TheCommonViewer
@thecommonviewer.bsky.social
Independent researcher.
British Art Groups 1830s-1930s.
Early 20th century Art & Visual Culture: London, Paris, Moscow & beyond.
Work in (slow) progress: "Nancy Cunard - An Uncommon Viewer".
British Art Groups 1830s-1930s.
Early 20th century Art & Visual Culture: London, Paris, Moscow & beyond.
Work in (slow) progress: "Nancy Cunard - An Uncommon Viewer".
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
A film currently screening at Sundance Film Festival in Utah offers a unique look into the Harlem Renaissance. Once Upon a Time in Harlem gathers footage from a gathering at Duke Ellington’s home of some of the movement’s most important figures.
buff.ly/FKIsM4q
buff.ly/FKIsM4q
January 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM
A film currently screening at Sundance Film Festival in Utah offers a unique look into the Harlem Renaissance. Once Upon a Time in Harlem gathers footage from a gathering at Duke Ellington’s home of some of the movement’s most important figures.
buff.ly/FKIsM4q
buff.ly/FKIsM4q
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
#BookoftheWeek
Venice Requiem by @khalidlym.bsky.social, translated by Ros Schwartz and published by @hoperoadpublish.bsky.social — “A vibrant and poetic tribute to all African migrants. A necessary book” (Jury of the Alain Spiess Second Novel Prize).
👉 www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
Venice Requiem by @khalidlym.bsky.social, translated by Ros Schwartz and published by @hoperoadpublish.bsky.social — “A vibrant and poetic tribute to all African migrants. A necessary book” (Jury of the Alain Spiess Second Novel Prize).
👉 www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
January 28, 2026 at 12:59 PM
#BookoftheWeek
Venice Requiem by @khalidlym.bsky.social, translated by Ros Schwartz and published by @hoperoadpublish.bsky.social — “A vibrant and poetic tribute to all African migrants. A necessary book” (Jury of the Alain Spiess Second Novel Prize).
👉 www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
Venice Requiem by @khalidlym.bsky.social, translated by Ros Schwartz and published by @hoperoadpublish.bsky.social — “A vibrant and poetic tribute to all African migrants. A necessary book” (Jury of the Alain Spiess Second Novel Prize).
👉 www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
Samuel John Peploe was born #OnThisDay in 1871 🎨
Read about the success story of the Scottish Colourist 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/samuel-john-peploe-the-success-story-of-a-scottish-colourist
📷 National Galleries of Scotland
Read about the success story of the Scottish Colourist 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/samuel-john-peploe-the-success-story-of-a-scottish-colourist
📷 National Galleries of Scotland
Samuel John Peploe: the success story of a Scottish Colourist | Art UK
Samuel John Peploe (1871–1935) was the most successful – critically and commercially – of the four artists known as 'the Scottish Colourists', the others being Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883–1937), John Duncan Fergusson (1874–1961) and George Leslie Hunter (1877–1931).
artuk.org
January 27, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Samuel John Peploe was born #OnThisDay in 1871 🎨
Read about the success story of the Scottish Colourist 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/samuel-john-peploe-the-success-story-of-a-scottish-colourist
📷 National Galleries of Scotland
Read about the success story of the Scottish Colourist 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/samuel-john-peploe-the-success-story-of-a-scottish-colourist
📷 National Galleries of Scotland
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Sober and compelling, interview with Andrey Kurkov Viva Ukraine! @meganjgibson.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
Andrey Kurkov: People no longer ask me how the Ukraine war will end
Ukraine's most famous writer dreams of a time when he can stop documenting the conflict and focus on fiction
www.newstatesman.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Sober and compelling, interview with Andrey Kurkov Viva Ukraine! @meganjgibson.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
A fascinating evening with artist Helen Cammock and architectural historian Andrew Jones discussing The Line in East London!
