We caught the last day of this year’s Masterpiece.

Untitled (1991) by Rachel Whiteread:-

A group of pieces by George Ohr:-

A collage of the tools of the trade used by Factum Arte in documenting the different ways of recording the tomb of Seti I (a beautiful display):-

I recommend going on the last day when it’s quieter and a pleasure to wander round.

Lying in the bath this morning and thinking about seeing Drawn to War last night, I thought a couple of things were obvious.

The first, as came out of the discussion afterwards, is that Ravilious’s reputation was originally as a decorative artist – the creator of mugs for Wedgwood – and that his watercolours are inevitably less seen, because of the fugitive nature of the medium.

The second is whether or not there is an influence of surrealism. What everyone, including Alan Bennett, suggests in the film is that the images are not quite as innocent as they seem. There is always a sense of hidden depths, of impending war, barbed wire beside the downland, which is why the images have a power beyond the merely decorative. Ravilious seems not to have been particularly part of the London art world, preferring to live in Essex, but he must have been aware of surrealism which was such a prominent part of the art world in the late 1930s.

We went to a screening of Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War at the Gate Cinema – for me, a second viewing. It’s just as good second time round. I was better able to appreciate the extraordinary wealth of documentary material. Ravilious’s daughter, Anne Ullmann, is recorded on film and has obviously done a huge amount to keep memory of Ravilious alive, encouraging one of his mistresses, Helen Binyon, to publish a memoir in 1983, publishing her mother’s autobiography, Long Live Great Bardfield, and finding a cache of watercolours under Edward Bawden’s bed. Then, his granddaughter, Ella, works at the V&A and there is even a twitter account for Ravilious. Rather amazingly, there is cine film of Ravilious’s wedding, as well as Ravilious’s own letters. And, although he died when he was only 39, he had already accomplished a huge amount, including his work for Wedgwood and book illustrations, alongside his work as a war artist.

There was discussion afterwards as to why he is so popular, but regarded more as a decorative than fine artist. Alan Bennett was good on how his very popularity makes him seem not quite a real artist. Anyway, I recommend the film very much.

I have been swotting up on Margy Kinmonth’s film about the life of Eric Ravilious, Drawn to War, which is now on general release in cinemas all over the country – and very good it is. I make a fleeting experience, supposedly impersonating Kenneth Clark who was responsible for Ravilious’s appointment as a war artist. Here is a picture of the filming in the Imperial War Museum on 13 April 2021. It seems like another era, much more than just over a year ago:-

A very good, clear account, as attached below, of the decision not to allow the development of the Custom House as yet another luxury hotel. I hope the developers will now work with the Georgian Group on an alternative and more imaginative scheme. Or perhaps the City could buy it off them and facilitate a more publicly oriented scheme ?

https://georgiangroup.org.uk/2022/07/04/custom-house-appeal-decision/?s=09

I thought I should go and see this year’s Seroentine Pavilion designed by Theaster Gates: a big, black cylinder with a hole in the roof:-

In some way, of course, this imagery has been extensively worked through, not least by Mark Rothko in the Rothko Chapel in Houston and James Turrell in his light installations. I don’t think this invalidates the authority of the black drum – part-funereal and part-meditative. It’s only a bit odd that one can buy a cup of coffee which slightly detracts from the idea that it is sacred space:-

We are relatively recent converts to the Friends of Friendless Churches and have still not managed to see any in England; but in North Wales, they look after some of the most profound and moving chapels and small churches and they do so in the most unobtrusive and sympathetic way – lowkey, keeping the churches open, trusting visitors to respect what they are seeing, with minimal intervention and interpretation. I greatly admire this approach to the preservation of the past. It allows the buildings to survive without telling one what to think or feel. So far as I can tell, it is run by one person only, so its overheads must be minimal. This is only a way of saying that it’s a very good cause. See attached.

https://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/become-a-friend/?s=09

For anyone like me interested in examining the effect of the Olympics, good and bad, and the incredibly complicated politics behind it, I recommend Dave Hill’s very detailed account in his self-published book on The Olympic Park (see below). It’s hard now to track the changing policies which Hill details. Ken Livingstone and particularly Tessa Jowell come out of it well. The issue which Ollie Wainwright raises in the Guardian yesterday is how far Boris Johnson then hijacked the Legacy Corporation and thwarted the realisation of their original ideals.

https://www.onlondon.co.uk/shop/olympic-park-when-britain-built-something-big/?s=09

Following my last post, I have discovered that I am behind the times. The City of London Corporation has indeed already recognised the weaknesses of what was proposed for the redevelopment of the Custom House and has endorsed the alternative plans put forward by the Georgian Group before Christmas as economically viable. So, hats off to the Georgian Group for not only effectively objecting to the scheme on historical grounds at the Inquiry, but for then putting forward a realistic and fully costed alternative, which retains the integrity of the historic fabric and will allow much better public access. Let’s hope the current owners will move forward on the basis of the Georgian Group’s proposals.

https://georgiangroup.org.uk/2022/04/29/city-of-london-custom-house/

Hurrah ! Hurrah !

The Inspector, Paul Griffiths (he was also the Inspector for the Bell Foundry redevelopment) has recommended refusal of planning permission for the development of the Custom House, such an exceptionally important historic building, as – how did you guess ? – another luxury hotel.

Maybe this is a signal that the planning department of the City of London is beginning to recognise that over-intensive new development may not necessarily be the best strategy for the Square Mile; and that it needs to retain as much as possible of its historic fabric and the creation of new civic space to counterbalance the skyscrapers.

Now, it just needs an imaginative scheme as to how it might be developed as public space: a competition is needed perhaps. It could be a public reading room (vide what has happened to the British Library); a modern version of a bazaar; a centre for London fashion is what I think it should be (such a good space for a catwalk) ?

There are lots of better and more imaginative uses for it than a luxury hotel.