Painting of the Month (39) May 2013: Dong Kingman

I am marking my resumption of this Blog with a series of watercolours by Dong Kingman, 1911-2000, one of my favourite watercolour artists. He was a Chinese-American painter in the style of the California School ("The California Style of watercolor painting which flourished from the mid-1920's to the mid-1950's gave the traditional watercolor medium a bold new look.This new representational art, defined by a large format, free broad brush strokes, and strong rich colors, documented scenes and activities of everyday life on the Pacific Coast. California's cities and industrial sites, its beaches and harbors, and its vast open landscapes were interpreted by hundreds of artists using innovative new approaches to watercolor painting". www.calart.com)

You can double-click the pictures for a better view

442 Combat Team at Leghorn 1976.
I like the use of leaving parts of the paper white to convey bright sunlight.

I can't find any information about this picture but I really like the use of vivid colour and the simplicity of the design.

Rickshaws Under a Tree
There is a strong Chinese influence (apart from the obvious subject matter) visible here.

South Street Bridge 1955. 

Kingman worked in the film industry and many of his images appear to be on film-set locations. Sometimes cine equipment can be seen in the paintings. I'm not sure if that applies here but it definitely can be seen in the final picture below.

Four Men on a Bicycle 

For me, these paintings convey the pure joy of simply looking at them!

I'm Taking a Short Break from Blogging........

An English country garden. Something nice to remember this Blog by!

......but I enjoy it too much to stay away for long!  I have been a bit busy lately (in a positive way) and have been a bit pressed for time. I'll be back soon - watch this space.

Painting of the Month (38) March 2013: Cezanne

Paul Cezanne: Still Life with Plate of Cherries, 1885-1887

I like this painting very much but it is not a great painting. I think it is very interesting because it says something important about the place of Paul Cezanne in modern art.

The first thing you may have noticed is that the two plates appear to be sitting on different planes. That is to say that the plate of cherries looks as though it has been tipped-up and we are viewing it from a slightly different angle than the plate of peaches and the vase behind them.

A generation earlier this would have been unthinkable and would have seemed to be incompetence but Cezanne knew exactly what he was doing. From a modern perspective he can be seen as a link between the Impressionists (he is generally labelled as a Post-Impressionist) and the Cubists. He was interested in binocular vision, wherein a separate image from each eye is combined to make one vision but, as we all know, if one closes alternate eyes two different views will be seen. He was also interested in seeing everything in nature as cones, spheres and cylinders. He later began to break the picture surface up into shapes. See, for example the picture below, completed in 1906, where he is experimenting with shape. 

Picasso and Braque further developed these ideas and, between them, founded the Cubist movement with multiple view-points being a distinguishing feature. Picasso and Matisse acknowledged that Cezanne "is the father of us all".

                                                                                    Pablo Picasso, 1909

I think the influence that Cezanne had on Matisse was as a colourist. Colour was always an important feature of Cezanne's output and Picasso himself acknowledged Matisse's superiority in that departrment.

John Prine and other favourite lyrics.

John Prine in 2012 (www.eventfinda.com)

I have written on previous occasions about the difference between lyrics and poetry. The primary difference, I suppose, is that lyrics are written to be sung and are often hung on to a melody and therefore become a part of some other entity whereas poetry usually stands alone.
But I do think that certain song lyrics raise themselves above the norm and can work as poetic verse alone. The obvious candidates are Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen but sometimes a song's lyrics can be deceptively simple. All this pre-amble is leading to this, the opening verse and chorus of Jon Prine's Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness:
You come home late and you come home early.
You come on big when you're feeling small.
You come home straight and you come home curly.
Sometimes you don't come home at all.

So what in the world's come over you?
What in heaven's name have you done?
You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness.
You're out there running just to be on the run.
Perhaps read the words a few times then listen here.
I especially like the internal rhyming that matches the first and third lines. Simple lyrics that work like these are very hard to write.

Consider these lyrics too:
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
That's from Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man of course.

These are from Cole Porter's Every Time You Say Goodbye:
Every time we say goodbye, I die a little,
Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little,
Why the Gods above me, who must be in the know.
Think so little of me, they allow you to go.
When you're near, there's such an air of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it,
There's no love song finer, but how strange the change from major to minor,
Every time we say goodbye.

