are on display in a room on the ground floor of Basildon Park. The studies exhibited in Basildon Park demonstrate Sutherland’s great artistic talents. Each of them, although sketches of details to be included in the final tapestry, is itself a lovely work of art.

Sutherland’s studies are (for me) the highlights of the Iliffe’s artworks on show in their former home – they gave it to the National Trust in 1978. In addition to these fine works, a few others caught my attention. In one room on the first floor, there are four sketches of places in India by William Daniell (1769-1837). It is quite appropriate to find these in Basildon Park, which was originally built by Frances Sykes, who made his fortune in the British East India Company. Another, more recent, painting that interested me was a portrait of Lady Iliffe painted in the 1940s by Frank Salisbury (1874-1962). A society portrait painter, he interested me not because of his art, but because he owned a spectacular neo-Tudor mansion, Sarum Chase, on West Heath Road in London’s Hampstead. I came across him when I was doing research for my book about Hampstead.

For some reason, despite visiting many National Trust properties around it, today (the 19th of May 2024) was the first time we went to see Basildon Park. The house is worth seeing – its rooms are spacious and well-lit, and the artworks are, as I hope I have explained, of great interest. Also, it stands in beautiful grounds – an idyllic English countryside.

Raise your eyes in this church in central London

Posted on by
Reply

THE STRAND IS a street in the heart of London, which runs close to the River Thames. It used to be close to the water. Hence, its name. Two churches stand like islands in this busy thoroughfare. One of them is St Clement Danes, and to the west of that is St Mary Le Strand, which we entered today (the 17th of May 2024) after visiting the Photo London exhibition at nearby Somerset House.

St Mary Le Strand was designed by James Gibbs (1682-1754) and constructed between 1714 and 1717. It was built on the site of a great maypole, which was the centre of May Day celebrations in the 16th and 17th centuries. The church’s interior is in an exuberant baroque style, reflecting its architect’s earlier travels and training in Italy.

The walls of the nave are bare. It had been intended to have been painted, but this never happened. What really attracts the eye is the amazing geometric ceiling above the nave (see photograph). The ceiling is an expanse of triangles, squares, and lozenges that cover its barrel vaulting. In the centre of each of these many shapes, there is a sculpted flower. This ceiling was designed by Chrysostom Wilkins, who worked on other churches in London. It was created in plasterwork, shaped by hand, without using moulds.

St Mary Le Strand has been open less regularly than its neighbour St Clement Danes. Although I have visited the latter often, I believe that today was either the first or one of a very few visits to St Mary Le Strand. If you happen to be passing this church, and it is open, do take a few minutes to admire its wonderful ceiling.

The handkerchief tree and pollination

Posted on by
Reply

ONE OF THE characteristics of a living organism is the ability to reproduce itself. Pollination of plants is an important stage in maintaining the survival of a species.

Yesterday (the 15th of May 2024), we saw a curious tree at Kew Gardens. It looked as if it had both green and white leaves. It is a Handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata). The white appendages are not leaves but bracts. They form for about a fortnight each year, and serve to increase the chances of the tree’s flowers being pollinated.

Art amongst the plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

Posted on by
Reply

I ENJOY VIEWING sculpture displayed in the open-air. Seeing sculpture ‘al-fresco’ is for me much more pleasant than viewing it in a gallery. From time to time, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew hosts outdoor sculpture displays. In the past, I have seen exhibitions of works by Henry Moore and Dale Chihuly. This year (2024), there are several sculptures by Marc Quinn dotted around the gardens. Quinn, who was born in the UK in 1964 is an adventurous creator, whose works sometimes give rise to controversy. I do not believe that the collection of his works now on display in Kew will give rise to much, if any, controversy.

Except for several bronze sculptures depicting larger than life bonsai trees, which have been placed in the Temperate House, the rest of the sculptures are made in highly reflective stainless steel. Appropriately for their setting, these sculptures are derived from the shapes of plants, leaves, and flowers. Because they are so reflective, they reflect the plants and trees growing near them. This helps to camouflage them, or make them seem as if they are merging with the surrounding vegetation. Although they contrast dramatically with their surroundings, their reflective nature softens the contrast when viewed from certain angles.

When I see sculpture next to nature, I often feel that however well the artwork has been created, it often palls when compared to what Nature has created. Quinn’s work at Kew has this effect, but somehow, probably because it reflects the plants around it, the comparison between what he created and what has been growing naturally is not too marked, and did not disturb me.

A visit to Kew Gardens is always enjoyable, and seeing the place with Quinn’s work in situ was a good experience. The exhibition will continue until the 29th of September 2024.

Exploring some unknowns in London’s fashionable Mayfair

Posted on by
Reply

I HAVE NO IDEA how many commercial art galleries there are in Central London. Today (the 14th of May 2024), we visited an art gallery, whose existence was previously unknown to us, and there we saw an exhibition of works by an artist, who was also new to us. The gallery is Carl Kostyal in Savile Row. Its discreet entrance is sandwiched between two fashionable tailors’ stores. Half Hungarian and half Swedish, Carl Kostyál opened his gallery in Savile Row in 2010. Three years later, he opened another gallery in Stockholm.

The artist, whose work is being exhibited, is Leo Park, who was born in Sweden in 1980. His exhibition in Savile Row is called “Beyond Pleasure”. It consists mostly of large paintings, but also a wall covered with a mosaic of small sketches, The beautifully executed artworks are eye-catching, and reminded me a little of the works of some of the pre-WW2 Surrealists. The paintings and sketches are of imagined forms that immediately made me think of human bodies. The images are clearly meant to evoke such thoughts, but looked at objectively, they are all shapes that do not exist in nature. The paintings and drawings are all displayed in the beautifully restored rooms of the 18th century building that houses the gallery.

The show ends on the 2nd of June 2024, and is well worth visiting.

Three informative, illustrated books about Albania and the Albanians

Posted on by
Reply

In the last few years, I have published 3 books about Albania and the Albanians:

ALBANIA ON MY MIND

This book describes Albania as I saw it when I made a trip there in 1984. Then, the country was being ruled by the isolationist, Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha. The country was even more isolated from the rest of the world than is the case with North Korea today.

REDISCOVERING ALBANIA

This is a description of a visit I made to Albania in 2016. The book describes Albania as we found it then, and compares it with what I saw in 1984. It also contains descriptions of Albania made by other travellers at various times in the last 300 years.

FROM ALBANIA TO SICILY

This is one of the few books in English to describe the past and present of the Albanian-speaking people who migrated to Sicily in the 15th century to escape from the Ottoman armies that were invading the Balkans. It provides an in-depth study of the lives of this interesting group of people.

These three books are available as paperbacks and as Kindles from Amazon