Tonight! We are thrilled to be welcoming artist Helen Cammock and writer Andrew Jones here this Wednesday to discuss the beautiful, intriguing & thought-provoking art-walk that is
@TheLineLondon!
Homepage - The Line - East London's public art trail (the-line.org)
@TheLineLondon!
Homepage - The Line - East London's public art trail (the-line.org)
Homepage - The Line - East London's public art trail
Explore art, nature and heritage for free on East London's public art trail, connecting Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, and The O2, Greenwich.
the-line.org
January 21, 2026 at 8:53 PM
A fascinating evening with artist Helen Cammock and architectural historian Andrew Jones discussing The Line in East London!
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
US born painter Ethel Sands,
The Pink Box, 1913 #Womensart
The Pink Box, 1913 #Womensart
January 21, 2026 at 9:08 AM
US born painter Ethel Sands,
The Pink Box, 1913 #Womensart
The Pink Box, 1913 #Womensart
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
Fun fact: Cunard composed a poem while sitting for McCown's 1923 portrait. Her unpublished typescript can also be found in @ransomcenter.bsky.social's collections.
For further details, check out Tracy Bonfitto's blog post from last March: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...
#speccolls #humanities 🗃️📜📚
For further details, check out Tracy Bonfitto's blog post from last March: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...
#speccolls #humanities 🗃️📜📚
May 28, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Fun fact: Cunard composed a poem while sitting for McCown's 1923 portrait. Her unpublished typescript can also be found in @ransomcenter.bsky.social's collections.
For further details, check out Tracy Bonfitto's blog post from last March: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...
#speccolls #humanities 🗃️📜📚
For further details, check out Tracy Bonfitto's blog post from last March: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...
#speccolls #humanities 🗃️📜📚
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
my piece on Nancy Cunard for forthcoming Inque magazine No.3
June 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
my piece on Nancy Cunard for forthcoming Inque magazine No.3
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
Matthew Beeber's fascinating reading of Negro alongside Los poetas - “Nancy Cunard and the 1930s Coalitional Anthology.”
doi.org/10.1215/0010...
doi.org/10.1215/0010...
Nancy Cunard and the 1930s Coalitional Anthology
Abstract. This essay addresses Pablo Neruda and Nancy Cunard’s Spanish Civil War poetry anthology Los poetas del mundo defienden al pueblo espanol alongside Cunard’s earlier anthology, her massive and...
doi.org
August 6, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Matthew Beeber's fascinating reading of Negro alongside Los poetas - “Nancy Cunard and the 1930s Coalitional Anthology.”
doi.org/10.1215/0010...
doi.org/10.1215/0010...
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
It's lovely, though I've also enjoyed the portrait of Nancy Cunard which has been on display in the lobby while Frida was on tour.
youtu.be/QbwVJt32wB0?...
(I've only seen a few of the Diego & Frida drawings, which are similarly impressive...)
youtu.be/QbwVJt32wB0?...
(I've only seen a few of the Diego & Frida drawings, which are similarly impressive...)
A Closer Look: Eugene McCown's 1923 Portrait of Nancy Cunard
YouTube video by Harry Ransom Center
youtu.be
August 8, 2025 at 3:37 PM
It's lovely, though I've also enjoyed the portrait of Nancy Cunard which has been on display in the lobby while Frida was on tour.
youtu.be/QbwVJt32wB0?...
(I've only seen a few of the Diego & Frida drawings, which are similarly impressive...)
youtu.be/QbwVJt32wB0?...
(I've only seen a few of the Diego & Frida drawings, which are similarly impressive...)
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
'Nancy Cunard,' (1919) seen here in a portrait by the Chilean painter Álvaro Guevara is the subject for numerous works of art including a Brâncusi sculpture and a study by Kokoschka. Guevara studied at the Slade and was at the heart of the Bloomsbury and Chelsea sets.