I could go on and on and maybe there will be a part two of this post but I'd love to hear about your favourite song lyrics if you feel that they can stand alone.....

Flowers by Wendy Cope

This post is especially for All Consuming. But of course anyone is very welcome to comment!

Wendy Cope. Born England 1945.(www.goodreads.com)

Flowers

Some men never think of it.
You did. You’d come along
And say you’d nearly brought me flowers
But something had gone wrong.

The shop was closed. Or you had doubts —
The sort that minds like ours
Dream up incessantly. You thought
I might not want your flowers.

It made me smile and hug you then.
Now I can only smile.
But, look, the flowers you nearly brought
Have lasted all this while.
From Serious Concerns, Faber & Faber, 1992

Wendy Cope is the kind of poet whom it is easy to dismiss as lightweight or superficial but I would like to make the case that she is neither of those things. Although clothed in humour and wit, her words carry the weight of gravitas and of more serious matters. She cleverly uses the easy appeal to make a point, often about men: Men are like bloody buses-/ You wait for about a year/ And as soon as one approaches your stop/ Two or three others appear.
The poem centres around the themes of remembrance and intentions that were never carried out and there is a deep underlying sadness present. I think it is saying that the thought counts as much, or more, than the deed. The last stanza is heart-breakingly poignant.
You can watch Wendy reading this poem here

London Monopoly (17): Leicester Square

Continuing my journey around the London Monopoly board with Leicester Square, the first property of the 'Yellow' set.

Early twentieth century view of Leicester Square
Photo used by permission. See www.arthurlloyd.co.uk 

These days Leicester Square is famous as the location of the best and biggest cinemas in London. Many Premiers are held there including James Bond and Harry Potter films. It is always packed with tourists and has a 'buzz' about it. However, you can gather from the photo above that it formerly had an elegance which has long gone.

Monet: Leicester Square at night, 1901 

The four corners of the park in the centre of the square have statues of Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Hunter and William Hogarth. William Shakespeare stands at the centre surrounded by dolphins! The newest statue is that of Charlie Chaplin.

The square has long been a centre of entertainment and looked quite lively in the painting by Claude Monet, above, completed in 1901. I think it was painted just before an appointment with his Optician.

A useless fact: the distance between Leicester Square and Covent Garden underground stations is the shortest in the whole network at 300 metres.

Leicester Square after recent renovations, 2012

Painting of the Month (37): Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer, Lilith, 1990. Oil, emulsion, shellac, charcoal and ash on canvas, with clay, women’s hair, strips of lead and poppy seeds, 12 feet by 18 feet, Hans Grothe, Bremen.

The vision depicted in this painting was inspired by a visit to Sao Paolo, Brazil. Kiefer was shocked by the urban sprawl and decay he saw there. He has always been fascinated by aerial views and this picture certainly looks like it was based on a photo taken from an aircraft. In fact he saw the view from a skyscraper.

The painting is definitely not pretty but the story behind it is fascinating and well worth knowing.

Firstly, I would like to say something about Lilith, whose name provides the title of this painting. According to stories of Jewish mysticism found in the Kabbalah, Lilith was a she-devil who was the first partner of Adam before Eve and was created out of the earth like Adam and not from his ribs. Her name can be made out scrawled across the top of the picture. I think the implication is that this nightmare vision is under her influence; she seems to bring devastation upon the Modernist architecture of Sao Paulo.

Now, sometimes accessing works of art is difficult, but I think that the more one has to work to understand or interpret the artist the greater the final appreciation will be. I hope you will read on and gain some insight and hopefully be interested in my ideas.

Some background to the artist Anselm Kiefer: He was born in Germany five weeks before the death of Adolf Hitler and grew up in the turbulent post-war years in a divided country. Like many Germans of his generation he has tried to come to terms with German history and guilt.

The picture itself depicts a kind of apolcalyptic haze which was created by the artist throwing dust and ash across it's surface. (Ashes to ashes, dust to dust?) He also uses tangled copper-wire stuck to the surface and has actually burned some of the surface area. The painting is huge and fills most of a wall in the Tate Gallery in London. To stand in front of it is an awe-inspiring and emotional experience. The scale is so large that it almost seems life-sized and can make you feel almost giddy.

