![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/03f2b5d3-47f8-4676-8df5-1b1a9eb8234f.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI did not grow up in a rarefied world. I went to a local comprehensive and, in a \u200b\u00adpre-\u200b\u00adinternet age, I did what everyone else did: played until dark in the street, listened to CDs and watched Tony Hart, the brilliant art teacher, on the telly. I made art all the time and slowly, through a few good books, found myself learning about famous works.<\/p>\n
After studying art history I worked at the British Museum, where I often felt out of place. I had zero connections in the field. I remember being asked a few times, \u201cWhat does your father do?\u201d and replying \u201cWhen?\u201d while thinking, What does he do when \u2026 he wakes up? I spent years learning how to fit in.<\/p>\n
Now, as curator of Soho House\u2019s global art collection, I have spent more than half my life looking at art and I\u2019m certain that it\u2019s made me more receptive to the thoughts and experiences of people I might never meet, \u200b\u00adancient and contemporary. It\u2019s a shame that so many of us miss out on this. I can\u2019t count the times people have said something to me along the lines of, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about art but I do like David Hockney.\u201d No one is embarrassed when they say, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about music but I do love Coldplay.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, then, is a call to arms, an invitation \u200b\u00adto bring art into your life. Along with the artist David Shrigley \u2014 whose witty paintings you see here \u2014 I want to decode a world that can seem pretentious and intimidating. Let\u2019s dive in. The water\u2019s lovely.<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Inside the family home of the woman who curates art for Soho House<\/a><\/p>\n How to talk about art you don\u2019t like<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to like everything. In fact you need to give yourself permission to actively dislike things. You do it with music, you do it with movies \u2014 do it with art.<\/p>\n My number one ick is the 18th-century Venetian Canaletto, who could not stop painting his home town. There are loads of his canals in British museums and I dislike them all. I feel similarly about Antonio Canova, who sculpted in the whitest of white marble and created objects that say nothing. You can find his snooze-inducing art across Italy, in the Met in New York and in the Louvre.<\/p>\n Take responses like these and use them: it will give you more confidence in your own opinions. For instance, why am I so frustrated by Canaletto? I lived in Venice for a while when I was at university and as a tutor in my early twenties. Having spent so much time there I\u2019ve always felt his paintings came up short. I was almost angry at them for failing to transmit Venice\u2019s magnificence.<\/p>\n But Canaletto isn\u2019t really to blame: he had bills to pay and there was no such thing as a museum when he was alive. He sent all his paintings to their owners and didn\u2019t intend for them all to meet up to irritate me with their aristocratic uniformity.<\/p>\n There is plenty of art that will bore you. No one talks about it very much but it\u2019s par for the course. Just keep moving.<\/p>\n \u2022 David Shrigley: \u2018At art school I thought printmaking was boring\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n How to look at Van Gogh\u2019s Sunflowers<\/p>\n There are more films and TV programmes about Van Gogh than any other artist but the most compelling is a three-minute clip on the Doctor Who YouTube channel. In Vincent van Gogh Visits the Gallery, a curator (Bill Nighy) gives a rousing overview of the artist\u2019s legacy without knowing that a time-travelling Vincent is there, crying tears of joy.<\/p>\n On the surface Sunflowers is a straightforward picture. We know exactly what it depicts (15 flowers in a pot), when it was painted (one week in August 1888) and where Van Gogh installed it (a guest bedroom intended for Paul Gauguin). Yet I have always found it mysterious, for two reasons. First, many people have no idea you can see this for free any day of the week. (Go to the National Gallery an hour before closing to be among the last people there.) Second, it is difficult to pinpoint the source of its profound impact. It is not a traditionally beautiful work. The flowers are painted rather coarsely and the scene is devoid of other interest. Some of the flowers are past their best.<\/p>\n Van Gogh\u2019s 1888 Sunflowers is free to see at the National Gallery<\/p>\n ALAMY<\/p>\n But the painting\u2019s honest simplicity means it has not aged: sunflowers still look like that and so do pots. Van Gogh selected his colours very carefully. He was making a radical gesture by reducing his palette, positioning the sunflowers against a yellow background and in a yellow vase. The painting is a symphony of thickly painted yellow tones, some muddied with brown, some bright like a canary, others almost golden. He used a beautiful bright blue to sign his name in a slightly shaky line. That signature was painted more than 130 years ago but when I look at it I feel he has just stepped out of the room.