Pre-Raphaelites and Italy at The Asmolean

TonyOX3

I went to see the “Pre-Raphaelites and Italy” Exhibition at the Ashmolean yesterday. I’m not a great fan of the Pre-Raphs, generally preferring Rothko to Ruskin, Miro to Millais, Bacon to Burne-Jones, Hockney and Hopper to Holman Hunt. But some good friends were keen so I went along with an open mind. Maybe my superficial knowledge of these artists could be replaced by an informed appreciation that they have more going for them than finely detailed paintings which make nice stationery and table mats.

Ruskin – The Baptistry, Florence

The exhibition is as specific as the title implies, concentrating exclusively on this group of artists’ work inspired by their love of (some might say obsession with) classical Italian art and architecture. Ruskin’s influence is everywhere, both in his own drawings and paintings and those of his friends whom he despatched to Venice, Rome and Florence with instructions to copy pictures and draw buildings before they suffered further dilapidation. His own early pictures on display show stylised and static figures with expressionless faces. The detailed architectural drawings and watercolours he and they produced show impressive draughtsmanship but are too ‘photographic’ to excite as works of art.

Burne-Jones – Music
The draughtsmanship carries through into to the more familiar paintings, including Rossetti’s near the end of the exhibition. I can admire the fine detail but still the figures are expressionless and the compositions static. I find nothing there to demand my attention and involve me in the picture, nothing to inspire or challenge or make me think.

I’m pleased to say though that I did find three paintings I liked and will remember, by two artists whose names I didn’t know before. Two panoramic landscapes by John Brett, one of Florence and one of Capri, impressed me with the way he captured evening light on the hills in the background (though the classical foreground of the Capri rather detracted from the effect). The third was a delightful landscape of the Venetian Lagoon by John Inchbold.

Inchbold – The Lagoon, Venice

So I know more about the Pre-Raphaelites than I did but I haven’t really changed my mind about them. I think they must have been dreadful luvvies. I wonder if their popularity owes as much to their not-so-private lives, romantic or sordid depending on your point of view, as to their painting.

Leaving the exhibition takes you into the shop where catalogues, academic and popular books and Pre-Raphaelite themed merchandise are on sale. I bought a fridge magnet.

The exhibition runs until 5 December

Let them eat cake

TonyOX3

This isn’t going to be much of a rant – more of an injunction to Waitrose to get their act together. It concerns bread. Fresh, brown, unsliced bread to be precise. For those who don’t know, Waitrose sells three types of large brown loaf: Heyford (£1.69), Organic Tin (£1.45), and Long Tin (£1.25) (the prices may differ by a few pence). We buy the cheapest when it’s available and the organic otherwise. We never buy the Heyford as it’s too expensive for what it is, and makes far too many crumbs!

Here’s the problem. These loaves are sold from the shelves in identical brown bags with a transparent panel. The bags are unlabelled and there’s no bar code on them so the checkout staff have to identify the loaf at the till. Their computer screen shows them pictures of loaves but sometimes not all the varieties appear, and even when they do it can’t be that easy to distinguish the different types from the thumbnail images. Here they are from the Waitrose website with my labels – spot the difference!

Out of the last seven times we’ve bought one of these loaves, six times the loaf has been checked through the till as Heyford, the most expensive and probably the first to show up on the till screen. The error seems to be consistently this way and in the shop’s favour. At over 40p more than the long tin, that would have been £2.40 we’d have been overcharged if we hadn’t been alert and asked for a correction. It’s not the checkout staff’s fault, although they could ask if they’re not sure, but I don’t think it’s really their job in a work environment where the barcode rules. Waitrose should get one of their suited management staff around the shop to sort out a simple way of identifying the bread. I suggest a sticky label with a barcode.

So caveat emptor. If you buy this bread (and maybe others, I don’t know) watch out to see you’re not overcharged.

Charity

TonyOX3

As ethnic shops and restaurants are to the Cowley Road, so charity shops are to Headington. In an idle 10 minutes I decided to count them.

London Road, North side

  • Cancer Research UK
  • Oxfam
  • Sobell House Hospice

London Road, South side

  • British Heart Foundation
  • Clic Sargent
  • Marie Curie Cancer Care
  • Cancer Research UK (again)

Windmill Road

  • Helen & Douglas House

So the answer is 8. I think I would have guessed one or two more. But why so many? Is it just the proximity of the hospitals? Or something to do with rents?