Dresden, 1945

So, what is a very powerful image for a young German who is fascinated by aerial pictures? - Maybe it's the city of Dresden that was controversially destroyed by 800 Royal Air Force bomber aircraft followed, the next day, by 311 US bombers just to make sure. The city was pretty much undefended. This happened in February 1945 when the allies were about to win the war. I can find no reference to this connection anywhere, although it looks like a rather rather powerful linkage to me. Interestingly the Brazilian architect of Sao Paolo, Oscar Niemeyer (who died last December just before his 105th birthday) was of German descent and the Nazis were renowned for their love of modern imperial architecture - not unlike what Niemeyer created in Sao Paolo. Just saying, that's all.

Kiefer has used real woman's hair stuck to the surface of the picture. This possibly refers to a passage from Goethe's Faust. Here's a quote:

  Adam's wife, his first. Beware of her. 
  Her beauty's one boast is her dangerous hair.
  When Lilith winds it tight around young men
  She doesn't soon let go of them again.
  (1992 Greenberg translation, lines 4206-4211)

Finally, it's interesting to know where Anselm Kiefer lives now. It's in the old traditional Jewish quarter in Paris.

The Sisters of Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy is my favourite Leonard Cohen song - and there are plenty of others competing with it. Listen to it here. 

A notorious perfectionist: Leonard Cohen Photo: Clara Molden

I think the test of a good song is when virtually any cover version of it has some (and sometimes much) merit.
Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Ronstadt recorded it here
Although I couldn't find it on You Tube there is great version by Dion if you happen to have Spotify. There is, of course, a great difference between lyrics and poetry but Leonard Cohen's lyrics can often be read as poetry:
Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone. 
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go on. 
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song. 
Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long. 
Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control. 
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul. 
Well I've been where you're hanging, I think I can see how you're pinned: 
When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned. 

Well they lay down beside me, I made my confession to them. 
They touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem. 
If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn 
they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem. 

When I left they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon. 
Don't turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon. 
And you won't make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night: 
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right, 
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right.

The story, according to Leonard Cohen, is that he let a couple of girl hitch-hikers use his double-bed in a motel on a cold winter's night in Canada and, while they slept, he wrote the song in one go. He said that was the only time he wrote in that way.

Gun Deaths

Photo: Fall River Outfitters

Gun deaths in US 2011: 12,996

Gun deaths in UK 2011: 58

Painting of the Month (36) Jan '13: Masque Blanc from Gabon

White Mask from Gabon, Africa

African art is extremely diverse and can hardly be described in a few sentences but this white mask made in Gabon (date uncertain, probably 19th century) is something specific to that country. There is a strong ritualistic tradition of mask-making there where they are used for many ceremonial occasions such as births, deaths and marriages.
This white mask is typical of those made by the Punu people of southern Gabon. It is made of wood (although they are often made of 'precious' metals such as copper). It is covered in pigment derived from white clay and the face, especially the half-closed eyes, is meant to evoke a meditative female serenity. The mask, however, would generally be worn by a male dancer in a ceremony. 
The influence of African art on major European art is often overlooked but look at this detail from a painting by Pablo Picasso!

Nude by Pablo Picasso 1907

London Monopoly (16): Fenchurch Street Station

My journey around the board of the London version of Monopoly has reached Fenchurch Street Station.

Photo by 'Buildings Fan' on Flickr

With only four platforms on two levels Fenchurch Street railway station is probably the smallest of London's many rail termini. The current building dates from 1854 and was constructed on the site of the original station, the first to be built in the City of London.

It is really only a commuter station serving the southern part of the county of Essex to the east of London and north of the Thames which divides London in half. The façade which is original is quite elegant and is 'listed'. Inside the station is quite modern and bears no resemblance to the original structure. 

Fenchurch Street in 1905.
Photo Copyright: The John Alsop Collection

It is thought that there was originally a Roman fort on this site which was built to protect London following the revolt led by the female warrior Boudicca in AD 60. Many Roman artefacts have been found in the area including gold coins and mosaics. In 2008 a cellar was discovered dating from that time! Sometimes it seems to me that even the most unlikely places have an interesting history if ones digs down a bit, both literally and metaphorically.

