English Heritage Blue Plaques

This Week in London – Trafalgar Square Christmas tree to light up; new location for returning Sir John Tenniel plaque; and, Chinese crafts at the V&A…

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• The lights will be turned on the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree tonight. This year marks the 78th anniversary of the gift of the first Christmas tree to the people of London from the Norwegian city of Oslo in acknowledgement of the support Britain gave to Norway during World War II. The festivities will include the choir of St-Martin-in-the-Fields singing some well known Christmas carols to music led by the Regent Hall Band of the Salvation Army, the reading of a poem written by children who live in Westminster, a display by The Corps of Drums from the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood and a performance by Det Norske Jentekor, The Norwegian Girls’ Choir, conducted by Anne Karin Sundal-Ask. Festivities start at 5pm and the lights switch on at 6pm. The tree will be in the square until 5th January after which it will be recycled. You can follow the tree on Instagram at  @TrafalgarTree, on TikTok at @TrafalgarTree, and on X at @TrafalgarTree.

• A Blue Plaque commemorating Alice in Wonderland illustrator and political cartoonist Sir John Tenniel has been returned to London’s streets – but to a different location than that where it was first positioned. The plaque, which is actually jade-green and white, was originally unveiled by the London County Council in 1930 at Tenniel’s longtime Maida Vale home (the colour was due to the request of the house-holder). But following its removal when the house was demolished in 1959, the plaque was so damaged that its destruction was authorised. But this wasn’t carried out and the plaque, which features an early “wreathed” design, has been in storage since. Following restoration, however, it has now been relocated to a new home – a property at 52 Fitz-George Avenue in West Kensington where Tenniel spent the final years of his life.

Figure from the ‘Century Doll’ series, glazed porcelain, by Yao Yongkang, 2004, Jingdezhen, China

• The first major UK exhibition exploring contemporary studio crafts in China is on now at the V&A South Kensington. Dimensions: Contemporary Chinese Studio Crafts features more than 80 objects including almost 50 new acquisitions and puts a spotlight on “contemporary and modern makers who build upon longstanding tradition to reinvent ancient practices, pioneer alternative techniques, and develop new channels for self-expression”. Many of the objects – displayed in the China and Ceramics galleries – sit in dialogue alongside permanent displays of historic Chinese craftsmanship. Highlights include large scale works such as Lin Fanglu’s She’s Bestowed Love (2025), that transforms intricate tie-dye practices into a monumental textile sculpture, more delicate pieces such as Zhang Huimin’s Golden Mammary 4 (2025), a brooch produced by pushing the boundary of filigree in a reinvention of traditional practice, a wall hanging by pioneering artist of studio pottery Tan Chang, as well as works by the three potters who were the first to be exhibited in China under the mantle of ‘modern ceramics’: Mei Wending, Zeng Li and Zeng Peng. Runs until 27th September next year. Free admission. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/dimensions-contemporary-chinese-studio-crafts.

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This Week in London – The first Lady Mayor’s Show; Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ at the National Portrait Gallery; and, Audrey Hepburn’s Blue Plaque…

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The State Coach at the Royal Courts of Justice in the 2013 Lord Mayor’s Show. PICTURE: S Pinter/iStockphoto.

• The Lord Mayor’s Show – or this year, for the first time in its 800 year history, the Lady Mayor’s Show – takes place on Saturday as Dame Susan Langley is celebrated as the City of London’s 697th Lord Mayor of London. Langley, who takes office at Guildhall on Friday in the ancient ‘Silent Ceremony’, is the third woman to hold the role and the first to adopt the title “Lady Mayor”. The more than three mile-long procession, which kicks off at 11am, features around 7,000 participants, 200 horses and more than 50 decorated floats and travels from the Mansion House, the official mayoral residence, through the City to the Royal Courts of Justice, via St Paul’s Cathedral, before returning. The centrepiece as always is the State Coach carrying the Lady Mayor as she fulfills the dual purpose of showing herself to residents and swearing allegiance to the crown. For more – including details of the procession’s route, head to https://lordmayorsshow.london/.

• The first exhibition dedicated to the work of 18th century artist Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ opens at The National Gallery tomorrow. Wright of Derby: From the Shadows focuses on his career between 1765 and 1773 when he created his candlelight series. On show are a number of works from this series including Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight (1765), A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun (1766), and the gallery’s own An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768). Mezzotint prints of Wright’s works – key to the establishment of his international reputation – will also be on display. The exhibition, in the Sunley Room, runs until 10th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/wright-of-derby-from-the-shadows.

• Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque on her former home in Mayfair. The plaque at 65 South Audley Street was where Hepburn lived in a flat with her mother between 1949 to 1954 as she launched her career as an actor. It was from here that she travelled to the West End to perform in chorus lines, appeared in British films such as 1951’s The Lavender Hill Mob and while living here that she was cast as the lead in Gigi on Broadway – a key stepping stone towards her breakthrough performance in 1953’s Roman Holiday. Hepburn was born in Brussels but had strong ties to London, training at the Ballet Rambert and working as a dancer and model before moving on to acting. Of course, as well as Roman Holiday, Hepburn performed notable roles Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady, and Charade. She later dedicated herself to humanitarian work, serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly before her death in 1993. For more on English Heritage Blue Plaques, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

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10 World War II memorials commemorating Londoners…7. First V1 rocket to strike London…

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The first V1 rocket attack on London took place in June, 1944, and resulted in six deaths and 30 injuries.