January 19, 2026 at 9:27 PM
'Nancy Cunard,' (1919) seen here in a portrait by the Chilean painter Álvaro Guevara is the subject for numerous works of art including a Brâncusi sculpture and a study by Kokoschka. Guevara studied at the Slade and was at the heart of the Bloomsbury and Chelsea sets.
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
I curated this exhibition and it is on at Charleston in Lewes until April. You absolutely don’t need to have read my novel to appreciate the works on show. AND It has pictures that have never been seen in public before!
Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders is currently on at Charleston in Lewes.
Read about the artists' work in this story 👉 artuk.org/discover/sto...
'The Fortune Teller' by Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962) © the artist's estate / Bridgeman. 📷 Tate
Read about the artists' work in this story 👉 artuk.org/discover/sto...
'The Fortune Teller' by Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962) © the artist's estate / Bridgeman. 📷 Tate
January 20, 2026 at 11:34 AM
I curated this exhibition and it is on at Charleston in Lewes until April. You absolutely don’t need to have read my novel to appreciate the works on show. AND It has pictures that have never been seen in public before!
Looking forward to this!
'A work of fiction written as a form of witness — refusing easy moral display' — Litro
Venice Requiem by Khalid Lyamlahy, translated by Ros Schwartz publishes 5th Feb
@khalidlym.bsky.social @inpressbooks.bsky.social www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
Venice Requiem by Khalid Lyamlahy, translated by Ros Schwartz publishes 5th Feb
@khalidlym.bsky.social @inpressbooks.bsky.social www.hoperoadpublishing.com/books/venice...
January 20, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Looking forward to this!
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
'Gatti’s Hungerford Palace of Varieties. Second Turn of Katie Lawrence' (1903) by Walter Sickert
(Yale Art Gallery)
(Yale Art Gallery)
January 15, 2026 at 1:06 PM
'Gatti’s Hungerford Palace of Varieties. Second Turn of Katie Lawrence' (1903) by Walter Sickert
(Yale Art Gallery)
(Yale Art Gallery)
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
January 15, 2026 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
‘She hates Gorky and Tolstoy (“a graphomaniac”). She admits few influences and even fewer heirs. Asked to name five great novels, she refused: “I’m not a reader, I’m a writer.”’
Natasha Fedorson on the Russian novelist Ludmilla Petrushevskaya:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Natasha Fedorson on the Russian novelist Ludmilla Petrushevskaya:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Natasha Fedorson · Men are like road signs: On Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
‘Who’s afraid of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya?’ was the title of an essay that appeared in a Russian émigré literary...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 8:30 PM
‘She hates Gorky and Tolstoy (“a graphomaniac”). She admits few influences and even fewer heirs. Asked to name five great novels, she refused: “I’m not a reader, I’m a writer.”’
Natasha Fedorson on the Russian novelist Ludmilla Petrushevskaya:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Natasha Fedorson on the Russian novelist Ludmilla Petrushevskaya:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
Russia’s largest book publisher Eksmo has shut down its embattled young-adult literature subsidiary Popcorn Books, which became a primary target of the Kremlin’s crackdown on so-called “LGBT extremism.”
Russia’s Leading Publisher Shutters Queer-Interest YA Imprint Months After ‘Extremism’ Arrests - The Moscow Times
Russia’s largest book publisher Eksmo has shut down its embattled young-adult literature subsidiary Popcorn Books, which became a primary target of the Kremlin’s crackdown on so-called “LGBT extremism...
www.themoscowtimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Russia’s largest book publisher Eksmo has shut down its embattled young-adult literature subsidiary Popcorn Books, which became a primary target of the Kremlin’s crackdown on so-called “LGBT extremism.”
