Visual & Decorative Arts Blog

Mr Turner, a new movie about beloved classic British artist J.M.W. Turner has been one of the breakout successes of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, with lead actor Timothy Spall winning the award for Best Actor. The movie explores the real person behind the legendary landscape painter, an eccentric man from humble beginnings. Let us take a look back at the life of the man which inspired this film…

Image via wikipedia

April 23 marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare – the most renowned playwright the world has ever known. The Royal Shakespeare Company are marking the celebrations by hosting a question and answer session with artistic director Gregory Doran live on Twitter, as well as a weekend full of pageantry and performances.

2014 marks the centenary anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. In the early twentieth century before the invention of the telephone and television, the poster, originating in late nineteenth century France, successfully promoted commercial advertisements. From the onset of the ‘Great War’ with Germany in August 1914, for Britain and her Allies the poster became the most effective form of mass communication. Poster propaganda was utilised nationally and locally: to recruit, to boost morale, to raise funds, encourage thrift and support the war. Below we'll take a closer look at recruitment WW1 posters and how they encouraged men to enlist.

February 23 marked the anniversary of the death of beloved British artist and creator of matchstick men Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976). Lowry wanted to paint the realities of the modern city – people on their way to work, fights on the street – a real insight into 20th century working class life.

'Anyone who sees and paints the sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilised'
Adolf Hitler

A hugely influential artist, Paul Klee eludes classification. His art appeals to our primary instincts and makes us look beyond the ordinary. He was influenced by many things in his life, from his musical parents to his travels and his family, and we take a look at some of those inspirations below.

Have you opened the first few doors in your advent calendar yet? As of last Sunday, December 1^st, 2013, the Christmas season will have officially begun. Children and adults alike will begin the celebration together, as they pull out their traditional advent calendars and begin the countdown to Christmas Day. Though they grace our walls and fill our mornings with the opening a new door each time we wake, the origins of the calendar remain a mystery to the average individual. If you fall under this category, look no further! You are about to become well versed in the tradition of the advent calendar.

Gustav Klimt is one of the most popular and celebrated art nouveau artists. His works are instantly recognisable and his golden paintings, such as the incredibly popular The Kiss, are perfect for our beautifully foiled luxury notebooks and iphone cases. Here's some background information on the man himself as well as a more in-depth look at The Kiss.

Our art calendars have been taking a lot of my focus recently, and today I've been working on our Illuminated Manuscripts wall calendar for 2015. (Yes I know, we're looking that far ahead already!) Having just seen how beautifully the 2014 calendar has turned out, we decided there was too much scope not to do it again for 2015 (and we didn't need much persuading). The artwork is stunning, and the history behind them is just as fascinating.