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This Week in London – New V&A East Storehouse opens this weekend; novelist Barbara Pym honoured with a Blue Plaque; and, new children’s mudlarking trail at London Museum Docklands…

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Visitors in the central Weston Collections Hall at V&A East Storehouse, a working store and new visitor attraction from the V&A located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, opening this Saturday, 31st May. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media Ass

• The V&A East Storehouse opens to the public for the first time in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this Saturday. The venue features more than 100 mini-displays centred on the themes of ‘Collecting Stories’, ‘Sourcebook for Design’ and ‘The Working Museum’ and boasting more than 1,500 items from across the V&A’s collections with works by Hew Locke, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebskind and Thomas Heatherwick’s London 2012 Olympic cauldron model among those featured. A massive 11-metre-wide stage cloth designed by Pablo Picasso for the Ballets Russes’ 1924 production, Le Train Bleu, will be displayed for first time in more than 10 years while among large scale objects are a section of the now-demolished housing estate, Robin Hood Gardens, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office – the only Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside of the US. Anyone can book access to any object in the storehouse for free via the ‘Order an Object’ process and the venue is also hosting a series of live events including back2back: Archival Bodies, and new programming strand, A Life in the Work of Others – featuring Turner-Prize-winning artist, Jasleen Kaur. Admission to the Storehouse at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, is free. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/east.

Visitors looking at a two-storey section of Robin Hood Gardens, at V&A East Storehouse, a working store and new visitor attraction from the V&A located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, opening this Saturday, 31st May. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media Assignme

• The home where novelist Barbara Pym began writing her celebrated 1952 novel Excellent Women has been given an English Heritage Blue Plaque. Pym lived at the second floor flat at 108 Cambridge Street in Pimlico with her sister Hilary between November 1945 to autumn 1949. It was from a corner room, overlooking Warwick Square and St Gabriel’s Church, that she meticulously recorded her observations, and laid the groundwork for her distinctive literary voice. Her work during this period also included revising the text for her first published novel, Some Tame Gazelle (1950). In March, three more Blue Plaques were unveiled commemorating women: Una Marson (1905–1965), the BBC’s first Black woman producer at The Mansions, Mill Lane in West Hampstead where she lived from at least 1939 to 1943; and, Rhoda Garrett (1841–1882) and Agnes Garrett (1845–1935), at 2 Gower Street in Bloomsbury where they founded Britain’s first female-run interior-decorating business. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• A free family trail inspired by Jessie Burton’s new children’s book, Hidden Treasure, has launched at the London Museum Docklands. Inspired by the tale of two young mudlarks, the trail takes families on a journey around the museum’s galleries to learn more about centuries of life by the river. It’s aimed at children under 12-years-old, who also have free entry into the museum’s mudlarking exhibition, Secrets of the Thames. For more, see www.londonmuseum.org.uk.

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This Week in London – The Charles Dickens Museum celebrates 100 years; activist Olive Morris commemorated; and, ‘The Story of Soldier Magazine’…

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The Charles Dickens Museum. PICTURE: Courtesy of Google Maps

• The Charles Dickens Museum, located in the author’s former home at 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury, is marking its centenary this year, and to celebrate the occasion, it’s holding a special exhibition of highlights from its collection. The museum, which first opened its doors on 9th June, 1925, has brought together everything from Dickens’ hairbrush, walking stick and only surviving suit through to portraits and photographs made during his lifetime as well as original manuscripts, letters to his family and friends and rare first editions. The exhibition runs on 29th June. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://dickensmuseum.com/.

• Housing rights campaigner and activist Olive Morris has been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque in Brixton. Jamaican-born Morris (1952-1979), who dedicated her life to helping the oppressed and exploited, hosted Black women’s study groups and lived as a squatter at the three storey property at 121 Ralston Road in the 1970s. She was a significant figure in the British Black Panther movement, co-founded the Brixton Black Women’s Group and the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent in 1978, and was one of the “Old Bailey three” who were acquitted after being prosecuted over a protest outside the Old Bailey, winning the right to a fair representation of Black people on the jury during the court proceedings. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• Soldier magazine, the official magazine of the British Army, is marking its 80th anniversary with an exhibition ay the National Army Museum. The Story of Soldier Magazine charts the publication’s history from March, 1945, when it was launched by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, through the role it’s played in covering every major conflict since as well as the issues shaping military life. Runs until 6th July. Admission is free. For more, see https://www.nam.ac.uk.

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This Week in London – Theatre and Performance at the V&A; blue plaque for Diana Beck; and, the Royal Academy celebrates Michael Craig-Martin…

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The V&A in South Kensington. PICTURE: graham chandler (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

• The V&A in South Kensington is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Theatre and Performance collections with Enthoven Unboxed: 100 Years of Collecting Performance, which opened last weekend. The exhibition commemorates the 1924 donation of more than 80,000 playbills, programmes, and ephemera from collector, humanitarian, and campaigner Gabrielle Enthoven. Highlights among the objects on display include John Pasch’s artwork featuring the original Rolling Stones tongue and lips, a pair of semi-quaver spectacles worn by Elton John during his 1981-2 British and world tours, a self-portrait bust by 18th century actress Sarah Siddons, a set model designed by Misty Buckley for Stormzy’s headline set at Glastonbury Festival in 2019, and, a prompt script used by Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag in the West End. The free display can be seen in the Theatre and Performance Galleries (Rooms 103-106) until 4th January. For more., see www.vam.ac.uk,

• Diana Beck, the first female neurosurgeon in Britain, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. Unveiled earlier this month, the plaque marks the site of her former home and consulting rooms at 53 Wimpole Street in Marylebone. Beck lived at the property from 1948 to 1954, a period during which she created and ran a neurosurgical department at Middlesex Hospital. It was also during this period that Beck operated on her most famous patient – Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne, who had suffered a stroke in 1952. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/

Michael Craig-Martin, ‘Common History: Conference, 1999’. Acrylic on aluminium, 274.3 x 508 cm. Gagosian, London © Michael Craig-Martin. Image courtesy of Gagosian

