Where to go, who to see, what to do: everything we absolutely love this week.
Devour Cormac McCarthy’s new novel; wander amidst Magdalena Abakanowicz’s woven sculptures; discover Germany’s female Modernist counterparts to Kandinsky: everything we love this week.
Bath Mozartfest
11 – 19 November
The annual celebration of the finest in classical music is back for its 31st outing. Created in 1991 by Mary Purnell to honour her late husband who adored both the city of Bath and the music of Mozart, it is still going strong and, this year, enthusiasts will be able to take in the London Mozart Players, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra. It promises to be a civilised and wholly beautiful way to spend a week. Find out more here.
Aubrie Dress By Rixo, £225
Who cares if Rixo’s new flamenco-vibe frocks, which are inspired by vintage nightgowns, are sleeveless and thus not wholly practical for the moment we are plunging headlong into the depths of winter? When they are as lovely as this, we’ll find a way to wear them whatever the weather. (The way is teamed with shearling coats, obviously). Buy it.
Magdalena Abakanowicz At Tate Modern
17 November – 21 May
Back in the 1960s and 70s, Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created a series of woven sculptures that came to be known at the Abakans. Now, housed within the Blavatnik Building at Tate Modern, the pieces are being displayed to stunning effect across the 64-metre long gallery, a forest of sorts, amid which viewers can wander – and wonder – freely. Find out more here.
Oven Polenta With Roasted Mushrooms & Thyme, From Bon Appetit
Image: Alex Lau, Food Styling By Sue Li
Creamy and soft, this is an earthy and warming bowl of sheer comfort and exactly what we want to eat right now. Cook it.
Making Modernism: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin At Royal Academy of Arts
12 November 2022 — 12 February 2023
Ever heard of Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin? If you have, then bravo. But for the rest of us, this new show at the RA trains a spotlight on the pioneering women who, though celebrated in their homeland, are little known here. They say, ‘The exhibition reframes subjects such as self-portraiture, still-life, the female body, depictions of childhood, landscapes and urban scenes through the experiences and perspectives of these ground-breaking artists who – although less familiar than their male counterparts, such as Wassily Kandinsky – were no less central to the development of radical new approaches to art in Europe.’ Find out more here.
Stella Maris By Cormac McCarthy; £17.60
Sixteen years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, Cormac McCarthy is back – again. After releasing The Passenger, the first part of the tale of Bobby Western, a diver investigating a sunken jet plane, he’s followed it swiftly up with its sequel, Stella Maris. It focuses on Alicia Western, and her psychiatric transcripts as she is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Buy it.
Vinterfint Throw By IKEA, £20
Throws are everything in winter – and never more so than this winter, with our collective reluctance to switch the heading on. We love IKEA’s festive tartan version – and all for just £20. Buy it.
Ulcombe, Kent, Through Inigo; £950,000
This Grade II-listed four-bed house in Kent is a Jacobean dream. We love the patchwork of styles, and the cottage-meets-grand-manor-house feel. Find the details here.
By Nancy Alsop
November 2022
TREAT YOUR EARDRUMS TO THIS
Bath Mozartfest
11 – 19 November
The annual celebration of the finest in classical music is back for its 31st outing. Created in 1991 by Mary Purnell to honour her late husband who adored both the city of Bath and the music of Mozart, it is still going strong and, this year, enthusiasts will be able to take in the London Mozart Players, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra. It promises to be a civilised and wholly beautiful way to spend a week. Find out more here.
WEAR THIS
Aubrie Dress By Rixo, £225
Who cares if Rixo’s new flamenco-vibe frocks, which are inspired by vintage nightgowns, are sleeveless and thus not wholly practical for the moment we are plunging headlong into the depths of winter? When they are as lovely as this, we’ll find a way to wear them whatever the weather. (The way is teamed with shearling coats, obviously). Buy it.
WANDER THROUGH A WOVEN FOREST AT THIS
Magdalena Abakanowicz At Tate Modern
17 November – 21 May
Back in the 1960s and 70s, Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created a series of woven sculptures that came to be known at the Abakans. Now, housed within the Blavatnik Building at Tate Modern, the pieces are being displayed to stunning effect across the 64-metre long gallery, a forest of sorts, amid which viewers can wander – and wonder – freely. Find out more here.
COOK THIS
Oven Polenta With Roasted Mushrooms & Thyme, From Bon Appetit
Image: Alex Lau, Food Styling By Sue Li
Creamy and soft, this is an earthy and warming bowl of sheer comfort and exactly what we want to eat right now. Cook it.
DISCOVER UNSUNG PIONEERS AT THIS
Making Modernism: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin At Royal Academy of Arts
12 November 2022 — 12 February 2023
Ever heard of Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin? If you have, then bravo. But for the rest of us, this new show at the RA trains a spotlight on the pioneering women who, though celebrated in their homeland, are little known here. They say, ‘The exhibition reframes subjects such as self-portraiture, still-life, the female body, depictions of childhood, landscapes and urban scenes through the experiences and perspectives of these ground-breaking artists who – although less familiar than their male counterparts, such as Wassily Kandinsky – were no less central to the development of radical new approaches to art in Europe.’ Find out more here.
PREORDER THIS
Stella Maris By Cormac McCarthy; £17.60
Sixteen years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, Cormac McCarthy is back – again. After releasing The Passenger, the first part of the tale of Bobby Western, a diver investigating a sunken jet plane, he’s followed it swiftly up with its sequel, Stella Maris. It focuses on Alicia Western, and her psychiatric transcripts as she is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Buy it.
CURL UP WITH THIS
Vinterfint Throw By IKEA, £20
Throws are everything in winter – and never more so than this winter, with our collective reluctance to switch the heading on. We love IKEA’s festive tartan version – and all for just £20. Buy it.
LUST OVER THIS
Ulcombe, Kent, Through Inigo; £950,000
This Grade II-listed four-bed house in Kent is a Jacobean dream. We love the patchwork of styles, and the cottage-meets-grand-manor-house feel. Find the details here.
By Nancy Alsop
November 2022
Read More
