New Biography of Pevsner Wins Award

Thursday 29th December 2011

A new biography of Sir Niklaus Pevsner has just won the prestigious Apollo Magazine “Book of the Year” award for 2011. Susie Harries’s Niklaus Pevsner: The Life, published by Chatto & Windus (£30) has attracted wide admiration for its balanced account of the great architectural historian’s life and work, not least his monumental achievement in publishing the magisterial “Buildings of England”, the county by county guide to all that is best in English architecture, issued between 1951 and 1974. These are now gradually being updated and a splendid example of this process is the recent (Sept. 2011) volume on Cheshire, edited by Clare Hartwell and Matthew Hyde, the perfect companion to our visit, Houses & Gardens of Cheshire, 10 – 15 June, 2012.

Zoffany: Favoured Royal Portraitist at last done Justice!

Thursday 29th December 2011

Johann Zoffany (1733 – 1810) is one of the most important painters from the reign of George III. Much patronised by the Royal Family, he went on to have a career full of ups and downs, including a spell in India. A marvellous new biography of the artist, Johann Zoffany, by Mary Webster, published by Yale University Press (£75) has received universal praise. Luckily for us, his life’s work will be celebrated with a wonderful exhibition which will open at the Royal Academy on 10 March, closing 6 June, 2012. Organised by Martin Postle, who also edits the catalogue, Johann Zofanny R.A. Society Observed, again published by Yale (£40), it offers a shorter overview of the artist’s career. Spectacular loans from the Royal Collection and other private sources will make this one of the highlights of the 2012 exhibition season. Tom Duncan will lead a Study Day on Zoffany in London, to include a visit to the exhibition, on 21 May, 2012.