Mark Stevens
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markstevens.bsky.social
Mark Stevens
@markstevens.bsky.social
63 followers 99 following 210 posts
Copenhagen, often elsewhere. Paying attention through travel, art, drawing, photography and philosophy. Writing on uncertainty and how we might live. #TimeofGifts
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markstevens.bsky.social
Any 18 year olds on here?
ec.europa.eu European Commission @ec.europa.eu · 13d
🚆 We celebrate 40 years of Schengen by sharing 40 000 travel passes!

You could get a free travel pass with #DiscoverEU to explore Europe’s culture, history and diversity.

18 and ready to explore Europe? Don’t miss out! 👇
link.europa.eu/6xXcnd
A large roadside billboard in front of a moving blue train. The billboard reads: “If you’re looking for a sign, this is it: Apply for a free DiscoverEU travel pass!” with the EU flag in the top right corner.
October 30, 2025 at 7:18 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
#TheNerve is already breaking stories
carolecadwalla.bsky.social Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · Oct 12
NEW: The British politician, his Russian intelligence handler & a Kremlin plot against the US & Ukraine.

My new piece about Nathan Gill and Nigel Farage for @thenerve_news in which we ask:

Why, even now, is no-one asking questions?

t.co/BUTtpK9C4S
October 13, 2025 at 6:15 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Would love to go to this too: a John Le Carre exhibition at the Bodleian #LeCarre #Tradecraft

visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lecarre
John le Carré: Tradecraft
Free exhibition at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford
visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
October 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
I rather like this: 'On the Hunt' by British artist Jack Penny, currently in residence at the crumbling Elveden Hall in Suffolk—formerly owned by the Guinness family. Who's hunting who? #Painting
A photograph of a worn, historical room features a deteriorating ornate plaster ceiling with visible lath and peeling paint, suggesting long-term neglect. Below the ceiling, a large, vividly colored painting hangs above an intricately carved white fireplace. The artwork depicts a stylized figure on horseback, sounding a horn, surrounded by several red foxes in motion against a dark green background. The room’s plaster walls are chipped and water-stained, adding to the overall sense of decay. To the left, a white wooden door marked “219” stands slightly ajar, its paint chipped and handle rusted, enhancing the atmosphere of faded grandeur. A close-up of a stylized painting shows a whimsical scene of a man riding a pale horse, blowing a hunting horn while dressed in a cream-colored coat, red-striped trousers, and black boots. The rider has exaggerated facial features, including a large nose and mustache, giving the piece a humorous tone. Surrounding the horse and rider are several animated red foxes with expressive, almost cartoon-like faces, all set against a dark green background. The flat perspective and bold colour palette give the artwork a folk art or naïve art style.
September 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
If I was in London, I'd go to this: an exhibition of Ursula K Le Guin's mapmaking. There's book too. #LeGuin #UrsulaKLeGuin

www.aaschool.ac.uk/publicprogra...
AA School
Architectural Association School of Architecture's website homepage is the online entrance into the AA; to its courses from Foundation to PhD for undergraduate and postgraduate students; its open publ...
www.aaschool.ac.uk
September 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
A rare book dealer / investigative journalist + Jim Thompson paperbacks + a JJ Cale soundtrack. #TheLowdown feels like someone wrote a TV show for me
September 28, 2025 at 8:30 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
@karaswisher.bsky.social would be proud. Good luck to them!
carolecadwalla.bsky.social Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · Sep 26
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.

Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social

We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.

Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
pressgazette.co.uk Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · Sep 26
Former Observer big-hitters inc @carolecadwalla.bsky.social launch new title The Nerve with redundancy payouts

After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent"
pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...
September 28, 2025 at 9:08 AM
markstevens.bsky.social
Every solstice @david94117.bsky.social sends out 220+ artworks by mail to lucky people around the world. I'm hoping to get one, but we'll see. And, yes, they are always this good #Art #Drawing
david94117.bsky.social dpxx_art @david94117.bsky.social · Sep 22
( 09-21-25 ) A few of the 5x7s that draw on the idea of “half & half not” and mailed to more than 220 people in celebration of the Equinox. Half it is. Big love to all mail carriers everywhere.
#dpxx #5x7s #newwork #halftime #solstitials #artsky #designsky #mailart #allmyrelations
September 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
If you need cheering up (I did)...
September 22, 2025 at 5:28 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
My favourite pic from a long weekend exploring the Danish island of Bornholm. It's from a harbour-front bar in Gudhjem (God home). The large photo is of Jacques Brell, the reason for which I enjoy remaining entirely ignorant. #TimeofGifts
This image shows a neatly organized set of wooden shelves mounted on a white wall, displaying an assortment of drinking glasses and dishes in what appears to be a cozy, rustic café or bar. The bottom two shelves are packed with clear glass tumblers stacked upside-down, while the top shelf holds wine glasses, a stack of small plates, olive oil bottles, a tall wooden pepper grinder, and a horn-shaped drinking vessel. Above the shelf, two black-and-white photographs of men—one smiling in a beret and the other smoking a cigarette—are pinned to a rough beam. Multicolored string lights are draped along the ceiling, adding a festive and eclectic touch to the space.
September 22, 2025 at 5:09 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Listening to Linda Ronstadt on repeat all evening. She's so good
A black-and-white photograph captures a young woman sitting on a low concrete step in front of a wooden fence, with plants and wildflowers growing nearby. Her long hair is being blown by the wind, partially obscuring her face, which is turned to the side in a serene, contemplative expression. She wears a striped, long-sleeved mini dress and large hoop earrings, her hands resting loosely in her lap.
September 18, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Mark Stevens
annedenoon.bsky.social
Lauren Bacall #BOTD 1924
📷Louise Dahl-Wolfe, in Harper's Bazaar, 1943

