Rakewell
Melodic moments at the National Gallery
The gallery is paying homage to the famous wartime concerts organised by Myra Hess with a series of performances – with no audiences, alas
From pelle melle to the London Marathon – sports days in St James’s Park
As runners in the London Marathon prepare to make 19 loops of St James’s Park, Rakewell delves into the sporting provenance of the park
A palace for your pooch
It’s the mutt-see show of the year (if you’re a dog) – an architectural playground just for you (again, if you’re a dog) at Japan House London
Own your own Oval Office
If you’ve ever wanted to play president, now you can – if you have a few dollars spare to buy a replica of the Oval Office at Bonhams in October
Picking up the tabby – the T.S. Eliot estate helps out the Brontë Parsonage Museum
The T.S. Eliot estate has donated £20,000 to help keep the Brontë Parsonage Museum open. Rakewell wonders what the Brontë sisters would have made of ‘Cats’
Marina Abramovic stars in an opera about Maria Callas – but doesn’t sing
Rakewell is disappointed not to hear the performance artist’s pipes in her new project at the Bavarian State Opera
Woe logo – the Osaka Expo goes googly-eyed
For the 2025 World Expo, the host city of Osaka has plumped for a bafflingly blobby logo
How to dress like an L.S. Lowry painting
A Manchester-based menswear designer has launched a shirt inspired by Lowry – and decorated with his ‘matchstick’ figures
Swallows and Amazons for ever!
Rakewell is lured back to childhood by the promise of Swallows and Amazons memorabilia and mischief at Windermere Jetty Museum
Art the drive-in – the museum turned motorcade in Rotterdam
The Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam has launched a drive-thru exhibition – and it’s not the only culture you can see by car this summer, says Rakewell
Dressing for a pandemic, Picasso-style
The future of fashion may not be the most pressing concern but it’s hard not to fear the worst
Goya for gastronomes – and Donald Trump
The Trumps have a soft spot for Goya Foods, it seems – which sets Rakewell wondering whether the brand could make more of its painterly associations
Field work – is it time Mike Leigh made a film about crop circles?
Film fans can only hope that the director will turn his interest in these mysterious patterns to practical effect
Pray silence for… the return of roller coasters
Rakewell celebrates the return of roller coasters – with no screaming allowed – by looking back at some of the earliest white knuckle rides
Pinting by numbers – a paean to the pub
While Apollo’s roving correspondent is more than ready to go to the pub, he can’t help wondering if it will all end in Hogarthian tears
Obstructing views of Tower Bridge
A development that would have impinged on Tower Bridge has landed Robert Jenrick in hot water – so Rakewell digs up some classic views of the landmark
George Eliot and the monuments madmen
The statue of George Eliot in Nuneaton has attracted some unlikely ‘defenders’
Winston Churchill in a box
Churchill’s statue on Parliament Square is currently boxed up but, given his attitude to portraits, perhaps Churchill himself wouldn’t mind
I spy with my little eye… a cultural tour of Killing Eve
What is it about art and espionage? The spies and assassins of BBC America’s hit show have sophisticated tastes in meeting venues
Chris Grayling, culture vulture – and NPG trustee
The former transport secretary has been appointed as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery – so he must be a museum fanatic, right?
Peter Crouch, Michelangelo and the Sixteen Chapel
The former England striker is keen to stage an exhibition of photos of Roy Keane – and has strong opinions about the arrogance of most art galleries
The punchy paintings of Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers gave action painting a new spin in a sketch with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in 1965
The museums offering remedies for Zoom gloom
Fed up with video calls, Rakewell finds light relief in teleporting himself (if only) to Waddesdon Manor and the Met
Performing Dr. Seuss – from Michelle Obama to Dr. Dre
Celebrities have often performed Dr. Seuss to kids to extol the benefits of reading – but should they have rapped through the books instead?
Pilgrims’ progress? The Vatican Jubilee has frustrated Romans and tourists alike