Invest your time in art

Associated media

September! Children’s school terms start, and here in the northern hemisphere summer is almost over, while ‘downunder’ you still have it to look forward to.

In spite of the knowledge that some wonderful exhibitions are due to open before Christmas one cannot help but feel a little sad for the ending of  summer days. Without a doubt though people always manage to cheer themselves up and one way to do this is to enjoy art, or if you have the means, even invest in art. In a recent study many investors admitted to investing in something because they really liked the asset, and actually having a physical object to hand on to another generation was another motivating facet. A lovely piece of art fits both criteria, and show two reasons why art is one of the top alternatives to traditional investments.

So next time you are in a small out of the way gallery, keep your eyes open, you might be looking at the next big thing in the art world and a sound investment, but only buy if you really love it!

In this issue Roy Clark visited 'Bridge' (on until 2 November at the Museum of London, Docklands) an exhibition based around the bridges of London. Such a show has never been attempted before, but he finds that the museum has got the ‘architectural, social, artistic or economic  impact of these key landmarks’ just right. Jenny Kingsley saw the  exhibition on the life of Virginia Woolf at the National Portrait Gallery (until 26 October), which she says ‘is praiseworthy for the sensitivity and eloquence of the telling and the range of imagery and archival material presented'. Patricia Andrew went to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, to see ‘American Impressionism: A New Vision’  (on until 19 October) This shows the American Impressionists were influenced by their famous French counterparts, and as Patricia says is ‘an extremely beautiful exhibition’.

Vivien Northcote tells us about the Wilson gallery at Cheltenham Spa and one of the first museums to have the foresight to exhibit Rodin’s The Kiss when the bourgeoisie of Lewes in East Sussex said it was too erotic to be exhibited there, the place where it had been commissioned.

David Ecclestone met one of his favourite artists,Thomas Robinson.   He gives us an appreciation of this gifted Norfolk artist who, like Monet, repeatedly paints the same scene, but in Robinson’s case a stretch of Norfolk woodland, rather than France.

Victoria Keller visited 'Men in Armor:  El Greco and Pulzone Face to Face' at The Frick Collection, New York (on  until 26 October). The three Frick El Greco’s will be at the Metropolitan New York’s major exhibition  'El Greco in New York' which opens in November. All the El Greco exhibitions are commemorating the 400th anniversary of the artist’s death.

I interviewed David Batchelor, the artist whose Chromolocomotion hangs Tetris like above St Pancreas station and will be there until later this month.  St Panncras is the fourth leg of London’s rotational public art spaces, alongside the Fourth Plinth Trafalgar Square, Serpentine Gallery and the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.

Do take a look at our book reviews on 'Art and artists', 'Architecture and design' and 'Photography and media'.

If you are having any problems navigating round Cassone,  our 'Frequently asked question' page  may tell you what you need to know, or email us for advice.

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Cassone – ca-soh-neh – the elaborately  decorated chest that a wealthy Italian bride of the Renaissance period used to hold her trousseau: a box of beautiful things.