Roman Mosaic found beneath Fenchurch Street while it was being built

The first Railway Book Stall was opened in Fenchurch Street station

Next in this series: Leicester Square 

Painting of the Month (35) December 2012: Alex Snellgrove

Persian Girl by Alex Snellgrove

On my recent visit to Australia I was lucky enough to meet up with esoteric fellow-Blogger Stephen Simmonds (click here to visit his Blog). He and his wife Rosalie took Leah and I to a gallery in Clovelly, a suburb of Sydney near Bondi Beach, where their friend, local artist Alex Snellgrove, was showing her latest work.

As you can see she has a wonderful way of painting water. The series of paintings, of which the above is one, displays her great ability to convey the luminosity and movement of water. The effect of light and the translucence it gives the water is delightful. We met the charming artist and bought some cards with prints of her work; I would have liked to have purchased a painting too but they were (justifiably) out of my price range!

Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia by Alex Snellgrove

You can see more of Alex's work here
Her Website is: http://alexsnellgrove.com/

Off to Australia!

I'm going to Australia so my next post will be in at least one month's time. Although I might post some remote comments from the Antipodes!

London Monopoly (15): Trafalgar Square

This is the last property in the 'red' set in my tour around the London Monopoly board

In 1805 Britain was the world's supreme naval power when a fleet of the Royal Navy led by Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson defeated the combined navies of Napoleon's France and Spain. Although they were outnumbered, the Royal navy, using Nelson's extra-ordinary tactics destroyed the enemy fleets off of Cape Trafalgar (Arabic: Tarf al-Gharb meaning 'Western Cape') on Spain's Atlantic coast near Cadiz.

JMW Turner. The Battle of Trafalgar as seen from the mizen starboard shrouds of HMS Victory

Naturally, Nelson became a hero in Britain and in 1830 the square, which was already in existence, was named after the famous battle. In 1842 Nelson's Column was erected and shortly after that the two fountains were built.

Today Trafalgar Square is seen as a major focal point and is the epicentre of Great Britain; it is the place where large celebrations and political rallies and protests are held and can fairly be considered to be the place where democracy is at it's strongest in this country.

For the last ten years the north side of the square, in front of the National Gallery, has been pedestrianised and traffic free. The church of Saint-Martin-in-the Fields and Edith Cavell's statue now have high quality paving all around giving a fine aspect.

The square is Crown property which, technically, means it's owned by the Queen.

Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery in the background

A lovely watercolour of Trafalgar Square with the tower of Big Ben in the distance and lower half of Nelson's Column in the foreground.

Next in this series: 

The rather lovely Fenchurch Street Station.

Strawberry Fields / Penny Lane

In 1966 The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, widely praised as one of the most influential and innovative popular recordings of all time. Meanwhile  in England, The Beatles were entering the most creative period in an outstandingly productive career  They listened to Pet Sounds and were inspired in the same way that Dylan had influenced them a few years earlier. They had decided to try to produce something in a similar vain and were sensationally successful as the result was the Sergeant Pepper album. 

Photo: Linda McCartney

They began by each of them returning to their roots and writing a song each about their up-bringing in Liverpool. John came up with Strawberry Fields and Paul composed Penny Lane; both titles being taken from locations in that city. Their UK record label, EMI, were pushing for a new single so they released a double A-sided disc using those two songs which never made it on to Sergeant Pepper after all.

The songs are interesting because, for me, they epitomise the character and song-writing style of each of the two Beatles.

Penny Lane is strongly melodic and actually fairly complex musically. The lyrics are very interesting and must seem mysterious to non-British listeners. They contain several ambiguities 

The 'shelter in the middle of the roundabout'

such as being "there beneath the blue suburban skies" while the fireman "rushes in from the pouring rain - very strange". Very strange indeed. So the images are being presented as a kaleidoscopic view of Liverpool. It is rumoured that McCartney was using LSD at that time....."She feels as if she's in a play. She is anyway"

