And tonight’s London theatre is one of the most demanding of the lot, the vast echoing cavern that is the NT’s Olivier. Which Michael Sheen and ‘Nye’ are, I’m happy to say, successfully filling…

Asante Gold: UK returns looted Ghana artefacts after 150 years bbc.co.uk/news/uk-687895…

Pompeii: Breathtaking new paintings found at ancient city - BBC News bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…

White Tulips by Charles Rennie Mackintosh c. 1920 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Glebe Place, Chelsea.

The Dove, No. 1, 1915 by Hilma af Klint, pioneer whose paintings were among the first of Western art not reflecting real scenes #WomensArt

Stage Set Design of an Ancient Roman Ruin being Converted into a Barn by Johann Heinrich Ramberg (Hanover, 1763–1840)
Pen and black ink, watercolour, and with touches of pen and brown ink
(The Metropolitan Museum)

A beautifully detailed modernist building in Berlin Mitte, the Jewish Girls School, with the shatteringly inauspicious date 1927-30. The architect, Alexander Beer was himself murdered at Theresienstadt.

Jean Seaton and I edited a special issue of ⁦Political Quarterly⁩ on the future of PSB with introductory essay by Mark Thompson. Thanks to so many thoughtful, distinguished contributors. ⁦Diane Coyle⁩ ⁦Richard Sambrook⁩ ⁦Martin Moore⁩ et al onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1467923x/2…

In the Spring Time by Harold Knight c. 1908-9 (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne). Cornwall.

Reminiscent of a Samuel Palmer painting. Gorgeous indeed…

Your annual reminder that TOM LEHRER IS STILL ALIVE and that, oddly, this somehow seems astonishing.

Edward Lear, Ponte Rotto, Rome nonsenselit.com/2024/04/09/edw… via Marco Graziosi

James Johnson J.L. Partners Number Cruncher Politics UK Henry Jackson Society according to your figures, 12% of *general public* think it 'desirable' that Islam is declared our national religion; this seems unlikely given that muslims make up 7% of the population, and that only 32% of the *muslims* sampled in your survey support it - any explanation?

I keep saying it - Starmer's FIRST job is to introduce draconian legislation against this sort of thing, reinstate the Electoral Commission with new fierce powers and to introduce new criminal offences for political and financial corruption dealt with by police, not house comms

Yep…

“An armada of off-cuts”: lovely piece…

Charles Pears
1873-1958
Nocturne: A Ship and a Tug Boat

Having seen a half-hour episode, Lew Grade felt it had the quality of a feature film and insisted that it be made as hour-long adventures. At £40,000 per episode, Thunderbirds was - at the time - the most expensive ever British TV series. Lady P was his favourite ITC character.

Shareholders at England’s water firms have received more than £23billion in dividends since 2010, an analysis has shown.

They were given nearly £23.4billion between 2010 and April 2022.

express.co.uk/news/uk/188456…

Yuk…