Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
@bendorgrosvenor.bsky.social
Art historian. New book The Invention of British Art, out now.
$27.2m for Michelangelo’s foot at Christie’s. That’s $1.15m per square inch.
February 5, 2026 at 6:02 PM
$27.2m for Michelangelo’s foot at Christie’s. That’s $1.15m per square inch.
Today on the podcast, I take a deep dive into Turner's extraordinary painting, 'The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16 1834'. And I ask, is it the beginning of modern art?
Link in next post.
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Link in next post.
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February 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Today on the podcast, I take a deep dive into Turner's extraordinary painting, 'The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16 1834'. And I ask, is it the beginning of modern art?
Link in next post.
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Link in next post.
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Anybody else finding Google Books has stopped working? I can't get a thing!
February 3, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Anybody else finding Google Books has stopped working? I can't get a thing!
Would any of this Mandelson stuff matter a jot for the PM, if he'd had his own ideas about what to do in power? He tried to be Blair 2.0, and here we are.
February 2, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Would any of this Mandelson stuff matter a jot for the PM, if he'd had his own ideas about what to do in power? He tried to be Blair 2.0, and here we are.
Just a few seats left for this at Keswick on 12th March. I'll be talking about British landscape painting, the Lakes and Wordsworth.
www.theatrebythelake.com/event/bendor...
www.theatrebythelake.com/event/bendor...
Bendor Grosvenor: The Arts Society Cumbria 50th Anniversary Lecture - Theatre by the Lake
www.theatrebythelake.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Just a few seats left for this at Keswick on 12th March. I'll be talking about British landscape painting, the Lakes and Wordsworth.
www.theatrebythelake.com/event/bendor...
www.theatrebythelake.com/event/bendor...
This week's podcast is on the Wilton Diptych; what it's all about and who may have painted it.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...
January 29, 2026 at 6:55 PM
This week's podcast is on the Wilton Diptych; what it's all about and who may have painted it.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...
We tried The Mastermind but didn’t last long. It’s going straight into my top five worst films about art. Anyone make it to the end?
(Though I’ll always be a massive Josh O’Connor fan).
(Though I’ll always be a massive Josh O’Connor fan).
January 29, 2026 at 10:01 AM
We tried The Mastermind but didn’t last long. It’s going straight into my top five worst films about art. Anyone make it to the end?
(Though I’ll always be a massive Josh O’Connor fan).
(Though I’ll always be a massive Josh O’Connor fan).
Have a good Burns Night everyone. The first in which we can see him through the eyes of one of Scotland's greatest painters, Henry Raeburn.
January 25, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Have a good Burns Night everyone. The first in which we can see him through the eyes of one of Scotland's greatest painters, Henry Raeburn.
Visiting the Old Master sales and Tate's Turner & Constable show... my Diary piece for The Art Newspaper.
www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/22/c...
www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/22/c...
Comment | Tate Britain's Turner and Constable show got me thinking about Marxist art history
On a recent trip to London, Bendor Grosvenor enjoyed the buzz of the Old Masters auctions but bemoaned Tate’s exhibition labels
www.theartnewspaper.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Visiting the Old Master sales and Tate's Turner & Constable show... my Diary piece for The Art Newspaper.
www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/22/c...
www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/22/c...
Here’s the beginning of our film about Raeburn’s rediscovered portrait of Robert Burns. Watch the whole film at blackiehouse.org
January 22, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Here’s the beginning of our film about Raeburn’s rediscovered portrait of Robert Burns. Watch the whole film at blackiehouse.org
This week on the podcast* I discuss the magic of art restoration with Simon Gillespie, including some of his triumphs from the BBC series Britain's Lost Masterpieces.
*(Waldy and Bendy's Adventures in Art, available on all the usual platforms).
*(Waldy and Bendy's Adventures in Art, available on all the usual platforms).
January 22, 2026 at 6:24 PM
This week on the podcast* I discuss the magic of art restoration with Simon Gillespie, including some of his triumphs from the BBC series Britain's Lost Masterpieces.
*(Waldy and Bendy's Adventures in Art, available on all the usual platforms).
*(Waldy and Bendy's Adventures in Art, available on all the usual platforms).
There's a wonderful short film made by Ishbel Grosvenor all about the portrait and its discovery here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBu...
The Lost Portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn
YouTube video by Blackie House Library and Museum
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 PM
There's a wonderful short film made by Ishbel Grosvenor all about the portrait and its discovery here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBu...
Some breaking art historical news for you - a lost portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It’s been missing for more than 200 years.
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January 22, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Some breaking art historical news for you - a lost portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It’s been missing for more than 200 years.
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An extra special episode of Waldy & Bendy’s Adventures in Art this week, as we take a deep dive on Holbein’s Ambassadors. Available now on all the usual platforms.