"Four of fish and finger pie" is a very clever piece of writing and worth explaining. "Four of fish" referred to fourpence worth of Fish and Chips and "finger pie" is a sexual reference to the fumblings that went on the the bus shelter (solo or joint!). Also it's a lovely pun on 'fish fingers' which is how fish sticks are known in the UK.  
One of the most interesting things about the recording is the piccolo trumpet solo played by  the late David Mason of the London Symphony Orchestra. Paul heard a recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and asked George Martin what the instrument was playing the high notes. It is an exceedingly difficult instrument to play because it does not keep properly in tune with itself! The player has to 'pitch' the notes him or herself. Very strange. Paul told David Mason exactly which notes he wanted to be played. Paul McCartney was a great inventor of melody and an original lyricist. Listen to it here.
By complete contrast Strawberry Fields Forever really represents the state of John Lennon's mind at that time and I am going to talk about this song from a psychological point of view. Strawberry Field is the site of a Salvation Army Children's Home in Liverpool near where Lennon grew up. Lyrically the song is very introspective with each verse descending deeper into a kind of mire of indecision:
 "No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low.
That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right, that is I think it's not too bad." 
and
"Always, no sometimes, think it's me, but you know I know when it's a dream.
I think I know I mean a 'Yes' but it's all wrong, that is I think I disagree."

Strawberry Field, Liverpool

But the most amazing thing about this record is the way that the very recording of the song reflects John Lennon's indecision. Did you know that the record is made from two completely different takes spliced together? If you listen carefully here at about the one minute point you can clearly hear the miraculous job that engineer Geoff Emmerick and producer George Martin have done. They had two recordings at different speeds and in different keys which they achieved by slightly slowing one down and speeding the other one up. This matched the speed and altered the pitch and it was all done with a pair of scissors and two tape machines!

Postscript: Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was in the middle of producing their album Smile when he heard the Sergeant Pepper album being played on the radio in his car. He pulled up at the side of the road and listened to the whole of the record. He immediately stopped work on Smile and did not go back to it for decades. I wonder what he thought.

Also, years later, George Martin said that it was an awful mistake not including Strawberry Fields and Penny lane on the album because they were the foundation of the concept that generated it. However, the Beatles had a policy of not including single releases on albums.

Painting of the Month (34) October 2012: John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925   On The Verandah (Ironbound Island, Maine)
Painted c.1920-22
Apologies to those four people who commented that they couldn't see the picture. I tried to fix it and accidentally deleted the whole post! So I have re-written it from memory. Doh!

This watercolour and pencil painting is of Dwight Blaney and his family at their summer home on Ironbound Island which is nestled in the coast of Maine and is only about two miles by one mile wide. Blaney was a fellow artist and a friend of John Singer Sargent. Also in the painting are his wife Edith and his daughters Elizabeth, left, and Margaret.

It is an unusual composition because the two central figures face outwards from the picture and a strong X is formed by the perspective.

The painting is not regarded as one of his best works and is not much regarded at all but I like it very much. It is charming and presents the viewer with a picture of domestic bliss and tranquility

The painting was probably made very quickly and is really almost a sketch but it is beautiful as we see Blaney relaxing with a pipe while his wife and daughters are sewing or embroidering. I especially like the depiction of the trees between the first and second pillars. Only a few dabs of paint but very effective. The 'palette' that the artist uses (that is to say the range of colours) is very cohesive and relies mainly on pale pastel colours.

London Monopoly (14): Fleet Street

This is the 14th part of my tour around the London Monopoly Board.

'Prince Henry's Room' at 17 Fleet Street, London. In the 12th century this site was the property of The Knights Templars. It is one of the few Fleet Street structures to have survived the Great Fire of London in 1666

In the UK, and possibly further afield, Fleet Street is synonymous with the Newspaper Industry. There are nine national daily newspapers and they have massive circulation

and readership figures. The best-selling Sun has over seven million readers. (In the USA the best selling paper is The Wall Street Journal with just over two million). But now the papers have all moved out to more modern locations in London's Docklands. The area is now mainly occupied by members of the legal profession.

The River Fleet now runs underground along the course of Fleet Street but it was formerly open to the skies.

An associate of William Caxton, one of the inventors of printing, was the first to publish there around 1500 but the street existed long before that. He had the brilliant name of Wynkyn de Worde (I kid you not!)

Fleet Street is a continuation of The Strand (see the previous post in this series).

Fleet Street. I guess this would be at the turn of the 20th century.

Finally, for clarity, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (as portrayed by Johnny Depp in 2007) is a fictional character. That means that, contrary to widespread belief, he didn't exist!

 

My Heroes (37): Isaac Albeniz

Isaac Albeniz 1860 - 1909. A little flamboyant don't you think?