• The largest retrospective of the work of artist (and Royal Academician) Michael Craig-Martin has opens at the Royal Academy on Saturday. The exhibition in Royal Academy’s Main Galleries features more than 120 works spanning the period from the 1960s through to today and includes sculpture, installation, painting and drawing, as well as works newly created for the display. Among the highlights are the installations On the Table (1970) and An Oak Tree (1973), the large scale wall drawing in tape, Interlocked (MoMA project 1990) and the large scale painting Eye of the Storm (2003) as well as his depictions of single objects and word paintings. The exhibition runs until 10tH December. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

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This Week in London – Photographers honoured with Blue Plaques; David Hockney meets Piero dell Francesca; and ‘Taylor on Strings’ at Wembley Park…

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• Two pioneering photographers are being commemorated with English Heritage Blue Plaques today. Christina Broom (1862-1939) is believed to have been Britain’s first female press photographer while John Thomson (1837-1921) was a ground-breaking photo-journalist working at the advent of the medium. Broom’s plaque – the first to be located in Fulham – is being placed on 92 Munster Road, a terraced house of 1896, where she lived and worked for 26 years. Thomson’s plaque, meanwhile, will be located at what is now 15 Effra Road in Brixton where he and his family were living when one of his best-known and influential works, Street Life in London (1877-8), was published. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

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‘My Parents’ (1977), David Hockney/© David Hockney. Photo: Tate, London

• Two of David Hockney’s key works – My Parents (1977) and Looking at Pictures on a Screen (1977) – which feature reproductions of 15th-century Italian painter Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ (probably about 1437–45) have gone on display alongside the Renaissance work at The National Gallery. Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look explores Hockney’s “lifelong association” with the National Gallery and its collections, particularly in the works of Piero della Francesca (1415/20–1492). Hockney once confessed that he would love to have The Baptism of Christ so he could look at it for an hour each day. My Parents features a reproduction of Piero’s work shown reflected in a mirror on a trolley behind the sitters while Looking at Pictures on a Screen depicts Hockney’s friend Henry Geldzahler, the Belgian-born American curator of 20th-century art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, peering at a folding screen in the artist’s studio on which are stuck four posters of National Gallery pictures including The Baptism of Christ. The display in Room 46 is free. Runs until 27th October. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk.

The City String Ensemble. PICTURE: Catherine Frawley

• Experience a prelude of Taylor Swift at Wembley Park with with City String Ensemble playing more than a dozen interpretations of Taylor Swift songs. The free open air concert comes ahead of Swift’s return to Wembley Stadium later this month. ‘Taylor on Strings’ will be held at the Sound Shell from 6:30pm on 13th August. Tickets are free but must be booked with 30 released at 10am each day in the lead-up to the concert. For more, head to wembleypark.com/taylor-on-strings.

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This Week in London – Celebrating Tower Bridge’s 130th; Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Iris Murdoch honoured; modern art in Ukraine; and, Michael Rosen’ illustrators…

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PICTURE: Sung Shin/Unsplash

• Tower Bridge marks its 130th birthday this year and to mark the event, the London Metropolitan Archives are hosting a free exhibition charting its history at the City of London’s Heritage Gallery. Designed by Horace Jones, the bridge opened on 30th June, 1894, and the display reflects on the splendour of that royal event as well as examining how and why the bridge was built, the engineering involved and how the bridge played a role in defending London during World War I. The exhibition runs until 19th September at the gallery, located in the Guildhall Art Gallery. Booking tickets is recommended. For more, see https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/tower-bridge-at-the-heritage-gallery.

• Actor Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Dublin-born novelist Iris Murdoch have been honoured with English Heritage Blue Plaques. A leading figure in 20th century theatre, Dame Peggy has been remembered with a plaque on her childhood home in South Croydon. It was in what was then a “leafy market town” that at the age of 13 Peggy first dreamt of performing on the stage while standing outside the local grocers on George Street and to which she returned in 1962 to open a theatre named after her. The plaque honouring Murdoch, meanwhile, has been placed on 29 Cornwall Gardens, part of a Italianate stucco-fronted mid-Victorian terrace in Kensington where she occupied a top floor flat. Murdoch lived in London for more than 25 years and during that time would spend three days a week in the flat. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/

Alexandra Exter, ‘Three Female Figures’, 1909-10Oil on canvas, 63 x 60 cmNational Art Museum of Ukraine

• The most comprehensive UK exhibition to date of modern art in Ukraine opens at the Royal Academy on Saturday. In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s, features some 65 works, many on loan from the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine. Artists represented in the display, which is divided into six sections, include such renowned names as Alexander Archipenko, Sonia Delaunay, Alexandra Exter and Kazymyr Malevych as well as lesser-known artists such as Mykhailo Boichuk, Oleksandr Bohomazov and Vasyl Yermilov. Runs in the The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries until 13th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

• The work of artists who have illustrated Michael Rosen’s many books for children are the subject of a new exhibition at the Heath Robinson Museum. Michael Rosen: The Illustrators explores Rosen’s books and the many artists who illustrated them over his 50 year career including the likes of Quentin Blake, Helen Oxenbury, Chris Riddell and Korky Paul. Among the works on show are original drawings for titles including We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen’s Sad Book and Michael Rosen’s Book of Nonsense! Runs until 22nd September. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org/.

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This Week in London – Impressionists on paper; Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant honoured with a Blue Plaque; new Burnham Beeches history app; and, young artists celebrated on London billboards…

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Claude Monet, ‘Cliffs at Etretat: The Needle Rock and Porte d’Aval’, c 1885. National Galleries of Scotland.

• A new exhibition exploring how Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists in late 19th-century France radically transformed the status of works on paper opens at the Royal Academy on Friday. Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec features around 80 works on paper by artists including Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Eva Gonzalès, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Odilon Redon, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Vincent van Gogh. Among the highlights are Degas’ Woman at a Window (1870-71), van Gogh’s The Fortifications of Paris with Houses (1887), Monet’s Cliffs at Etretat: The Needle Rock and Porte d’Aval (c1885) and Toulouse-Lautrec’s images of the urban underworld of Montmartre. The display can be seen in The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries until 10th March. Admission charges apply. For more, see royalacademy.org.uk.

