‘One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art’.
So said Oscar Wilde, not only a celebrated Victorian author who happily clogs my bookshelves, but also a very important figure in the Aesthetic Movement in Britain, one which was dedicated to the artistic pursuit of beauty.
I went to Hampton Court Palace to see the Cumberland Art Gallery – a newly restored suite of rooms housing an inspiring collection of masterpieces by artists – including what may be Caravaggio’s earliest surviving painting, Rembrandt’s self-portrait aged 36 and portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger.
Continue reading Cumberland Art Gallery at Hampton Court Palace
Guildford has a little secret.
If you wander down one of the picturesque backstreets off the busy high street in Guildford, you’ll find one of Surrey’s most treasured historic gems.
2015 marks the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll spent a lot of time living in Guildford and he finished the second Alice book Through the Looking Glass during one of these stays in 1871.
Continue reading Lewis Carroll in Surrey
Architect Sir Charles Barry is perhaps best known for designing the Houses of Parliament and Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey fame) but his work can also spectacularly be seen in Surrey. Sir Charles Barry’s third son, Edward Middleton Barry, designed the handsome building Cobham Park, also in Surrey.
Good news: my blog has been shortlisted in the UK Blog Awards 2015 Young Person Recognition category and Arts and Culture category! This year’s theme is: Be Bold. I think it’s rather fitting that this blog post is on a very bold and pioneering town in Surrey…
The horse played a crucial part in World War One and horrifyingly over 10 million horses died through exhaustion, disease, bullets, and many sadly fell and sunk into the mud of the front line.
Continue reading The Lightbox ‘The Horse at War: 1914 – 1918’
I went to Claremont Landscape Garden in Esher eager to catch the golden-copper colour trees and to learn a bit more about the history of the gardens.
Marilyn Monroe was frequently very late to arrive when filming on set. So it may come as a surprise that she explicitly told herself, in her list of New Year’s Resolutions for the year 1956, that there are ‘No excuses for ever being late’. She was 29 years old at the time and had starred in many successful films (The Seven Year Itch for example) and she had just been accepted as a student at a renowned drama school in New York called the Actors’ Studio. Judging by her other resolutions (‘Work whenever possible’) she was clearly very driven and committed to try and continue her success as an actress.
I love living in Surrey. Historic villages interspersed with pockets of verdant countryside. Houses huddled around village greens. Busy cobbled high streets with hills rolling in the background. The best of town and country. Over and over.
One of the brightest jewels in Surrey’s crown is Shere, near Guildford. Every corner is beautiful.