#LaurenBacall #LouiseDahl-Wolfe
Black and white photo, 1943, by Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895-1989) of Lauren Bacall in profile, standing on a rocky beach, wearing an embroidered dress with her hands behind her while looking out to sea. A sailor with a dog on a leash is standing in the background, on watch.
September 16, 2025 at 11:50 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Love this: AI trained on AI-generated fakes to identify 'real' fakes that aren't any good
ai-art-news.bsky.social AI Art News @ai-art-news.bsky.social · Sep 16
'Norval AI' identifies fake Norval Morrisseau works that flooded the market. It is trained on AI-generated fakes produced by Acrylic Robotics.

“We needed...to test our artificial intelligence programme—the existing fake paintings were so terrible.” #AIArt

www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/09/16/h...
How AI-trained robots are helping to root out fake paintings tied to a notorious forgery case
The Norval AI tool is being used to determine the authenticity of works alleged to by the Canadian artist Norval Morrisseau
www.theartnewspaper.com
September 16, 2025 at 7:43 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Brodsky on Venice’s nebbia (fog enclosed city):

“This is a time for reading, for burning electricity all day long, for going easy on self-deprecating thoughts or coffee, for listening to the BBC World Service, for going to bed early.”
September 8, 2025 at 11:02 AM
markstevens.bsky.social
Picked up Mountolive today to complete the paperback set. These things make me happy #bookcollecting #lawrencedurrell
Four paperback novels by Lawrence Durrell with red, umber, blue and green covers—all with a distinctive white handprint motive.
September 6, 2025 at 2:07 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
This prompted an embarrassing LOL at cafe:

“What Paradise and vacation have in common is that you have to pay for both, and the coin is your previous life.”

Brodsky, Watermark
September 5, 2025 at 11:21 AM
markstevens.bsky.social
Verner Panton’s ‘Fantasy Landscape’ (1970). Odd to think this was commissioned by Bayer Pharma to outfit a Rhine excursion steamer hired as their showroom for the Cologne Furniture Fair.
This image depicts a surreal, futuristic interior space designed with organic, cave-like forms and saturated neon lighting. Two people dressed in white lounge comfortably within a tunnel-like room filled with soft, sculptural seating that flows seamlessly into the walls and ceiling. The environment is bathed in vibrant hues of blue, purple, pink, red, and orange, creating a psychedelic atmosphere. The walls and structures feature rounded, fluid shapes that resemble a fantastical grotto or abstract natural formation, evoking a retro-futuristic or 1970s space-age aesthetic.
September 4, 2025 at 9:50 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
All this could be yours for just 1.5 million GBP

www.worldofinteriors.com/story/richar...
Lonesome spines: buyer sought for over 150,000 books and the one-time Yorkshire Dales youth hostel in which they’re housed
Richard Axe is celebrated in the bookselling trade for his vast collection of antiquarian and second-hand volumes. Since 2005, his stock has been arrayed on over a mile’s worth of shelving in a former...
www.worldofinteriors.com
September 4, 2025 at 9:01 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Just finished—an excellent, well-told survey of English (not British) art between the wars. Lots of ‘new-to-me’ artists + well-known figures like Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson.