• English Heritage have unveiled their final Blue Plaque for 2023 and it celebrates two of the most influential painters of the early-to-mid 20th century, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. The plaque was unveiled at number 46 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, from where the Bloomsbury Group – of which Bell and Grant were leading members – drew its name. Bell first lived at number 46 with her siblings, including Virginia Stephen (later Woolf), and, in 1914, Grant moved in with Vanessa and her husband, Clive Bell. Paintings the pair made at number 46 include Grant’s Interior at Gordon Square (c1915) and Bell’s Apples: 46 Gordon Square (c1909-10), a still-recognisable view from the drawing-room balcony to the square. For more on the English Heritage Blue Plaques scheme, head to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• The history of Burnham Beeches has been brought to life with a new augmented reality app. The app allows users to superimpose periods of Burnham Beeches’ history – from the Iron Age, Middle Ages and World War II – over what they see when visiting the site and incorporates sounds from selected era as well. It can be accessed via a QR code which is being published on signs at Burnham Beeches. Burnham Beeches, located near the village of Burnham in Buckinghamshire, was acquired by the City of London in 1880 when the area was threatened by development and is managed as a free open space. For more, head here.

• The work of 30 young artists celebrating African community and culture is being showcased on billboards across the city in conjunction with Tate Modern’s current exhibition, A World in Common. The photographs have been selected following a call from the Tate Collective for 16-to-25-year-olds to submit images responding to the exhibition. More than 100 entries were submitted by young people based across the UK and beyond and Londoners will be able to view the 30 shortlisted works on billboards in Haringey, Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets over the next two weeks.

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This Week in London – English Heritage unveils 1000th Blue Plaque; Chris Ofili’s ‘Requiem’ at Tate Britain; and, Astronomy Photographer of the Year…

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• English Heritage has unveiled its 1000th Blue Plaque in London. The plaque – located on a three storey building at number 1, Robert Street in Westminster – marks the former London headquarters of the suffragist organisation, the Women’s Freedom League. The league, which was formed in 1907, worked out of the building between 1908 and 1915 – its most active period. The blue plaques scheme has been running for more than 150 years and honours everyone from John Keats and Charles Dickens to Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

Chris Ofili, ‘Requiem’, 2023 (detail) commissioned for Tate Britain’s north staircase
© Chris Ofili. Courtesy the artist. PICTURE: Thierry Bal

• A major new work by Chris Ofili commemorating fellow artist Khadija Saye and the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in which Saye died, has gone on display at the Tate Britain in Millbank.  Requiem, a site-specific work which is shown across three walls, is described as a “journey through an imagined landscape of giant skies with vast horizons and flowing water” which unfolds in three chapters. Ofili says that when making the work, he recalled the feelings he had when creating No Woman, No Cry in 1998 as a tribute to murdered Black teenager Stephen Lawrence and his mother Doreen. “That feeling of injustice has returned,” he said. “I wanted to make a work in tribute to Khadija Saye. Remembering the Grenfell Tower fire, I hope that the mural will continue to speak across time to our collective sadness.” For more, see  tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain.

• The Astronomy Photographer of the Year display has opened at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich featuring the competition’s winning image, Andromeda. The picture, the work of Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty, depicts a huge plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy. Other winners include two 14-year-old boys from China – Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang – who won the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award for The Running Chicken Nebula as well as Argentinian Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau who won the ‘Our Sun’ category for A Sun Question which captures a huge filament in the shape of a question mark, China’s Angel An, who won the ‘Skyscapes’ category for Grand Cosmic Fireworks – a photograph of the extremely rare phenomenon of atmospheric luminescence, and the UK’s John White who won the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation for Black Echo which used audio source material from NASA’s Chandra Sonification Project, to visually capture the sound of the black hole at the centre of the Perseus Galaxy. For more, see www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto.

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This Week in London – George III pocket watch at heart of new exhibition; Tommy Flowers honoured; and, Sara Shamma at Dulwich…

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A gold pocket watch made for King George III. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Clockmakers’ Museum/Science Museum

• A new display featuring timepieces by one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, Abraham-Louis Breguet, opens in Clockmakers’ Museum at the Science Museum on Tuesday. Marking the bicentenary of Breguet’s death on 17th September, 1823, Abraham-Louis Breguet: The English Connection features 25 items seldom seen in public before. They include an exceptionally rare gold four-minute tourbillon pocket watch made for George III in 1808, a ‘Simple à 2 aiguilles equation’ pocket watch made for politician Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick of Attingham, and, a gilt bronze carriage clock ‘Pendule de voyage petite’ which originally belonged to Robert Henry Herbert, the 12th Earl Pembroke. The museum is located on level 2 of the Science Museum. Entry is free. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/clocks.

• An electrical engineer whose ground-breaking work in engineering culminated in the creation of the world’s first ever large-scale programmable digital computer has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The plaque is located at the former workplace of Tommy Flowers at Chartwell Court, in Dollis Hill. Now flats, the property was the former Post Office Research Station where Flowers designed, built and tested the computer known as ‘Colossus’. Flowers, who spent a brief period at Bletchley Park working the code-breakers in 1941, successfully demonstrated Colossus at the research station in 1943 after just 11 months of work. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/. Meanwhile, news this week that the UK Government, inspired by London’s Blue Plaques, is introducing a national blue plaques scheme. Historic England will work together with English Heritage, local partners, and current plaque schemes to develop and roll out the national programme.

