Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
@bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social
Art historian. New book The Invention of British Art, out now.
I’m surprised Davie has resigned over that Panorama edit (seems like a bit of a nothingburger to me) but I’m glad he’s gone. On his watch the BBC simply gave up the ghost on factual documentary TV, and decided the best way to serve its audience was to patronise it.
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November 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I’m surprised Davie has resigned over that Panorama edit (seems like a bit of a nothingburger to me) but I’m glad he’s gone. On his watch the BBC simply gave up the ghost on factual documentary TV, and decided the best way to serve its audience was to patronise it.
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Reposted by Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
Art is definitely beneficial to the human condition. It's instant medicine. I love this podcast and the chaps who do it. Waldy and Bendy Adventures in Art @januszczak.bsky.social @bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=urbW...
youtube.com/watch?v=urbW...
Waldy & Bendy | Season 5 | Episode 08: Should art be on the NHS?
YouTube video by ZCZ Films
youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Art is definitely beneficial to the human condition. It's instant medicine. I love this podcast and the chaps who do it. Waldy and Bendy Adventures in Art @januszczak.bsky.social @bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=urbW...
youtube.com/watch?v=urbW...
New episode of the podcast out today. We ask if art is good for your health; interview Katy Hessel about her new book; and try and work out if the bird lives or dies in Wright of Derby's epic 'Airpump'.
November 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
New episode of the podcast out today. We ask if art is good for your health; interview Katy Hessel about her new book; and try and work out if the bird lives or dies in Wright of Derby's epic 'Airpump'.
Came to see the site of a proposed solar farm in the Scottish Borders. What I’m showing you is only about half the site.
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Came to see the site of a proposed solar farm in the Scottish Borders. What I’m showing you is only about half the site.
A real life art adventure for Waldy and Bendy today, ably guided by Producer Thea, at the National Gallery’s new Joseph Wright of Derby exhibition. Podcast out on Thursday.
November 4, 2025 at 6:14 PM
A real life art adventure for Waldy and Bendy today, ably guided by Producer Thea, at the National Gallery’s new Joseph Wright of Derby exhibition. Podcast out on Thursday.
Made a late afternoon visit to Waddesdon. Many fine pictures of course, but also some superb historic toilet action. Including an all-Delft bathroom, and this commode chair (which I think you sat on backwards, so to speak).
November 3, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Made a late afternoon visit to Waddesdon. Many fine pictures of course, but also some superb historic toilet action. Including an all-Delft bathroom, and this commode chair (which I think you sat on backwards, so to speak).
Reposted by Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
If you love great art, this podcast is an absolute must-listen. Incredibly insightful commentary with a delightfully fun spin by two of the best in the business. I just got stuck in with Season 1 and I am obsessed!
This week’s podcast is a Halloween special; we discuss plague, terror and fire in art. Also, is the King Catholic? open.spotify.com/episode/796F...
Season 5, Episode 7: Doom, death and fires
open.spotify.com
November 2, 2025 at 4:40 PM
If you love great art, this podcast is an absolute must-listen. Incredibly insightful commentary with a delightfully fun spin by two of the best in the business. I just got stuck in with Season 1 and I am obsessed!
Quick recce in Cirencester’s glorious church of St John the Baptist, before my talk later. One of England’s finest ‘wool’ churches.
November 1, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Quick recce in Cirencester’s glorious church of St John the Baptist, before my talk later. One of England’s finest ‘wool’ churches.
This week’s podcast is a Halloween special; we discuss plague, terror and fire in art. Also, is the King Catholic? open.spotify.com/episode/796F...
Season 5, Episode 7: Doom, death and fires
open.spotify.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
This week’s podcast is a Halloween special; we discuss plague, terror and fire in art. Also, is the King Catholic? open.spotify.com/episode/796F...
Reposted by Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
Great interview in this week's episode with @bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social and @cjfaraday.bsky.social discussing her new book 'The Story of Tudor Art'. I'd add it to my Christmas list but wary that the last time Bendor recommended a book for Christmas, it turned into quite the adventure...
Latest episode just out: this week we discuss the Louvre robbery, ask if Tudor art is any good, and disagree about the merits of Manet.
October 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Great interview in this week's episode with @bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social and @cjfaraday.bsky.social discussing her new book 'The Story of Tudor Art'. I'd add it to my Christmas list but wary that the last time Bendor recommended a book for Christmas, it turned into quite the adventure...
Excellent analysis of the China spy case, and the muddle we've got ourselves into on the definition of 'enemy'.
The director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson will tell MPs and peers today that he gave the government’s deputy national security adviser every opportunity to testify that China was regarded by the last Conservative government as an enemy state.
rozenberg.substack.com/p/answers-at...
rozenberg.substack.com/p/answers-at...
