Happy New Year!

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Welcome to Cassone 2013.

In May we will be two years old, and ahead of us is a year in which we will feature all kinds of beautiful, stimulating and interesting art. 2012 was a highly successful year for British art exhibitions, with Tate Modern alone attracting a record 5.3 million visitors. This is the highest ever figure for a calendar year in its history, and the figure was up 9.5% on the previous year. Tate Britain also had a good year with 1.53 million visitors coming through its doors in 2012, a 4.3% increase on the figure for the same period in 2011. Of course, the London Festival 2012, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, contributed to this success, but the public voted with its feet and went to see exhibitions such as  ‘Damien Hirst’,  ‘Edvard Munch’, and ‘The Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde’.

So what will 2013 be giving us? A small selection has ‘Manet’ at the Royal Academy, at Tate Britain ‘Lichtenstein: A Retrospective’, and later ‘Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life’. At the Courtauld ‘Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901’, and‘Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man’ at Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyrood House. What do we have for you as we enter 2013? Shudder at the exhibition ‘Doctors and Dissection’ at the Museum of London, delight in the theatricality of the art of ‘Edward Hopper’ at the exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris and the sheer painterliness of Soutine's work at the Musée de l'Orangerie, and look at contemporary practice and the influence of artistic precedent in the photography exhibition ‘Seduced by Art’ at the National Gallery. The Festival of Britain was a real shot in the arm for war-torn Britain in 1951 – Veronica  Davies reviews a new book on that exciting event.

 Larry Silver has been most impressed by the beautiful new volume on The Book of Kells – he tells us that the original is a 'rock star' among mediaeval manuscripts and this new publication with commentary by Bernard Meehan reveals its beauty and fascination.

Student readers new to Cassone should see our article (October 2011) on books recommended for your studies  by top professors and lecturers.

Ros Ormiston visited both parts of the Frieze Art Fair in London and tells us that the organizers of the new Frieze Masters had ‘a sophisticated approach to this inaugural Fair for historical art’. She also tells us that at the end of the last day of the established and successful Frieze Art Fair, 55,000 visitors had passed through its doors, with record sales listed.

We have an interview with the young portrait artist Crispin Robjent, whose talent belies his age. Pop artist Alex Katz is at the other end of the age spectrum. Jeff Fendall saw the Alex Katz exhibition at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, and talked to the artist.

The Pre-Raphaelites aren’t to everyone’s taste but for aficionados Darrelyn Gunzburg says that the exhibition at Tate Britain, ‘Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant Garde’, ‘is a glorious gathering not to be missed’.  Mark White writes on an unusual show that presents paintings by two artists working 400 years apart, Lucien Freud and Annibale Carracci. Gilly Turney went to the Fashion and Textile museum to see an exhibition which was the inspiration for her Perspectives piece on Pop culture. She says of Pop culture that: ‘It exploded onto the British way of life like nothing else. It influenced everything – art, fashion, music, interiors – and changed the way we lived forever.’

Throughout history artists have tackled difficult, controversial themes. This year’s Liverpool Biennial looked at immigration from the days of slavery to the present, under the theme of ‘The unexpected guest’. Susan Noyes Platt visited the city and has sent us her report.

Boxing Day, 26 December, used to be the traditional time for  families to choose their holiday destination and to inspire you we have two museums in sunny climes, the Galdiano Museum in Madrid, and the Palazzo Falson in Malta.

If you are looking for a Christmas present that has ageless appeal you should read Jenny Kingsley’s piece on the lustrous world of pearls, probably my favourite jewel. Each one is a unique gift of nature, which lends itself to the jewellery designer’s art. They are said to flatter every woman’s skin tone – so there’s another Christmas present idea.

Looking for a good read to spend that cash present on? Find out how the British gained (and lost) their art collections, discover the legacy British sculptors left in India, and how important the circus was to Pablo Picasso. Lovers of Country Life magazine will enjoy a new book on the man who did much to shape the magazine in the early years of the 20th century: Edwardian Country Life: The Story of H. Avray Tipping. Human beings were fascinated by flight for centuries before it became possible for us, and artists were no exception, as Flight and the Artistic Imagination explores. The photography of Gregory Crewdson has a certain creepy and unsettling quality – those who think Christmas is a time for the uncanny will love a new book on his work.

Don’t forget to look at our Art News section throughout the month as more items are added to it. New readers have all the wealth of articles in our Archive to read and enjoy. Any questions? Take a look at our FAQs or send us an email.

We have a few things to add to the magazine in January and a whole fresh contents list for February – meanwhile, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Cassone team to wish all our readers a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.

Happy Holidays to you all.