• Artist Sara Shamma’s thought-provoking interpretations of works by artists including Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Lely, Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens go on display at Dulwich Picture Gallery from Saturday. With a focus on women, Bold Spirits addresses themes including identity, death, motherhood and unexpected beauty. Runs until 25th February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.

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This Week in London – London Design Biennale; canal wildlife; a suffragette princess honoured; and, the ‘Polar Silk Road’ explored…

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The Indian Pavilion at the London Design Biennale. PICTURE: Courtesy of London Design Biennale.

• The almost month-long London Design Biennale kicks off at Somerset House today under the theme of ‘The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations’. The fourth edition of the biennale is artistically directed by the Nieuwe Instituut – the Dutch national museum and institute for architecture, design and digital culture – and takes over the entirety of Somerset House. Among the exhibits is the India pavilion (pictured above) featuring a multi-sensory evocation of the essence of a contemporary Indian city chowk – an open market at the junction of streets – through the visual metaphor of a charpai – a traditional woven daybed, Malta’s large-scale ‘village-square’ installation that merges traditional city planning with the Phoenician-Maltese tradition of fabric production and dyeing of the multiple colours of Phoenician purple, the Ukrainian Pavilion which features am interior construction symbolising the country’s industrial, natural resource, and creative richness and a series of external projects which tell stories about new design collaborations in times of crisis for Ukraine and the vital role of design in creating new progressive connections. There’s also the chance to see the Ai-Da Robot, the world’s first humanoid robot artist, which will make history by showing her unique ability to design objects. Running alongside is the EUREKA exhibition which will share design-led innovation from leading research centres. Runs until 25th June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/london-design-biennale-eureka-2023.

London canal wildlife. PICTURES: Courtesy of the London Canal Museum

• A new exhibition highlighting the flora and fauna of London’s canals has opened at the London Canal Museum in King’s Cross. Many of the canals were derelict by the end of the 20th century but have received a new lease of life in recent times as leisure destinations. These days, they provide a “highway” for fauna including birds, fish and mammals to move in and out of the capital, some of which is showcased in this new display. Entry with general admission and for an extra fee, guided narrowboat trips along The Regent’s Canal are available on selected days. For more, see www.canalmuseum.org.uk.

• Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a suffragette, daughter of the last Maharajah of the Punjab, and god-daughter to Queen Victoria, has been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The plaque marks Faraday House in Hampton Court, granted to the princess and her sisters as a grace and favour apartment by Queen Victoria. Also known as ‘Apartment 41’, the property – which was named after scientist Michael Faraday – was home to Princess Sophia for more than 40 years and her base when she was campaigning for women’s suffrage. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

North Warning System III, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, 2020. PICTURE: © Gregor Sailer

• The ‘Polar Silk Road’ – a channel opened up thanks to melting Arctic Sea ice – is the subject of a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum. Gregor Sailer: The Polar Silk Road features 67 photographs taken by acclaimed Austrian artist and photographer Gregor Sailer showcasing manmade structures – from isolated research centres to Icelandic geothermal power stations – captured across four countries in the Arctic circle. There’s also a short film discussing the impacts of the climate crisis. The exhibition is free to visit. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/the-polar-silk-road.html.

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This Week in London – Three of London’s oldest charters on show and other coronation celebrations; Sir Christopher Wren’s life explored; and, a Pre-Raphaelite model and artist honoured…

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• Three of the City of London’s oldest charters go on display at the City of London Heritage Gallery on Saturday as part of a series of events commemorating the coronation of King Charles III. On display will be the William Charter, which, drawn up in 1067 following the coronation of King William the Conqueror, was the earliest known royal document in Europe to guarantee the collective rights of all people in a town and not just a select few. Also to be seen is the Shrievalty Charter, which, issued by King John in 1199, confirms the rights of Londoners to elect their own sheriffs, and the Mayoralty Charter, which, also issued by King John – this time in 1215, confirmed that the Mayor of London could also chosen by Londoners with the proviso that they were publicly presented. Visitors can also see the beautifully illustrated Cartae Antiquae which records charters and statutes covering laws enacted from the reign of Edward III (1327 onwards) to the accession of Henry VII in 1485 and was used as an essential reference tool by City officials, as well as prints of the 19th century coronations of Queen Victoria, King William IV and King George IV. Admission is free but booking is recommended. Runs until 5th October. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/heritage-gallery-exhibition.

St Paul’s Cathedral PICTURE: Vinay Datla/Unsplash

• Other events marking the coronation kick off in the City of London in the coming week. Among the extensive list of activities is a pop-up well-being garden in Seething Lane where you can pose for pictures with a floral crown installation, a guided walking tour of the City entitled ‘1000 Years of Royalty – the Best, the Worst and the Very Horribilus’, and a “Cockney knees-up” with Pearly King and Pearly Prince at Leadenhall Market. For more details and the full list of events, head to www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/coronation.

• A new exhibition commemorating the expansive career of Sir Christopher Wren opens today in St Paul’s Cathedral – the extraordinary building designed by Wren to replace the medieval cathedral destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 Part of a series of events marking the 300th anniversary of the death of Sir Christopher in 1723, Sir Christopher Wren: The Quest for Knowledge explores not only his early life and career as an architect but also his lesser-known contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy and physiology. The display, located in the north aisle of the crypt, features drawings, photographs and objects from the cathedral’s collections. Entry to the exhibition is included in general admission. For more, see www.stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/exhibition-christopher-wren-quest-for-knowledge.

• The Pre-Raphaelite model and artist, Marie Spartali Stillman, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at what was her family home in Battersea. It was while living at The Shrubbery – a 1770s Grade II-listed property now located on Lavender Gardens – that Stillman first modelled for Pre-Raphaelite artists. Tutored by Ford Madox Brown, she went on to become one of a small number of professional women artists in the late 19th century, creating more than 150 works over a period spanning 50 years. Stillman is the first female Pre-Raphaelite artist and one of only very few female artists to receive a Blue Plaque. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

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This Week in London – St Patrick’s Day returns; London’s first female mayor and Welsh thinker honoured with Blue Plaques; and, ‘Seeing the Light’ at the Foundling Museum…

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PICTURE: Svetlanais/iStockphoto.