Answers, at last
But plenty of questions about the China spy case still remain
rozenberg.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Excellent analysis of the China spy case, and the muddle we've got ourselves into on the definition of 'enemy'.
A truly disgusting Tory proposal, point 3.
Almost nobody in the Cons Party or beyond it had noticed that the Shadow Home Secretary with two other frontbenchers and 5 backbenchers tabled a bill in May to deport 3 million people - stripping almost every pensioner, parent or nurse who did not take out citizenship of their right to live here
October 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
A truly disgusting Tory proposal, point 3.
I was intrigued to see which two of the Vatican’s ten Raphael tapestries were chosen for today’s unprecedented service in the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries are very rarely shown - was Pope Leo XIV conveying any message in the choice?
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October 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I was intrigued to see which two of the Vatican’s ten Raphael tapestries were chosen for today’s unprecedented service in the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries are very rarely shown - was Pope Leo XIV conveying any message in the choice?
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Latest episode just out: this week we discuss the Louvre robbery, ask if Tudor art is any good, and disagree about the merits of Manet.
October 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Latest episode just out: this week we discuss the Louvre robbery, ask if Tudor art is any good, and disagree about the merits of Manet.
Reposted by Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
It’s racist, it’s extremist and it’s immoral
The right is still calling for deportations, and the government is still being cowardly about it. Also: London’s first green belt; some notes on a shark; and some news, on my next book.
jonn.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
This week's episode just released. We discuss the Canterbury graffiti, and the art of the unfinished. Available on all the usual platforms.
'An unalloyed pleasure', says The Spectator!
'An unalloyed pleasure', says The Spectator!
October 16, 2025 at 4:36 PM
This week's episode just released. We discuss the Canterbury graffiti, and the art of the unfinished. Available on all the usual platforms.
'An unalloyed pleasure', says The Spectator!
'An unalloyed pleasure', says The Spectator!
New episode of the podcast just out. This week we discuss; who is art's most forgotten artist? And, whether to buy a second-hand bench from the National Gallery for £800.
October 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
New episode of the podcast just out. This week we discuss; who is art's most forgotten artist? And, whether to buy a second-hand bench from the National Gallery for £800.
Icymi, gather there's a handful of tickets left for this. See you there!
This is going to be fun - I'll be speaking at Cirencester History Festival on Saturday 1st November, in the beautiful St John's church. Expect lots on gothic architecture, the sublime, and why Henry VIII is villain number 1 in the story of British art!
cirencesterhistoryfestival.org/event/bendor...
cirencesterhistoryfestival.org/event/bendor...
October 9, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Icymi, gather there's a handful of tickets left for this. See you there!
As much as I want to resist the scourge of AI in universities, I think this issue also highlights how we place too much emphasis on historiography. As in, 'while Prof. X says this, Prof. Y says that'. It's no wonder students seek to summarize it. Empiricism will be more AI-proof.
productive discussion about AI in classes w colleagues today. one thing that was clarified for me: while so much attention has been on instructors making AI-proof writing assignments the use of AI to "summarize" readings (often wrongly) seems more pervasive & hard to root out
October 4, 2025 at 8:34 AM
As much as I want to resist the scourge of AI in universities, I think this issue also highlights how we place too much emphasis on historiography. As in, 'while Prof. X says this, Prof. Y says that'. It's no wonder students seek to summarize it. Empiricism will be more AI-proof.
The latest episode of our Adventures in Art is out. This week we discuss Bosch, Michelangelo, and Donald Trump’s taste for gold. And in the Times, James Marriott has kindly given us a 5* review!
October 3, 2025 at 7:57 AM
The latest episode of our Adventures in Art is out. This week we discuss Bosch, Michelangelo, and Donald Trump’s taste for gold. And in the Times, James Marriott has kindly given us a 5* review!
That's the first time I've actually cheered a line in one his speeches. His best so far. Has he found his mojo at last?
September 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
That's the first time I've actually cheered a line in one his speeches. His best so far. Has he found his mojo at last?
Instagram. I never really got it. But now it’s just endless AI slop.
September 28, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Instagram. I never really got it. But now it’s just endless AI slop.
Admiring a full length of Cromwell at the National Army Museum, made early 1650s. At some point after the Restoration the face was slashed.
September 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Admiring a full length of Cromwell at the National Army Museum, made early 1650s. At some point after the Restoration the face was slashed.
Got a last minute ticket to hear Víkingur Ólafsson play Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia. Completely mesmerising.
September 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Got a last minute ticket to hear Víkingur Ólafsson play Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia. Completely mesmerising.