In 2019, before the pandemic hit, I was lucky enough to return to Melbourne, Australia, one of my favourite cities. The following article appeared in Oberoi magazine (unfortunately, with half of the final sentence cut off by the printers!) Melbourne has a long history of loving art. The first art gallery in Australia was opened … Read more
Liven up your lockdown with the ‘Love Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites‘ – my new online event happening at 5.30pm (UK time) on 13 February, joinable from anywhere in the world. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/love-lives-of-the-pre-raphaelites-tickets-139878228547 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I’ve started a series of online lectures to help us through this strange time of staying at home. The first was a virtual tour of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection and the second is about Katey Dickens – aka the artist Kate Perugini – and it’s happening at 6pm London time on Wed 3 June. … Read more
If you’re looking for something to listen to during this strange time of lockdown, here’s a link to the podcast I made with Philip Mould, Emma Rutherford and others about the Lost Portrait of Charles Dickens. It’s in 3 episodes. https://browse.entale.co/show/790c94fe-cc89-45b5-90f3-b0defc7c7e24
This portrait of Charles Dickens was painted by the Scottish artist Margaret Gillies in 1843. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1844. Since then it has been considered lost, the artist herself had no idea what had happened to it and its fate became a mystery. Until now – it was … Read more
Princess Louise was born 170 years ago today. Her life was fascinating to write about – even though my research was hampered by the mysteriousness of discovering the Royal Archives have closed off her files. Discover her story, available worldwide: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1082082/the-mystery-of-princess-louise/ http://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250059321
I have fully updated my 2006 biography of Kate Perugini (née Dickens). Katey, as I came to know her, was a superb artist and a central figure in the late 19th-century art world; she was also my great great great aunt. This updated version was made possible by the many kind people who contacted me … Read more