• London’s annual St Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Sunday with more than 50,000 people expected to take part. The festivities will kick off at noon with a spectacular parade featuring Irish marching bands, dancers and pageantry which will wind its way from Green Park through Piccadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square. From noon until 6pm, Trafalgar Square will feature performances from the likes of Sharon Shannon & Band, Celaviedmai, The Craicheads, Celtic Youth Orchestra, Biblecode Sunday’s, and AIS as well as the Maguire O’Shea School of Dance and spoken word artist Leon Dunne. There will also be family-friendly workshops run by Irish youth creative programme Junk Kouture, a selection of food and drinks stalls including demonstrations by celebrity chef Anna Haugh and stalls where you can learn about Irish culture and community staffed by representatives of the Irish Cultural Centre, London Irish Centre, Irish in Britain, Irish Film London and London Gaelic Athletic Association. For more, check out www.london.gov.uk/events/st-patricks-festival-2023.

• London’s first female mayor, Ada Salter, and Welsh philosopher and preacher Dr Richard Price have both been honoured with English Heritage Blue Plaques. A social reformer and activist, Salter became mayor of Bermondsey in 1922 and so became the first female mayor of a London borough as well as the first Labour woman to be elected as a mayor in Britain. The plaque has been placed on 149 Lower Road in Rotherhithe, the Women’s House of the Bermondsey Settlement where Salter lived in the late 1890s. Price, meanwhile, is considered to be one of the greatest Welsh thinkers of all time and, as well as a preacher and philosopher, was also a pioneer of actuarial science. A plaque has been placed on a red brick house at 54 Newington Green which dates from 1658 and is believed to be the oldest surviving terrace in London. Price, who was born 300 years ago this year, lived in the house from 1758 to 1787 and while there wrote letters to the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson with whom he enjoyed close friendships. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• Joseph Wright’s painting A Philosopher Giving That Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp is Put in Place of the Sun has gone on show at the Foundling Museum. The painting is at the heart of Seeing the Light, an exhibition which explores the connections between Wright, who hailed from Derby, his large network of friends and acquaintances, and key people in the Foundling Hospital’s history as well as objects in the museum’s collection. This includes the story of the founding of the Lunar Society. Admission charge applies. Runs until 4th June. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/seeing-the-light/.

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London Explained – English Heritage’s Blue Plaques…

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Walk the streets of London and chances are you’ll soon come across an English Heritage Blue Plaque commemorating someone famous.

There are now more than 990 Blue Plaques in London, commemorating everyone from diarist Samuel Pepys to writer Virginia Woolf and comedian Tony Hancock.

An English Heritage Blue Plaque commemorating singer and actor Paul Robson. PICTURE: Brett Jordan/Unsplash

The scheme was started in 1866 by the Society of Arts (later the Royal Society of Arts) having been proposed by MP William Ewart three years before. The first two plaques were erected in 1867 – one commemorating poet Lord Byron at his birthplace, 24 Holles Street in Cavendish Square (although this property was later demolished) and the other commemorating Napoleon III in King Street, Westminster (this is now the oldest survivor of the scheme).

Thirty-five years – and 35 plaques – later, the London County Council took over the scheme. It was this body that standardised the plaque’s appearance (early plaques come in various shapes and colours) and while ceramic blue plaques were standard by 1921, the modern simplified Blue Plaque didn’t appear until 1938 when an unnamed student at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, who was paid just four guineas for their troubles, came up with what is now an iconic design.

In 1965, the LCC, having created almost 250 new Blue Plaques, was abolished and its successor, the Greater London Council, took over the scheme, expanding its area of coverage to includes places like Richmond, Redbridge and Croydon. In 1984, the GLC appointed artisan ceramicists Frank and Sue Ashworth of London Plaques to make the Blue Plaques (and they continue to do so).

The GLC placed some 262 Blue Plaques before, in 1986, English Heritage took over management of the scheme. Since then it’s placed more than 360 plaques.

The plaques, which are 495mm (19½ inches) in diameter and 50mm (two inches) thick, are slightly domed in a bid to encourage self-cleaning in the rain.

Anyone can propose a subject for a new plaque – but generally only one plaque is erected per person (although there have been some exceptions to this), only a maximum of two plaques are allowed per building (there are 18 buildings with two), and proposals, if turned down, must wait 10 years before they are reconsidered.

In addition, new Blue Plaques are only erected a minimum of 20 years after the subject’s death, the building on which one is placed must “survive in a form that the commemorated person would have recognised, and be visible from a public highway”, and buildings which may have many different personal associations, such as churches, schools and theatres, are not normally considered.

The Blue Plaques panel meet three times a year to decide on proposals. Among those currently serving on the 12 person body are architectural historian Professor William Whyte, who chairs the panel, award-winning journalist and author Mihir Bose, Emily Gee, regional director for London and the South East at Historic England, and, Susie Thornberry, assistant director at Imperial War Museums.

The plaques don’t confer any legal protection to buildings but English Heritage says they can help preserve them through raising awareness.

Recently unveiled plaques have commemorated pioneering social research organisation Mass-Observation, lawyer Hersch Lauterpacht – who played a key role in prosecuting the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials, and, Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian Nationalist and the first Indian to win a popular election to Parliament in the UK. Among those being unveiled this year are plaques commemorating anti-racist activist Claudia Jones, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison and Ada Salter, the first female mayor of a London borough.

