The Irish playright George Bernard Shaw, photographed 119 years ago, at the age of 51. I have cleaned and enhanced this very striking Autochrome portrait by Alvin Langdon Coburn, taken in colour in 1907 via the Lumiere brother's newly-patented colour glass-plate process.
I met David Hockney at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1993. The Pissarro exhibition was also showing.
He graciously gave me his autograph. A precious memory.
RAISING THE FLAG FOR THE FALKLANDS
On Sunday, 14th June, 2026, on the Plymouth Hoe Promenade, the 'Raising Of The Flag' will mark the 44th anniversary of Liberation for the Falklands.
The Argentine invaders surrendered to British forces on 14th June, 1982, and the day is celebrated in the Falkland Islands as Liberation Day.
The Falklands were freed after an unprovoked Argentine invasion—and its commander, General Mario Menéndez, surrendered to British forces at Stanley, marking the end of the war in the South Atlantic.
You can watch the poignant ceremony live on our webcams from 10:30am with the armed forces, veterans, and the Royal British Legion around the Belvedere flagpole.
https://t.co/Y8XYpl6ZgZ
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We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of artist David Hockney.
In 2018, David Hockney designed The Queen’s Window, a vibrant stained-glass window in the Abbey’s north transept.
Hockney's only work in stained glass, the window was commissioned to celebrate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed on an iPad and uses Hockney's distinct colour palette of yellow, red, blue, pink, orange and green. The rural scene, featuring hawthorn blossom, was chosen to reflect the Queen's deep love of the countryside. On summer evenings, the light from the window floods the transept, bathing it in a beautiful kaleidoscope of colour.
The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle MBE said:
“David Hockney's restless eye and eager enthusiasm for pastures new has left us with an extraordinary legacy that is rich and various and yet also unmistakably his. The window he created for the north transept lets in light that arrives with attitude and even humour, painting the statue of Gladstone in shifting shades throughout the summer months. Hockney has left his mark here and we will long remember a great and very personal genius.”
I met Hockney at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1993, the Pissarro exhibition was showing at the same time. He graciously gave me his autograph.
A precious memory.
#OnThisDay in 1940, William Lashly, leading stoker of Scott's British National Antarctic 'Discovery' 1901-1904 and British Antarctic 'Terra Nova' 1910-1913 Expeditions, died in the Royal Hospital, Portsmouth.
Lashly was born in Hambledon, a village in Hampshire, England in 1867. He joined the Royal Navy in 1899, at age 21.
During the 'Terra Nova' Expedition, Lashly took part in a number of sledging journeys and was part of a group of three, along with Tom Crean and Edward Evans, that turned back 160 miles from the Pole after Scott didn't select them for the final push. On their return to base, Evans's health deteriorated to such a point that Lashly and Crean had to pull him on a sledge. They decided that Lashly would stay with Evans who was close to death, while Crean fetched help. Lashly and Crean were awarded the Albert Medal for their roles in saving the life of Evans.
Lashly was also a member of the party which discovered the bodies of Scott, Bowers and Wilson in the tent along with the diary of Scott which recorded the details of what had happened.
📸 William Lashly November 1911, Photographer: Herbert Ponting. Reference Number: PA1-f-067-086-4, Alexander Turnbull Library.
#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica
Good Morning
John Constable (1776-1837 )
‘The Hay Wain’
Not my usual posting but it’s marking 250 years of his birth.
Popular painting.
Growing up in the 50/60s lots of friends parents had a copy on the wall. Woolworths probably sold it!
In the National Gallery now
9 June 1836. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was born in London. She was 1st English woman to legally qualify as a doctor in England. She was also the 1st woman to hold the role of Lord Mayor in UK and the 1st to establish a hospital staffed purely by women.
Early women pioneers of climbing such as Lucy Walker, the first woman to summit the notorious Matterhorn mountain in 1871 all wore skirts on their climbs..... #WomensArt
The National Trust says the decision was "not taken lightly" to fell the red oak tree at the Saltram estate in Plymouth: https://t.co/0bszcQvNgb
📸 National Trust
#otd Whit Monday 1549, after the murder of William Hellions in Sampford Courtenay, Devon men joined those of Cornwall in the ‘prayer book rebellion’.
Katherine Astley’s cousin, uncle and brother were involved in suppressing the uprising.
#devonhistory
"People sometimes tell me that they prefer barbarism to civilisation. I doubt if they have given it a long enough trial."
- Episode One 'The Skin of our Teeth', Civilisation, Lord Kenneth Clark.