The Forgotten Art UK

It is amazing to learn about the quality and historical value of some of the original drawings that one can find in a flea market for a handful of coins. To catch a good piece all you need is a little patience and attention, and probably a certain artistic eye. The drawing I show below was acquired at the Tetuán street market in Madrid on October 24, 2021, and was produced by the great cartoonist Máximo San Juan Arranz (Máximo) in 1977. Graphic humour, by Máximo. Indian ink on Marca Mayor paper. Size: 285 x 225 mm. This drawing was published full-page in the fortnightly magazine Telva in mid-March 1977 (No. 324, SARPE, Madrid, p. 30). In the author's unmistakable style, this original sketch by Máximo is of great interest as it is representative of those uncertain years of the Spanish political transition to democracy, in the year prior to the approval of the Spanish Constitution. Stylistically, it presents a parallelism with the schematic and linear drawings that its author made f...

  Today's route through Hampstead Heath is one of my favourites. Along the way we will be reminded of the many artists who lived here, as well as interesting old stories. From Hampstead tube station we walk down Heath St, and turn right down Church Row. Church Row.  Church Row, with its early 18th century Georgian houses, is one of the most interesting streets in London. Look at the fanlights, the canopies and the extraordinary ironwork. It is undoubtedly the most beautiful street in Hampstead, with the parish church at the far end. There is a lack of uniformity in the height, width and design of the houses, which corresponds to the different wealth of their original owners. Number 9 housed a reformatory for girls in the 1860s, and writer H.G. Wells, author of The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, lived at number 17. Until the late 19th century the northern part of Church Row was privately owned, and access to Frognal was controlled by a tollgate. Hamp...

  And last but not least,  I will talk about some other artworks in my modest art collection. In this post I will present a couple of watercolours related to each other in terms of the location depicted and the artist's purpose, although  both were painted  with a significant temporal distance of at least 135 years. Both paintings have a connection with Portobello Road, although the first one has nothing to do with the outdoor market. I received it at my London home a few weeks before my departure from this wonderful land. It was posted to me by a friend, the Welsh artist Chris Thomas, as a leaving present. It's a view from Winchester Old Hill on the South Downs, and it was painted in 2019. A view from Winchester Old Hill, by Chris Thomas. For over twenty years Chris taught drawing and painting at the Spanish school in Portobello Road, where he is still an institution. In his youth he studied art at Cardiff College of Art and graduated with a degree in painting ...