English Heritage’s Blue Plaques scheme isn’t the only one commemorating people in London. Others include the City of London’s Blue Plaques scheme (there is only one English Heritage Blue Plaque in the City of London – it commemorates Dr Samuel Johnson), Westminster City Council’s Green Plaques and Heritage Foundation plaques which commemorate figures who worked in entertainment.

For more, head to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

This Week in London – Cameroon celebrated at Kew’s Orchid Festival; anti-racist activist and suffragettes among this year’s Blue Plaque honourees; and, images of Ukraine at IWM…

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Part of the orchids display at Kew Gardens in February, 2022. PICTURE: Adrian Scottow (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

• Kew Garden’s iconic Orchid Festival returns to the Princess of Wales Conservatory this Saturday. This year’s display takes its inspiration from the biodiversity of Cameroon – the first time it has celebrated the flora of an African nation. Highlights include giraffe sculptures and a troop of gorillas as well as arrangements featuring lions and hippos. The festival also includes ‘Orchids After Hours’ with music, food and drink. Runs until 5th March. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.

• English Heritage Blue Plaques honouring anti-racist activist Claudia Jones, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison and Ada Salter, the first female mayor of a London borough, will be among those unveiled in London this year. English Heritage announced this year’s plaques will also honour 20th century violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh – a god-daughter of Queen Victoria and also a suffragette, and Marie Spartali Stillman, a Pre-Raphaelite model who appeared in paintings by the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. For more on the Blue Plaques scheme, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• Images of Ukraine during its conflict with Russia go on show at the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth on Friday. Ukraine: Photographs from the Frontline features images taken by renowned photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind which were taken during her time in Ukraine between 2014 and June, 2022. The exhibition is presented in three sections – the first focusing on the 2014 protests in Kyiv, the second on the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine and the third on Russia’s invasion in February last year. Runs until 8th May. Admission is free. For more, see www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-london-ukraine-exhibition.

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This Week in London – The Lord Mayor’s Show; Mass-Observation remembered; and, modern and contemporary art at the British Museum…

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• The Lord Mayor’s Show will be held this Saturday, 12th November, welcoming the 694th Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Nicholas Lyons, into office. The Show, which dates back to the early 13th century, features more than 6,500 people, 250 horses and more than 130 floats as well as the golden State Coach which has been used to carry the Lord Mayors since as far back as 1757 and is said to be the oldest ceremonial vehicle still in regular use anywhere in the world. The three mile long procession will start passing by Mansion House at 11am and make its way to St Paul’s Cathedral and then head on to the Royal Courts of Justice where the Mayor will swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch, before returning along the Embankment and Victoria Street to Mansion House. For more on the history of the Show and details about the best places to stand, head to https://lordmayorsshow.london.

• The original headquarters of Mass-Observation, a pioneering social research organisation, has been marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The organisation started its worked at the property 6 Grotes Buildings in Blackheath from 1937 until 1939 – by the end of its first year there were around 600 ‘mass observers’ involved in the work, one of the key aims of which was to gauge public opinion on a range of issues to help enable the writing of “a democratic people’s history from below”. During World War II, Mass-Observation worked on behalf of the government and morphed into a market research company in 1949, Mass Observation Ltd, before being incorporated into the British Market Research Bureau. The project was restarted in 1981 at the University of Sussex and continues to this day. For more on English Heritage Blue Plaques, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• A collection of about 100 modern and contemporary artworks on paper have gone on show at the British Museum, part of a larger gift of works donated by London-based art collector Hamish Parker. Art on paper since 1960: the Hamish Parker collection features works by works by the likes of British artist Lucian Freud, French-Israeli artist Avigdor Arikha, American artist Richard Serra and Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi. There are also two “artist in focus” sections which take a more in-depth look at the work of American artists Carroll Dunham and Al Taylor. Runs until 5th March in Gallery 90. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

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This Week in London – Cezanne at the Tate; Freud at The National Gallery; Diwali on the Square; and; a new Blue Plaque…

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Paul Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire (1902-6)/Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gift of Helen Tyson Madeira, 1977.

• A “once-in-a-generation” exhibition of Paul Cezanne’s paintings, watercolours and drawings opened at the Tate Modern this week. The EY Exhibition: Cezanne features around 80 works including key examples of his iconic still life paintings, Provençale landscapes, portraits and bather scenes. There are also more than 20 works which have never been seen in the UK before including The Basket of Apples (c1893, from the The Art Institute of Chicago), Mont Sainte-Victoire (1902-06, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art) and Still Life with Milk Pot, Melon, and Sugar Bowl (1900-06, from a private collection). The display traces Cezanne’s (1839-1906) artistic development and also examines the relationships which were central to his life, particularly that with his wife Marie-Hortense Fiquet and their son Paul, immortalised in paintings such as Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair (c1877) and Portrait of the Artist’s Son (1881-2). Admission charge applies. Runs until 12th March. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

Lucian Freud, Girl with Roses, (1947-8)/Oil on canvas; 105.5 x 74.5 cm
Courtesy of the British Council Collection
© The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/ Bridgeman Images

• A landmark exhibition to make the centenary of the birth of 20th century artist Lucian Freud (1922-2011) has opened at The National Gallery. The Credit Suisse Exhibition – Lucian Freud: New Perspectives is the most significant survey of his paintings in a decade and brings together output from across his seven decade career, everything from early works such as Girl with Roses (1940s) to Two Children (Self-Portrait) (1960s) and famous late works such as The Brigadier (2003–4). The display also shows how Freud positioned himself in the tradition of court painters such as Rubens or Velázquez through works such as HM Queen Elizabeth II (2001). Can be seen in the First Floor Galleries until 22nd January. Admission charge applies but in response to the cost of living crisis, the gallery is allowing visitors on Friday nights to pay as much as or little as they like. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/the-credit-suisse-exhibition-lucian-freud-new-perspectives.

