Roland Penrose – Frames of Reference

Retreat & Rebellion

Two Temple Place is a neo-Gothic mansion on the north bank of the Thames, east of Somerset House on Victoria Embankment in London. It was built in Early Elizabethan style, entirely of Portland stone, for William Waldorf Astor in 1895. On the roof, there is a gilded weather vane, a model of the Santa Maria in which Columbus discovered America; the Union Jack flies from the flagpole and beside the gate hangs a wrought iron bulldog. Since 2011 the house has been managed by The Bulldog Trust as a venue for exhibitions of publicly owned art from regional UK collections. Continue reading “Retreat & Rebellion”

A Short Diversion

Driving to work the other day I was diverted from my normal course and led to discover the Isokon building. I’d never seen it before but instantly it seemed familiar and true, as if it were an archetype, elegant and beautiful, the epitome of 1930s utopian modernism. Continue reading “A Short Diversion”

Farley Farm House

We left the main road at Cross in Hand then down the back lanes to Chiddingly, an enchanting drive through the woods, alternately dappled with jewelled light sparkling through the leaves or dark and gloomy in sunken, narrow holloways, and always the threat of encountering oncoming traffic around the next bend of the single track road. It was an adventure even before we arrived. Continue reading “Farley Farm House”