‘Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait’ in London – Part 1
28 Wednesday Oct 2026
Posted in Anniversaries, Art and Photography, Marilyn Monroe
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Alfred Eisenstaedt, Andre De Dienes, Andrew O'Hagan, Andy Warhol, Arthur Felling ('Weegee'), Arthur Miller, Audrey Flack, Bruno Bernard, Cecil Beaton, Danny Lyon, Elliott Erwitt, Eve Arnold, Frank Powolny, George Barris, Joseph Jasgur, Jumpology, Laszlo Willinger, Leo Caloia, Life Magazine, London, Mao Zedong, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, Matty Zimmerman, Milton Greene, National Portrait Gallery, Norma Jeane, Pauline Boty, Philippe Halsman, Photomontage, Photorealism, Playboy, Pop Art, Robert Indiana, Rosie Broadley, Sam Shaw, The Seven Year Itch, Tom Kelley
On a sunny London evening, a small crowd has gathered outside the National Portrait Gallery. It’s June 1st, 2026, and Marilyn Monroe was born 100 years ago today. Among the onlookers, a drag artist wears a replica of Monroe’s red gown with a diagonal strap from How to Marry a Millionaire. The doors open, and Marilyn herself greets us from within a black-and-white photograph overlaid with the words Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait in yellow type. This image was captured in early 1953 by Alfred Eisenstaedt, one of many European emigrés who came to define photojournalism in postwar America.
At the time of the shoot, Marilyn was twenty-six years old and about to take her place among Hollywood’s elite with the release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She posed in the back yard of her Beverly Hills condo, wearing a black polo-neck jumper with white capri pants. One hand is placed on her hips, while the other reaches forward as she faces the camera with calm determination. Continue reading
2025: A Year in Books
15 Sunday Feb 2026
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Fiction, Non-Fiction
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2025, A Year in Books, Alba de Céspedes, Allegra Goodman, Andrew Miller, Another Man in the Street, Barbara Windsor, British Blonde, Carol White, Caroline Fraser, Caryl Phillips, Celia Dale, Crime Fiction, Crooked Cross, Daniel Kehlmann, Darryl W. Bullock, Diana Dors, Emma Donoghue, Eric Tucker, Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, G.W. Pabst, Gabriele Tergit, Germany, Havoc, Isola, Italy, Joe Meek, Julie Christie, Louise Brooks, Love and Fury, Lynda Nead, Murderland, Noah Eaton, Other People, Pauline Boty, Rebecca Wait, Rickard Sisters, Ruth Ellis, Saint of the Narrows Street, Sally Carson, Shadow Ticket, The Director, The Effingers, The Harrow, The Land in Winter, The Paris Express, The Secret Painter, There's No Turning Back, This Slavery, Thomas Pynchon, William Boyle
I read Thomas Pynchon’s first novel, The Crying of Lot 49, for my American Literature module at university – and like most of the books I studied back then, I haven’t returned to it in thirty years. But after seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, I started thinking maybe Pynchon wasn’t just another of those great white males I generally avoid like the plague. And that I might even enjoy reading one of his books, if the same kind of mayhem conjured on the screen could also be found within its pages.
In what has been a good year for fiction (if not our lived experience), Shadow Ticket was my most anticipated read of 2025. Continue reading
2025: A Year in Film
12 Monday Jan 2026
Posted in Film, Non-Fiction, Television
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2025, A Year in Films and TV, Barbara Loden, BFI, Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, Brian Murphy, Chase Infiniti, Cheers, Claudia Cardinale, Close Your Eyes, Corsica, David Lynch, Diane Ladd, Eka Chavleishvili, Elena Gorfinkel, Elene Naveriani, Film Noir, From Hilde With Love, Gene Hackman, George and Mildred, George Wendt, Georgia, Germany, Ghjuvanna Benedetti, Hard Truths, Hilde Coppi, India, Iran, It Was Just An Accident, Jafar Panahi, Joana Santos, Josh O'Connor, Julien Colonna, Kathy Burke, Kelly Reichardt, Laura Carreira, Liv Lisa Fries, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Martin Scorsese, Mayukh Sen, Merle Oberon, Mike Leigh, Nina Mae McKinney, Norman Eshley, On Falling, One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson, Picturehouse, Portugal, Prunella Scales, Rebekah Del Rio, Robert Redford, Sandhya Suri, Santosh, Saveriu Santucci, Scotland, Shahana Goswami, Some Like It Hot, Spain, Steven Cohan, Terence Stamp, The Kingdom, The Mastermind, The New Hollywood, Thomas Pynchon, Victor Erice, Wanda
Adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Vineland, no recent film speaks to our chaotic moment like One Battle After Another. Hilarious and unrelenting – with bravura turns from Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, newcomer Chase Infiniti, and Regina Hall – this screwball odyssey affirms director Paul Thomas Anderson as America’s millennial auteur. Continue reading
2025: A Year in Music
22 Monday Dec 2025
Posted in Lana Del Rey, Madonna, Music, Non-Fiction
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2025, A Year in Music, Bedtime Stories, Blondie, Bluebird, Clem Burke, Confessions on a Dancefloor, Ezra Furman, Father John Misty, Henry Come On, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, Katherine Priddy, Lana Del Rey, Lisa MacKinney, Madonna, Mani, Marianne Faithfull, Suede, The Bangles, The Shangri-Las, The Stone Roses, Veronica Electronica
With old favourites promising new music for next year, 2025 became a waiting game. Continue reading
Angels of Pop: Marilyn and Rosalyn Drexler
30 Tuesday Sep 2025
Posted in Art and Photography, Marilyn Monroe
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Arthur Miller, Clark Gable, Connecticut, Cornell Capa, Homage to Marilyn Monroe, Ira Slade, Kermit Miller, Mara Scherbatoff, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Pursued by Death, New York, Paris Match, Pop Art, Rosalyn Drexler, Roxbury, Sidney Janis Gallery, Something's Got To Give, The Misfits
Rosalyn Drexler, a pioneer of the Pop Art movement – and one of the first women to paint Marilyn Monroe – has died aged 98. Continue reading
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