• Diwali on the Square will take place at Trafalgar Square this Sunday. The free annual family-friendly event will open with 200 colourfully dressed dancers in the main square followed by performances from artists drawn from London’s Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities. From 1pm to 7pm, there will also be a host of activities including Neasden Temple’s Diwali Festival Experience, dance workshops, yoga and meditation, sari and turban tying, comedy, a children’s zone, and, henna and face painting. Meanwhile, an array of South Asian food stalls will be serving up delicious traditional and fusion, vegan and vegetarian cuisine.  For full details, head here.

• Lawyer Hersch Lauterpacht, who played a key role in prosecuting the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials and whose belief that states should be held accountable for crimes against their own people led to lasting change in international law, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. Born in what is now Ukraine, Lauterpacht moved to London in 1923, originally to study at the LSE and lived with his family at 103 Walm Lane in Cricklewood for 10 years (it was here that his son Elihu – who went on to be a prominent lawyer himself – was born in 1928 and where Lauterpacht was living when he was naturalised as a British citizen in 1931). For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• Nicholas Lyons was elected as the 694th Lord Mayor of the City of London last week. He succeeds current Lord Mayor Vincent Keaveny and will take office on 11th November for a one-year term.  The annual Lord Mayor’s Show takes place on 12th November, which will be followed by the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on 28th November at Guildhall where the Prime Minister will deliver a keynote speech.

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This Week in London – Matchgirls strike commemorated and the Queen’s coronation at Windsor…

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• The famous matchgirls’ strike at the Bryant and May matchworks in the East End has been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The event, widely recognised as a spur to the New Unionism movement, saw about 1,400 of the predominantly young female workforce walk out in protest at the dismissal of a number of their co-workers in early July, 1888. While some of the details remain unclear, it is thought that the women were probably sacked for giving information to reporters, refusing to sign a statement refuting poor working conditions, or on trumped-up charges of trouble making. The women – whose poor working conditions, including low pay, the imposition of fines and deductions by the company and the dangers of ‘phossy jaw’, were catalogued by journalist Annie Besant – won a famous victory after a three week strike in which almost all their demands were met. Bryant and May also recognised the Union of Women Match Makers which, by the end of 1888, had become the Matchmakers’ Union and admitted both men and women. For more on English Heritage Blue Plaques, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

Curator Caroline de Guitaut puts the finishing touches to the display of the Queen’s Coronation Dress and Robe of Estate in St George’s Hall, Windsor Castle. PICTURE: Royal Collection Trust/All Rights Reserved.

• Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation is the subject of a new exhibition opening at Windsor Castle today. Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Coronation, which focuses on the coronation which took place at Westminster Abbey on 2nd June, 1953, features portraiture, photographs and dress and jewellery worn by the Queen including the Sir Norman Hartnell-designed Coronation Dress, Robe of Estate and the Coronation Necklace and Earrings which were originally made for Queen Victoria in 1858. Also on display are brooches representing the emblems of some Commonwealth countries including a Canadian Maple-leaf Brooch worn by then Princess Elizabeth on her first visit to Canada in 1951, a Flame-Lily Brooch, the emblem of Zimbabwe, which was pinned to the Queen’s mourning clothes when she returned from Kenya after the death of her father in 1952, and the New Zealand Silver Fern Brooch, the Australian Wattle Brooch, and the Sri Lanka Brooch. There’s also a 2.5-metre-tall portrait of the Queen by Sir Herbert James Gunn which was commissioned to commemorate the coronation and a three-quarter length photographic portrait of the Queen taken by Cecil Beaton. Included in general admission. Runs until 26th September. Running in conjunction id a digital event – Royal Jewels: A Platinum Jubilee Celebration – which will be held at 7pm on 28th July in which Caroline de Guitaut, deputy surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art and curator of the Platinum Jubilee display, with join Carol Woolton, former jewellery editor of Vogue in discussing items of The Queen’s jewellery on display at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace this summer. Tickets can be booked at www.rct.uk.

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This Week in London – Charles Jennens at the Foundling Museum; Dr John Conolly’s Blue Plaque; and, Kyōsai at the Royal Academy…

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The Foundling Museum. PICTURE: dvdbramhall (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

• Charles Jennens, who is best-known as the librettist of Handel’s Messiah but was also a patron of the arts, scholar and educator, is the subject of a new exhibition opening at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury on Friday. Charles Jennens: Patron & Polymath features portraits, correspondence and printed documents reflecting the varied interests and achievements of this Georgian character. Jennens was a non-juror – meaning he supported the legitimacy of the deposed Catholic Stuarts – but was also a Protestant. His art collection was one of the best in Britain and his Palladian mansion, Gopsall Hall in Leicestershire, featured a music room with an organ built to Handel’s specifications. Admission charge applies. Runs until 16th October. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/charles-jennens-polymath/.

• Dr John Conolly, an early advocate of human treatments for people living with mental illness and the former Hanwell Asylum have been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. The plaque has been placed on what was the left wing of the asylum and is now part of St Bernard’s Hospital. It was here that Conolly, who was appointed Resident Physician at the Middlesex County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 1839 – then one of the biggest asylums in London, advocated a system of ‘non-restraint’ which, though initially seen as controversial, drew support from reformers and which by 1846 had been embraced as ruling orthodoxy by the then-new national Lunacy Commission. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• On Now: The works of Kawanabe Kyōsai, the most popular Japanese painter of the late 19th century, are on show in the Royal Academy’s Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries. Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection focuses largely on the art of sekiga or ‘spontaneous paintings’ which were produced at ‘calligraphy and painting parties’ (shogakai), often fuelled by prodigious amounts of saké. The display – the first monographic exhibition of Kyōsai’s work in the UK since 1993 – includes around 80 words, many of which have never been exhibited. Admission charge applies. Runs until 19th June. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

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