LAUNCHED on World Oceans Day, June 8th, 2025.

TO THE SEA (A Shutter Hub Editions Publication, 116-pages: ISBN 978-1-7399632-9-3)

On carousel: Cover image copyright Jo Stapleton, 2025.

website: www.shutterhub.org.uk 

“We reminisce on childhood holidays and collecting seashells, dog walks on the beach, and the soothing sound of gently lapping waves. But we must remember, although it’s bigger than all of us, vast and powerful, the sea very much needs us to look after it. As climate change imposes more circumstantial realities on us, the sea becomes ever more important in our everyday lives,” Karen Harvey MBE, founder of Shutter Hub and curator of TO THE SEA.   

THE ARBUTURIAN ODE TO AN OAK

In Kew Gardens, Surrey this summer a remarkable digital light show, an installation created by Marshmallow Laser Feast, reveals how an oak tree grows, taking 250 years to mature to live it's best life for another 250 years. The vast Lucombe oak tree in Kew - right next to the installation - now 253 years old is the star of the show. It's simply wonderful. 

Read about it online in The Arbuturian. An Ode to an Oak | The Arbuturian

On carousel: Marshmallow Laser Feast installation 'Of the Oak', in Kew Gardens, Surrey, England Image copyright Barney steele, 2025.

THE NEW EUROPEAN THE BIRTH OF ART DECO

2025 is the centenary year the celebrates the birth of Art Deco in Paris in 1925. At the Musée des Arts Decoratif in Paris, three exhibitons this year explore the beginnings of Art Deco and the International 6-month exposition that was held in Paris from April-October 1925. You can read about it in The New European, issue 436 (May 22, 2025) pp.37-39 'Art Deco's lion of luxury' focussing first on the French interior designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann who dominated the expo. 

Art Deco’s lion of luxury - The New European

On carousel:

Extract from The New European, issue 436, 22 May 2025, p.37. Image © The New European 2025

THE ARBUTURIAN  IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RUBENS

Last month I visited Antwerp, to see the house and garden of the Flemish painter and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). The house is under restoration but the garden is now open to visit. It must be the most beautiful outdoor enclosed space in Antwerp. Rubens loved his family, his garden and Roman antiquity, and all feature in a painting by him, walking with his wife Helena and son Nicholas, in their garden at Rubenhuis, Antwerp c. 1630-1631. See carousel and read about this fabulous place in The Arbuturian.

In the Footsteps of Rubens | The Arbuturian

Further information:  Welcome to Rubenshuis | Rubenshuis | Rubenshuis

On carousel: Peter Paul Rubens, Helena Forment and their Son Nicholas Walking in their Garden (The Walk in the Garden), c 1630-31, image copyright Bayerrische Staatsgemaldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek, Munich, and Rubenhuis, Antwerp.

Rubens Garden (detail) photo copyright Ans Brys (courtesy of Rubenhuis, Antwerp)

THE NEW EUROPEAN 'EDVARD MUNCH, BEYOND THE SCREAM'

'Beyond The Scream' published in print on 15 May 2025 (online 27 April, 2025) in The New European. It relates to the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944) as a portraitist, and links to a current exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London 'Edvard Munch Portraits' (until 15th June).
Here is a link to the article.
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/rosalind-ormiston-edvard-munch-beyond-the-scream/?utm_campaign=e3d78db2-1665-41c4-8a42-9bf5f7965029&utm_source=1234586

On carousel:

Detail -copyright -from 3-page article in the print edition of The New European issue 435, 'Beyond the Scream', Eurofile, pp.35-37. Published 15 May 2025.

Portrait of Felix Auerbach (detail), Edvard Munch, 1906 © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

THE ARBUTURIAN     HIROSHIGE: ARTIST OF THE OPEN ROAD

A stunning exhibition Hiroshige: artist of the open road, at the British Museum, London (until 7 September 2025) focuses on the paintings, books, prints and sketches of Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). 

Read a review here in The Arbuturian. www.arbuturian.com 

Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road | The Arbuturian

on carousel: Cherry Blossoms on a Moonless Night along the Sumida River, 1847-8 © Alan Medaugh. Photography by Ryoko Matsuba