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Patrick Procktor
Patrick Procktor (12 March 1936 – 29 August 2003) was a British painter and printmaker. Early life Patrick Procktor was born in Dublin, the younger son of an oil company accountant, but moved to London when his father died in 1940. From the age of 10, he attended Highgate School – where his teachers included landscape painter Kyffin Williams – intending to read classics at university. However, his mother's income was insufficient to fund his further education and after a period working with a north London builders' merchants 18-year-old Procktor was conscripted into the Royal Navy where, during his National Service, he learned to speak Russian. Professional artist Subsequently, while working as a Russian interpreter with the British Council, Procktor began to paint and draw in his spare time, and was accepted by the Slade School of Fine Art in 1958. There he was influenced by artists including William Coldstream and Keith Vaughan, developing a dark, figurative painting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Langan
Langan's Brasserie is a restaurant situated on Stratton Street in Mayfair, London. Opened by the Irish entrepreneur Peter Langan on 20 October 1976 in partnership with the actor Michael Caine, the Brasserie (which had previously housed the ornate restaurant ''Le Coq d'Or'') quickly attracted celebrities and became hugely successful. Langan's Brasserie remains one of the most popular restaurants in London today. History Peter Langan (who gave his name to the Brasserie) was born in Republic of Ireland, Ireland in 1941. After moving to England in the early 1960s, Langan began his catering career working at Odin's restaurant at 26 Devonshire Street. Langan had been lodging nearby to Odin's and when the proprietor, James Benson, was killed in an accident in 1966, he took over the kitchen for Benson's wife, Kirsten. Langan transformed Odin's in both its style of cuisine and its decor. Patrick Procktor, an artist who lived near and later married Kirsten Benson, provided a number of wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brief period he shocked, outraged, and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies. The adjective ''Ortonesque'' refers to work characterised by a similarly dark yet farcical cynicism. Early life Orton was born on 1 January 1933 at Causeway Lane Maternity Hospital, Leicester, to William Arthur Orton and Elsie Mary Orton (née Bentley). William worked for Leicester County Borough Council as a gardener and Elsie worked in the local footwear industry until tuberculosis cost her a lung. At the time of Joe's birth William and Mary were living with William's family at 261 Avenue Road Extension in Clarendon Park, Leicester. The same year that Joe's younger brother Douglas was born, 1935, the Ortons moved to 9 Fayrhurst Road on the Saffron Lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Portrait Gallery (London)
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it opened in 1856. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery (London), National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then. The National Portrait Gallery also has regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire and Montacute House in Somerset. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, with which its remit overlaps. The gallery is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Collection The gallery houses portraits of historically important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist. The collection includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre. Early life and education Beaton was born on 14 January 1904 in Hampstead, north London, the son of Ernest Walter Hardy Beaton (1867–1936), a prosperous timber merchant, and his wife, Esther "Etty" Sisson (1872–1962). His grandfather, Walter Hardy Beaton (1841–1904), had founded the family business of "Beaton Brothers Timber Merchants and Agents", and his father followed into the business. Ernest Beaton was an amateur actor and met his wife, Cecil's mother Esther ("Etty"), when playing the lead in a play. She was the daughter of a Cumbrian blacksmith named Joseph Sisson and had come to London to visit her married sister. Ernest and Etty Beaton had four children – Cecil; two daughters, Nancy Elizabeth Louise Hardy Beaton (190 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon (28 October 1909 – 28 April 1992) was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. Rejecting various classifications of his work, Bacon said he strove to render "the brutality of fact." He built up a reputation as one of the giants of contemporary art with his unique style. Bacon said that he saw images "in series", and his work, which numbers in the region of 590 extant paintings along with many others he destroyed,Harrison, Martin.Out of the Black Cavern. Christie's. Retrieved 4 November 201Archivedon 11 November 2019 typically focused on a single subject for sustained periods, often in triptych or diptych formats. His output can be broadly described as sequences or variations on single motifs; including the 1930s Picasso-infl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home in Northwood, Middlesex, England, the son of Elizabeth Evelyn (''née'' Puttock) and Lancelot Elworthy Jarman. His father was a Royal Air Force officer, born in New Zealand. After a prep school education at Hordle House School, Jarman went on to board at Canford School in Dorset and from 1960 studied at King's College London. This was followed by four years at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (UCL), starting in 1963. He had a studio at Butler's Wharf, London, in the 1970s. Jarman was outspoken about homosexuality, his public fight for gay rights, and his personal struggle with AIDS. On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive and discussed his condition in public. His illness prompted him to move to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it merged with the boroughs of Metropolitan Borough of Westminster, Westminster and Metropolitan Borough of Paddington, Paddington to form the new City of Westminster in 1965. Marylebone station lies two miles north-west of Charing Cross. History Marylebone was originally an Civil parish#ancient parishes, Ancient Parish formed to serve the manors (landholdings) of Lileston (in the west, which gives its name to modern Lisson Grove) and Tyburn in the east. The parish is likely to have been in place since at least the twelfth century and will have used the boundaries of the pre-existing manors. The boundaries of the parish were consistent from the late twelfth century to the creation of the Metropolitan Borough which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Moves
''Blue Moves'' is the eleventh studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released in October 1976. It was John's second double album (after ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'') and the first to be released by his own label, Rocket Records Ltd. The album reached number 3 in the US charts, ending a long streak of chart-topping albums for John that began with ''Honky Château'' in 1972. Background Having completed what he described as a "gruelling American tour", John gave only a handful of performances at the time of release, and later announced (during a charity concert at Wembley Arena the following year), "I haven't been touring for a long time. It's been a painful decision, whether to come back on the road or not... I've made a decision tonight – this is going to be the last show... There's a lot more to me than playing on the road." He accordingly left the touring/live performing scene for a brief period. Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, James Newton Howard and Roger Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 31 albums since 1969. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967, John is acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s, and his lasting impact on the music industry. John's music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was raised in the Pinner suburb of London and learned to play piano at an early age, forming the blues band Bluesology in 1962. After leaving Bluesology in 1967 to embark on a solo career, John met Taupin after they both answered an advert for songwriters. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Gwinnutt
David Gwinnutt (born 1961) is a British photographer, artist and designer who was part of London's 1980s club scene. His work is known for its intimate nature, revealing an unseen side to his subjects, which are drawn from London's art world and queer scene. He has photographed amongst others, Quentin Crisp, Derek Jarman, Gilbert and George, Leigh Bowery Edmund White, Maggie Hambling, Rupert Everett and John Schlesinger Career The Fine Art Society gave Gwinnutt his first major solo exhibition, ''The Visitor'', in 2000. A mini retrospective of his photographic portraits from the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibition was the cover story for the Saturday Magazine of The Independent. Many of the world's leading publications have featured Gwinnutt's portraits, including ''The Independent'', ''Interview Magazine'', ''Vogue'', ''The Face'', ''Le Figaro'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'', ''Gay Times'', ''Tatler'' and ''The Evening Standard''. Twenty one of his portraits are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