(Who needs Holbein when you’ve got ChatGPT?)
(Who needs Holbein when you’ve got ChatGPT?)
January 15, 2026 at 10:16 PM
An extra special episode of Waldy & Bendy’s Adventures in Art this week, as we take a deep dive on Holbein’s Ambassadors. Available now on all the usual platforms.
(Who needs Holbein when you’ve got ChatGPT?)
(Who needs Holbein when you’ve got ChatGPT?)
Our producer, Thea, is putting the finishing touches to our deep dive on Holbein's Ambassadors. We solve its mysteries - finally! Out Thursday.
January 13, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Our producer, Thea, is putting the finishing touches to our deep dive on Holbein's Ambassadors. We solve its mysteries - finally! Out Thursday.
What an amazing survival (from the Sint Janskerk in Gouda).
Remarkably, the windows span the period before & after the Reformation, and the pre-Reformation windows mostly survived the iconoclasm of the Beeldenstorm. This one shows Philip II of Spain (against whom the Dutch revolted) & Mary Tudor in adoration before the Last Supper. Yet it survives.
January 12, 2026 at 3:00 PM
What an amazing survival (from the Sint Janskerk in Gouda).
There seems to be an inverse correlation between the amount of time someone holds one of the great offices of state and their brazen lack of shame afterwards.
January 12, 2026 at 12:37 PM
There seems to be an inverse correlation between the amount of time someone holds one of the great offices of state and their brazen lack of shame afterwards.
Reposted by Dr Bendor Grosvenor FRHistS
“Could be cleared within a decade” seems not much of a boast in return for trashing people’s right to jury trial
January 12, 2026 at 8:06 AM
“Could be cleared within a decade” seems not much of a boast in return for trashing people’s right to jury trial
Priceless.
January 12, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Priceless.
Pleased to learn today the origin of, 'know which side your bread is buttered on'. I thought it was something archaic and literal, but it's in a poem about an arguing couple from John Heywood's 1562 'Epigrams & Proverbs'. The man says his wife can't tell who's bad or good for her, and she says:
January 11, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Pleased to learn today the origin of, 'know which side your bread is buttered on'. I thought it was something archaic and literal, but it's in a poem about an arguing couple from John Heywood's 1562 'Epigrams & Proverbs'. The man says his wife can't tell who's bad or good for her, and she says:
Constantly amazed at the lobbying he's allowed to get away with.
🚨 Exclusive: Tony Blair isn’t just a big fan of AI — he's now trying to build and sell AI tools to governments
Tony Blair Institute staff have described the plan as 'insane' and compared it to Palantir
New by D4S and @lighthousereports.com 🧵
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/blair-bids...
Tony Blair Institute staff have described the plan as 'insane' and compared it to Palantir
New by D4S and @lighthousereports.com 🧵
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/blair-bids...
Blair bids to build own AI tools to rival Palantir
TBI insiders warn of “'insane” plan to transform think tank into a tech company
democracyforsale.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Constantly amazed at the lobbying he's allowed to get away with.
The ICE agent who killed her was also filming the whole thing. Chances we'll ever see that footage?
Video analysis clearly contradicts what Noem and Trump claim about the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. By @devonlum.bsky.social @robinsteinnyt.bsky.social Ainara Tiefenthaler Courtney Brooks for @nytimes.com www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQCv...
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
YouTube video by The New York Times
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:53 PM
The ICE agent who killed her was also filming the whole thing. Chances we'll ever see that footage?
Today is Epiphany, when Western Christianity celebrates the three kings' visit to the infant Christ. Peter Bruegel the Elder's 'Adoration of the Kings' [National Gallery] is one of my favourite imaginings of that moment. It's also full of mystery.
Quick Epiphany 🧵
Quick Epiphany 🧵
January 6, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Today is Epiphany, when Western Christianity celebrates the three kings' visit to the infant Christ. Peter Bruegel the Elder's 'Adoration of the Kings' [National Gallery] is one of my favourite imaginings of that moment. It's also full of mystery.
Quick Epiphany 🧵
Quick Epiphany 🧵
Edinburgh airport; cash-cow for a French company, and an embarrassment to Scotland.
Nanterre-based construction group Vinci —majority owner of Edinburgh, Belfast International and Gatwick airports — jacks up drop-off fees at one of the three airports to £10 for ten minutes.
Gatwick Airport: Anger at 'disgraceful' drop-off fee hike - BBC News
But an airport spokesperson says the new £10 charge is needed because costs are increasing.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Edinburgh airport; cash-cow for a French company, and an embarrassment to Scotland.
I am amazed at the number of foreign policy analysts and pundits who’ve taken US action in Venezuela at face value, and in isolation.
January 6, 2026 at 7:29 AM
I am amazed at the number of foreign policy analysts and pundits who’ve taken US action in Venezuela at face value, and in isolation.