#FrancisSpalding #EnglishArt
A yellow book showing an image of Eric Ravilious’ famous painting depicting an empty railway carriage with blue seats looking out onto green hills
September 4, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Mark Stevens
side-by-side-art.bsky.social
Jean Siméon Chardin, Glass of Water and Coffee Pot (1760) + Georgio Morandi, Still Life (1955)

Morandi cited Chardin as a model for the quiet sobriety in his still life compositions

#SideBySide #Art #Painting #ArtHistory #Chardin #Morandi #GeorgioMorandi #StillLife
Two still life paintings side by side. The first, rendered in a realistic and classical style, shows a dark brown jug with a side spout, a clear glass of water, and three garlic bulbs resting on a wooden surface with dramatic lighting and a subdued, earthy palette. The second painting adopts a minimalist and modern aesthetic, depicting four simplified objects—a gray cylinder, a yellow bottle, a white bottle, and a round beige form—set against a flat, neutral background with muted colors and rough brushstrokes that emphasize form over detail.
September 3, 2025 at 4:04 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
True Grit is a joy to read:

“He said he knew a woman in Sedalia Missouri who had stepped on a needle as a girl, and nine years later the needle worked out the thigh of her third child.”

#TrueGrit
September 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Intrigued to learn this Spain Civil War poster was too political for the London Passenger Transport Board to display in the 1930s. It was created by Felicity Ashbee who was later at Bletchly Park and tracked Rudolf Hess' odd flight to Scotland in 1941. #FelicityAshbee
A poster, created during the Spanish Civil War, features a haunting illustration of a gaunt woman clutching a child, both wrapped in a gray cloak symbolizing suffering. Red, dagger-like shapes bearing the words “HUNGER,” “DESOLATION,” and “DISEASE” loom above them, intensifying the sense of peril. The stark text “They face FAMINE in Spain” is written across the top, drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis. At the bottom, bold red and white lettering urges viewers to “SEND MEDICAL SUPPLIES” and provides a London address for donations, emphasizing the urgent need for winter relief organized by the National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief.
September 1, 2025 at 9:06 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
The talented Ms Highsmith could also draw: self-portrait 1940; Positano 1952; portrait of Ellen Hill 1954; and cats 1961

#PatriciaHighsmith #Sketching
This image is a bold black-and-white ink portrait rendered in a minimalist, expressive style. It depicts a person with shoulder-length dark hair, strong eyebrows, and a contemplative or serious expression. The brushstrokes are loose and gestural, with large areas of black contrasting sharply against the white background, creating a stark yet evocative likeness. A loose, expressive ink and watercolor sketch of a coastal village nestled into a steep hillside, likely inspired by Mediterranean or Italian Riviera scenery. The drawing captures a charming cluster of buildings with terraced rooftops, narrow winding paths, and abundant foliage, all rendered with quick, gestural lines. The mountain rises behind the village, dotted with more scattered houses, and descends into a calm sea that stretches across the right side of the image, where a small sailboat drifts. Washes of gray and light brown give the landscape subtle depth and atmosphere, while maintaining an airy, illustrative quality. This black-and-white illustration depicts a seated woman reading a book, rendered in a loose, expressive ink and watercolor style. She appears relaxed and deeply focused, with one hand holding the book and the other thoughtfully touching her face. Her hair is styled in an elegant updo, and she wears a long robe or dress, shaded with soft washes of gray and accented with crosshatch textures for depth and pattern. This whimsical illustration features six expressive cat portraits, each drawn in a loose, sketchy style with ink and watercolor washes. The cats vary in breed and mood—some have wide, curious eyes while others appear sly, sleepy, or aloof. The top left and bottom right cats resemble Siamese breeds with dark facial markings, while the upper right cat is fluffy and looks comically unimpressed. The loose, gestural lines and soft shading capture each feline's distinct personality, creating a lively and humorous collection of character studies. Scattered tufts of fur or scribbles enhance the playful, spontaneous feel of the image.
August 31, 2025 at 3:47 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
Intrigued to learn—though it makes sense—that Patricia Highsmith, living in Greenwich Village in the 1940s, had extensive contacts with the art world. She even modelled for photographs, including these by Rolf Tietgens. #PatriciaHighsmith #RolfTietgens
This surreal black-and-white image features a crumpled sheet of paper at the center with the photographic portrait of a woman whose eyes are closed, her hair fanned out dramatically as if she is in a dreamlike or meditative state. The paper lies amidst a sparse, abstract set: to the left stands a miniature, ornate canopy bed with drawn curtains, resembling a dollhouse prop, and scattered around are charred, crumpled fragments and a small broken vessel. This ethereal black-and-white image is a double exposure photograph combining a serene desert landscape with the profile of a woman. Her face is tilted upward, eyes closed, as if basking in sunlight or lost in a moment of peaceful introspection. The arid terrain, dotted with sparse shrubs and silhouetted mountains in the distance, merges seamlessly with her translucent figure, creating a haunting fusion of human and nature.
August 31, 2025 at 3:31 PM
markstevens.bsky.social
The Inigo Philbrick documentary—The Great Art Fraud—is an amusing Tom Ripleyish story. Lots insight into the contemporary art market like ‘fractional ownership’
August 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM