Art

Random recs: Lucian Freud’s drawings, Peter York talks, smells like Studio Nicholson, Blank Street for Fashion Week and more



Lucian Freud Portrait of a Young Man

A few snippets of digital ephemera and IRL recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…


1/ LUCIAN FREUD’s ink brush drawings
, scrawly illustrated love letters, etchings and early paintings are a major highlight of Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting (above and below) just opened at the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition is huge and the best bit is no wire barriers to trip over, letting you get super close to examine Freud’s meticulous hatching technique. P.S. the merch is fab (below); I’m going back for the mini daffodil tray. Bella Freud’s tees and totes are fun too.
Lucian Freud love letter (more…)



The slow ordinary: ‘boring fiction’



So Late in the Day Claire Keegan

I stole this title from a comment on Where Is the Cool’s Substack about the restorative mediation of washing up (and Helene Appel’s paintings in particular).

My new year’s resolution is to go to bed early and use that last hour to read a physical book, not scroll ‘one last time’ on the phone. So far, it’s working OK (I’m hitting the pillow at 1am, rather than 2am – baby steps!). The trick for me is to choose what I’m calling ‘boring fiction’, although I’m sure there must be a more BookTok-friendly ‘core’ name for it. It’s in the vein of Sally Rooney’s Normal People and John Williams’ Stoner and I’ve found it most recently in Brian by Jeremy Cooper, Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico and the short story, So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (above). (more…)



Random Recs: The New Yorker at 100; Martin Margiela’s T-shirt maquette; Stuart McKenzie’s poems and more



ALEKOS FASSIANOS

A few snippets of digital ephemera and IRL recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…

1/ The NEW YORKER AT 100 documentary
is like The September Issue for smart people. My highlight was the lady drawing cartoons with a Rotring pen. So good you’ll want to watch it twice. (more…)



Trend report: what to wear for AW25



Wales Bonner aw25

Here’s my theory. The 2020s hasn’t actually started properly because the first five years were stalled due to Covid and its after effects. Fashion-wise, could we be at the turning point now, with all the big runway debuts ringing in major changes (we hope)? Let’s see. For now, I’m still in my classics era, so I’m spotlighting the people and brands doing that really well, including the labels to target for the best pieces at non-crazy prices. Plus, a 90s shoe revival, some beauty updates and what’s on my culture wish list… (more…)