Isaac Albeniz was a Spanish pianist and composer who died at the early age of 48 (from a kidney ailment known at the time as Bright's Disease). I was once a student of the classical guitar and came to his music through the many transcriptions of his piano music for the guitar. Transcription is when a piece of music written for one instrument is arranged and notated for another.

My two favourite pieces are Granada from the Suite Española and the Tango in D and here are links to piano and guitar versions of both where one can see how well they work for the guitar.

Granada for piano (there are better versions but this is the best I could find on You Tube). I'm not sure who plays this.

Granada for guitar played by John Williams.

Tango in D for piano. Again, I don't know who the pianist is.

Tango in D for guitar played by John Williams again.

And for a final treat see what this wonderful young musician does with the Tango in D!

Spotlight on a Website (7): New Scientist

 

New Scientist is an excellent magazine if you have any interest at all in science. I am sure we all like free stuff on the Internet and there is lots of free reading at the New Scientist site. Some stories will suddenly ask you to subscribe if you want to read on, of course, but that's fair enough. I really like the broad range of topics and the lightness of touch they often have with 'heavy' subjects. Their topic areas include Space, Technology, Health, Life, Physics and Society. You can register for free to get a newsletter and more access or subscribe for full access and 20 years of archived articles. Interestingly, one does not necessarily have to have a deep understanding of science to get great benefit and enjoyment from this source although sometimes you will find yourself out of your depth (probably). If you go to the site please let me know what you think. Happy reading!

Painting of the Month Sept 2012: Cezanne

Paul Cezanne painted Mont Saint-Victoire, in Provence, more than 60 times and found something new to say about it on every occasion. Although the four examples above are quite different from each other they are all instantly recognised as being by this greatest of modern artists. Please just enjoy them - you don't need to know anything else about the paintings. Long-time readers of this Blog may notice that Cezanne has featured in my Painting of the Month series several times before and so has Mont Saint-Victoire; obviously I can't get enough of it!

You can see some more versions here.

London Monopoly (13): The Strand

Continuing my tour around the London Monopoly board with the first property in the red set.

Somerset House, The Strand

The next place on the London Monopoly board after Vine Street (the previous post in this series) is 'Free Parking' but as there is very little free parking anywhere in London I will move straight on to The Strand. Properly, this street is simply named 'Strand' but it is always called The Strand.

Remarkably it's name was first recorded in the year 1002 as Strondway and there were also references to the street from the seventh century. It was part of a route used by the Romans to join what is now the City of London (Roman Londinium) to the Palace of Westminster. So, a major London route for at least two thousand years.
It runs from Trafalgar Square to Fleet Street and one of it's most interesting buildings is Somerset House, an important eighteenth century piece of British archaeological heritage. The forecourt of Somerset House, shown above, is turned into a public ice-rink most winters. The Courtauld Institute one of Britain's many world-class free art galleries is located there.

There is currently a free photographic exhibition of the first 50 years of the Rolling Stones on display at Somerset House

Fiona Pitt-Kethley

Fiona Pitt-Kethley is an idiosyncratic poet whose work I have always enjoyed. I don't really need to comment further on this one.....

Song of the Nymphomaniac 

 Fiona Pitt-Kethley

From Baffin Bay down to Tasmania
I’ve preached and practised nymphomania,
Had gentlemen of all complexions,
All with varying erections:
Coalmen, miners, metallurgists,
Gurus, wizards, thaumaturgists,
Aerial artists, roustabouts,
Recidivists and down-and-outs,
Salesmen, agents, wheeler-dealers,
Dieticians, nurses, healers,
Surgeons, coroners and doctors,
Academics, profs and proctors,
Butchers, bakers, candle-makers,
Airmen, soldiers, poodlefakers,
Able seamen, captains, stokers,
Tax-inspectors, traders, brokers,
Preachers, canons, rural deans,
Bandy cowboys fed on beans,
Civil-servants, politicians,
Taxidermists and morticians.
I like them young, I like them old,
I like them hot, I like them cold.
Yet, I’m no tart, no easy lay –
My name is Death. We’ll meet one day. 
 
‘Song of the Nymphomaniac’ is included in Fiona Pitt-Kethley’s Selected Poems (Salt Publishing, 2008).

.....OK so I decided to comment further.You may have been chuckling as the list grew longer but I bet you were stunned by the last line!