Keep your diary up-to-date with our selection of unmissable events and things to do in the next few weeks.
Please note that some of the following events may now be closed due to the latest lockdown rules beginning on November 5 — we’ll update this article accordingly in due course, and in the meantime please check with the venue before making any plans.
November 5 — Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art auction, Lyon & Turnbull, online
The sale includes a 46-piece dinner set owned by Thomas ‘Diamond’ Pitt, the chancer, adventurer and politician who founded the dynasty that included his grandson William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (Pitt the Elder) and his great-grandson Pitt the Younger, both prime ministers of Great Britain.
www.lyonandturnbull.com
October 24–November 29 — Westonbirt Virtual Shopping Fair, online
One of the largest charity fairs in the South-West has gone entirely digital for 2020 — browse the stalls of some 70 exhibitors for gifts, clothing and homeware from the comfort of your own house, with 10% of all sales going to local charities. Virtual entrance fees welcomed.
westonbirtfair.org
From November 10 — What Happens After Così?, online
Opera Prelude, the charity supporting rising young artists, has launched a series of digital lectures with live musical examples, the latest of which sees tenor William Wallace exploring the apparent misogyny of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Donations from £4 give one week’s access to your chosen lecture.
operaprelude.org
October 13–January 31, 2021 — ‘Fabric of the North’, Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar, North Yorkshire
The British Tapestry Group presents regular, three-dimensional and mixed-media tapestries by more than 30 weavers, all on the theme of our Northern heritage, plus weaving materials and equipment for sale. Free entry, booking recommended.
www.fabricofthenorth.org
November 21–January 4, 2021 — Glow at the RHS Gardens, various venues
The outdoor illuminations return to Harlow Carr (Harrogate, North Yorkshire), Rosemoor (Great Torrington, Devon) and Wisley (near Woking, Surrey), which has a new route for 2020. Hyde Hall (near Chelmsford, Essex) is staging its own for the first time, overlooked by a lone lit oak on the distant hillside. Adult tickets from £6.95, booking essential.
www.rhs.org.uk
Booking until February 2021 — The Great Gatsby, Immersive London, Davies Street, London W1
‘Lindy hop into the world of Jay Gatsby’ at this immersive theatre experience and dinner, which has been re-imagined as a 1920s Art Deco masquerade ball in order to comply with Covid guidelines. Tickets from £38.
immersivegatsby.com
Until December 31 —Hogarth: London Voices, London Lives, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Mattock Lane, London
Starring Hogarth’s eight-painting morality tale ‘A Rake’s Progress’, which returns to Pitzhanger for the first time in 200 years. Adult tickets £7, including access to Pitzhanger Manor. Pre-booking essential.
www.pitzhanger.org.uk
Until January 9, 2021 — ‘The Seasons: Art of the Unfolding Year’, St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington, Hampshire
Artworks from the past 100 years portraying the changing seasons and associated landscapes, plants, wildlife, weather, customs and folklore. Featured artists include John Nash, Eric Ravilious, Graham Sutherland, Charles Tunnicliffe, Carry Akroyd and Annie Ovenden.
www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk
C. F. Tunnicliffe’s ‘Wild Rose, Briar Rose and Elderflower on a stone wall’ is on display in Hampshire’s St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery.
Until autumn 2021 — ‘Love, Art, Loss: The Wives of Stanley Spencer’, Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, Berkshire
Exploration of the love triangle between the artist and his two wives, Hilda Carline and Patricia Preece, and the raw portrayal of these relationships in his paintings and studies. Adult admission £6.
stanleyspencer.org.uk
From December 4 — Buckingham Palace’s masterpieces, The Queen’s Gallery, London SW1
For the first time, 65 paintings that normally hang in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace are to go on public display, at The Queen’s Gallery. ‘Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace’ opens on December 4 and will include works from artists including Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Canaletto and explore, among other themes, their use of paint. The exhibition will be accompanied by a display charting the evolution of the Picture Gallery following the acquisition of Buckingham Palace by George III and Queen Charlotte, in 1762.
www.rct.uk
Canaletto’s The Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day, c.1733, is part of the Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace show. Credit: Royal Collection Trust/ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Curious Questions: What did people use before toilet paper?
The mania for the humble toilet roll that has accompanied the coronavirus has our columnist Martin Fone musing on where
Curious Questions: Who first discovered that washing your hands stops the spread of disease?
Washing your hands regularly is the single biggest thing you can do to help stop the spread of coronavirus. In
Curious Questions: Why do we eat hot cross buns at Easter?
Annunciata Elwes traces the curious history of the hot cross bun in Britain.
