Art and Architecture, mainly

The first part of his post comes from Alexander Lee. The second part reflects my own experiences. Falafel is an archetypical Middle Eastern dish. Made from ground fava beans, chickpeas or both, these deep-fried balls are a staple of Levantine cuisine...

Judith beheading Holofernes (c1607) was accidentally found in a manky Toul­ouse attic in 2014. Burglars had broke into the house, but they left the painting, believing it worthless! It remained a secret for another two years!! But since then, Judith...

Horatio Nelson (1758–1805)’s first long sea-voyage as an adolescent boy was to the Jamaican sugar colonies of the West Indies in 1771-2. He served in the region as a Naval officer during the War of American Indep­end­ence (1775–83). This was...

In art, lit­erature and music, Paris had long been the home of the avant-garde and by 1900, the city was still dominant. The ambitious 1900 Intern­ational Exhibition only reinforced Paris’ importance. Some of Paris' most noted structures were bui...

I have always liked the idea of an artist’s work being shown in the family home that the artist once lived in. Consider, for example, Rembrandt’s home in Amsterdam, Durer’s home in Nuremberg or Ruben’s home in Antwerp. The idea of a house-mus...

Eddie's Kosher Travel is offering a tour that combines my great loves – early modern architecture, British history, synagogues and Scottish whisky (not necessarily in that order). There will be two options for the tour, from 16th Jun-20th Jun 2019...

Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was born in a poor, black slum in St Louis Illinois in 1906. Her young mother Carrie had hoped to be a music hall dancer but she was forced to take in laundry instead. She was of mixed ethnic background: Native American/Af...