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
John Constable’s understanding of the landscape, gained as a reluctant apprentice in his father’s corn business, set him apart from his contemporaries. Plough technology, barge-caulking, dunghills… it was all, ultimately, grist to his mill, writes Susan Owens
How Constable ploughed his own furrow
The painter abandoned his father's corn business to pursue his artistic training – but it was his real agricultural knowledge that set him apart from his contemporaries
apollo-magazine.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:46 AM
John Constable’s understanding of the landscape, gained as a reluctant apprentice in his father’s corn business, set him apart from his contemporaries. Plough technology, barge-caulking, dunghills… it was all, ultimately, grist to his mill, writes Susan Owens
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
'Far from a literary gimmick, the novel comes across as an urgent call to resist complacency and recover one’s vitality in the face of injustice. It’s a stunner.' @publisherswkly.bsky.social gives THE DISAPPEARING ACT by Maria Stepanova, tr. Sasha Dugdale: www.publishersweekly.com/9780811239400
The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova
In this captivating and capacious novel from Stepanova (In Memory of Memory), a 50-year-old novelist experiences a bizarre and l...
www.publishersweekly.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:31 PM
'Far from a literary gimmick, the novel comes across as an urgent call to resist complacency and recover one’s vitality in the face of injustice. It’s a stunner.' @publisherswkly.bsky.social gives THE DISAPPEARING ACT by Maria Stepanova, tr. Sasha Dugdale: www.publishersweekly.com/9780811239400
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
In the 1950s, the artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun published a rapturous account of her travels in Ireland. Philippa Conlon considers what her writing says about the surreal ways in which she saw – and painted – the world
On the road with Ithell Colquhoun
The artist and occultist’s rapturous account of her Irish travels give a glimpse into her surreal view of the world, writes Philippa Conlon
buff.ly
January 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
In the 1950s, the artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun published a rapturous account of her travels in Ireland. Philippa Conlon considers what her writing says about the surreal ways in which she saw – and painted – the world
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
'Child in the Sun.' (1869) Trained in Naples, Giuseppe de Nittis settled in Paris in 1868, and there he befriended many of the French Impressionists, particularly Degas who taught him how to depict the changing play of light on a subject or a scene.
January 13, 2026 at 7:21 AM
'Child in the Sun.' (1869) Trained in Naples, Giuseppe de Nittis settled in Paris in 1868, and there he befriended many of the French Impressionists, particularly Degas who taught him how to depict the changing play of light on a subject or a scene.
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
NEW REVIEWS in britishartjournal.co.uk. Roderick Conway Morris reviews a glorious exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery of the work of one of Denmark’s greatest artists, Anna Archer (1859–1935). David Stacey offers more thoughts on the Wright of Derby exhibition at the National Gallery
January 7, 2026 at 4:52 PM
NEW REVIEWS in britishartjournal.co.uk. Roderick Conway Morris reviews a glorious exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery of the work of one of Denmark’s greatest artists, Anna Archer (1859–1935). David Stacey offers more thoughts on the Wright of Derby exhibition at the National Gallery
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
The ghost of the Cambridge classical scholar Jane Harrison haunts the pages of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own (1929). Here's my post on the layers of connections, for over 30 years, these two writers shared.
The ghost of Jane Harrison
The woman who haunts Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own
akennedysmith.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:26 PM
The ghost of the Cambridge classical scholar Jane Harrison haunts the pages of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own (1929). Here's my post on the layers of connections, for over 30 years, these two writers shared.
Reposted by TheCommonViewer
Constable’s father ‘does not sound like a man who would have been happy to allow a capable son to wander around sketching all day when there was a business to be managed’. But once free of the family agriculture business, writes Susan Owens, the artist turned his practical knowledge to painterly use
How Constable ploughed his own furrow
The painter abandoned his father's corn business to pursue his artistic training – but it was his real agricultural knowledge that set him apart from his contemporaries
buff.ly
January 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Constable’s father ‘does not sound like a man who would have been happy to allow a capable son to wander around sketching all day when there was a business to be managed’. But once free of the family agriculture business, writes Susan Owens, the artist turned his practical knowledge to painterly use