Author: Andrea Watson

  • The mural maze – graffiti,  art or advertising?

    The mural maze – graffiti, art or advertising?

    Across London, colourful murals in all manner of styles from bright graffiti to verdant jungles are appearing on walls and houses, many painted to order. And it’s not just in the East End. Dover Street Market in Mayfair just celebrated its 15th birthday with a work by the Russian artist Pokras Lampas. Other commemorative murals […]

  • Seychelles are paradise found for property buyers

    Seychelles are paradise found for property buyers

    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose tiny North Island in the Indian Ocean for their honeymoon in 2011. The ripple effect of that visit has been a blessing for property owners in the Seychelles. At the Eden Bleu marina on Mahe, one of the three main islands in the archipelago, some owners have doubled […]

  • The $12million Mantegna sketch and other 2020 art events

    The $12million Mantegna sketch and other 2020 art events

    A pen and ink sketch by the Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna, currently on tour, is to be offered for sale by Sotheby’s New York on January 29th. The preparatory drawing for a painting in the Triumphs of Caesar series belonging to the Royal Collection and now in Hampton Court Palace, is one of only 20 […]

  • The esoteric sculptural world of Conrad Shawcross

    The esoteric sculptural world of Conrad Shawcross

    CHELSEA BARRACKS – The beginning of an artistic legacy By Andrea Marechal Watson ‘Poetry and Sculpture exist to keep our passions alive’ the Irish poet W.B Yeats used to tell his fellow students. At Chelsea Barracks a series of inscriptions bring together these two pillars of the fine arts. The Chelsea Barracks Frieze takes the […]

  • Food for thought – five of the best autumn art shows

    Food for thought – five of the best autumn art shows

    Last Supper in Pompeii When Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, the people of Pompeii were doing what Romans loved best – eating, drinking and producing food from the many kitchen gardens and vineyards serving the city. Last Supper in Pompeii explores this ancient Italian love affair through exquisite mosaics, wall paintings, statues and objects, many […]

  • William Morris…Victorian wallpaper maker and anarchist

    William Morris…Victorian wallpaper maker and anarchist

    You’d be forgiven for thinking that the designs of William Morris – his trellises and willows and honeysuckles – are a little out-of-date and irrelevant. Popular designs like Strawberry Thief adorn cushions and mugs but do they really fit the modern interior? Surprisingly, not only have these botanical themes made a massive comeback but Morris […]

  • Crossing continents with Vastu – how Indian beliefs are changing homes

    Crossing continents with Vastu – how Indian beliefs are changing homes

    Centred on a haunted house in the suburbs of Mumbai, the Indian horror film Vaastu Shastra takes its title from ancient Vedic principles of architecture. The plot involves a young family who move to their new home with an old banyan tree in the garden. As the film rapidly descends into gore and nonsense, we […]

  • Billionaire who can’t give up work because he signed the Giving Pledge

    Billionaire who can’t give up work because he signed the Giving Pledge

    The rich are famously time poor. But with P.N.C. Menon, the billionaire founder of Sobha Realty, it’s not like that. The Indian-born property mogul, who recently opened an office in Park Lane, Mayfair (ironically in premises vacated by Foxtons) lives up to the image of a “suited yogi” and seem genuinely time rich as we […]

  • Extinction Rebellion’s home invasion

    Extinction Rebellion’s home invasion

    Is the botanical trend in interiors a response to climate change? From bees and butterflies to pandas and marine creatures botanically inspired interiors are the cult look. It is ironic given that some people say we’ve only about a decade left before the climate apocalypse kicks in. But what the hell, put a bee on […]

  • Liquid gold – rare whisky sells for £1million but is it an asset  bubble?

    Liquid gold – rare whisky sells for £1million but is it an asset bubble?

    Rare Scotch malts race ahead in luxury investors index