<\/p>\n How to look at art with a toddler<\/p>\n When my daughter was two I devised a foolproof system. It worked in London galleries, which I know well, but crucially it worked everywhere. I hope it works for you. My system: <\/p>\n \u2022 Ensure the child is well-rested, fed and watered.<\/p>\n \u2022 Before you leave write a simple checklist in colourful pens (with a big tick box next to each item) of things you are going to find at the gallery.<\/p>\n \u2022 Bring a pencil (not a pen, unless you like to live dangerously) to tick them off.<\/p>\n \u2022 In a historic collection, you should find: <\/p>\n \u2013 dog Questions to ask throughout: <\/p>\n \u2013 What can you see? Describe the artwork to me. First you need to ask yourself: can I afford this? Do I trust the sellers? Will I still love it next year? You wouldn\u2019t buy a car, a designer handbag or a house without asking the same things. Every week I am asked where to buy less expensive work (\u00a3500 or less). Here are my tips.<\/p>\n Open studio weekends<\/p>\n Search Google Maps for artist studio blocks near where you live. If you can get to a big city such as London or Paris, you will be falling over for open studio events, where there is no pressure to buy, but they also happen in smaller cities. They tend to be busiest on opening night but quiet on a Sunday.<\/p>\n Emerging galleries<\/p>\n These are mostly led by young dealers representing strong emerging \u200b\u00adtalent. For a long time \u201cemerging\u201d meant \u201cyoung\u201d but today there is more awareness that you can emerge late in life. In London I recommend Sid Motion<\/a>, Soft Opening<\/a>, Ginny on Frederick and Union Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n Museum gift shops <\/p>\n The best UK example is the House of Voltaire<\/a>, a small gallery, caf\u00e9 and studio complex in south London. The Whitechapel Gallery<\/a> in east London sells work by a great line-up of artists. And Tate Modern runs Tate Edit, which commissions contemporary artists to make multiples. Many of these sell out quickly so it\u2019s worth joining Tate\u2019s mailing list.<\/p>\n Art fairs<\/p>\n The Other Art Fair<\/a> is thoroughly democratic, with artists presenting their own work in friendly booths and live music. Similar in spirit is London\u2019s Art Car Boot Fair<\/a>, a quintessentially British affair where artists make inexpensive items that are on sale for one day only.<\/p>\n Graduate shows<\/p>\n Look up the dates on art school websites. You don\u2019t usually need a ticket.<\/p>\n On Instagram<\/p>\n During the pandemic the British painter Matthew Burrows developed the Artist Support Pledge<\/a>, whereby artists all over the world could sell their art on Instagram and the public could easily find art for \u00a3200 plus postage. Every time an artist made \u00a31,000 they committed 20 per cent to purchasing the work of another artist using the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. Search for the hashtag to get involved.<\/p>\n How to make your dog more cultural<\/p>\n A great way to undermine the snootiness of art world folk is to make your dog more cultural. With a dog as your companion you are asserting a \u201ctake me as I am\u201d attitude. Plus there are plenty of places where you can include your four-legged friend. The following tips are designed for dogs but could be adapted for another pet.<\/p>\n If the opportunity arises to name a dog, give it something that conveys that this ain\u2019t no philistine pup. Take a trip to your local gallery and find a name that resonates. Rothko, Kahlo and Riley are all great.<\/p>\n Many galleries have extensive grounds. In south London the gardens of the Horniman Museum<\/a> boast many erudite-looking dogs. Also in London is the excellent public sculpture walk, the Line<\/a>, which connects the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the O2, is 4.8 miles long and very much welcomes dogs. In New York an organisation called dOGUMENTA<\/a> (a play on Documenta, the art gathering that happens every five years in Germany) hosts exhibitions for dogs \u2014 the most New York thing ever.<\/p>\n Next time you visit a museum take a good picture of all the animals you see, then observe what your dog responds to when it looks at the photos on your phone. If you own a dog that howls at paintings of cats, you are doing brilliantly. Dogs also respond well to images of other canines.<\/p>\n When showing your dog art, remember they don\u2019t see as much colour as humans: they are limited to blue, yellow and shades of grey. They\u2019ll probably like Shrigley\u2019s work so you can show them this drawing if you like.<\/p>\n![\"Van](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/b460c827-bb00-4ce8-9cc3-ed0597e6da56.jpg\")
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\u2013 lamb
\u2013 horse
\u2013 bird
\u2013 baby
\u2013 blue sky with clouds
\u2013 bouquet of flowers
\u2013 wild-looking man
\u2013 sad-looking woman
\u2013 someone with no clothes on<\/p>\n
\u2013 Do you like it?
\u2013 Which one do you think looks funny?
\u2013 Which one do you think looks a little scary?
\u2013 Do you need a wee?<\/p>\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/b471b7a9-204d-4af5-a1ad-e97e377a0790.jpg\")
How to buy inexpensive art<\/p>\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/bb9764db-7700-44c2-b9c4-8dddc0f4c8bf.jpg\")
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