No wealth but life

THIS year, we mark the bicentenary of the art critic, artist, social reformer and polymath John Ruskin (above, 1819–1900, ‘Seven lamps of Ruskinism’, page 84). UK events include: ● ‘All Great Art Is Praise’, an evening of words and music at the Royal Academy, London W1, on Ruskin’s 200th birthday, February 8. With readings by Michael Palin and Dan Draper and performances by tenor Richard Edgarwilson and the Coull Quartet. ● Entries open for The Ruskin Prize 2019 on February 8. ● ‘John Ruskin: The Power of Seeing’ at Two Temple Place, London WC2 (January 26–April 22) and then the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield (May 29–September 15) brings together more than 190 works to illustrate how Ruskin’s ideas on aesthetic beauty shaped his radical views on culture and society and reveals the enduring legacy of his vision.

● ‘Ruskin, Turner & the Storm Cloud’ at York Art Gallery (March 29–June 23) and Abbot Hall, Kendal, Cumbria (July 11–October 5) considers Ruskin’s artistic response to Turner’s landscapes, through which he discovered ‘Truth to Nature’. ● ‘Incandescence: Turner’s Venice’ at Brantwood, Coniston, Cumbria (April 11–August 4), features views of Venice in oils and watercolour by the artist who was one of the great shaping forces in Ruskin’s life. Also at Brantwood (August 8–November 11), ‘Treasure from Dust’ celebrates the return to Ruskin’s Lake District home of his collection of more than 2,000 geological specimens.

For further information on lectures, conferences and worldwide events, Ruskin To-day has an online calendar (www.ruskinto-day.org).

Books marking the bicentenary include Ruskin and his Contemporaries by Robert Hewison, Ruskinland by Andrew Hill (both published by Pallas Athene) and To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters by Suzanne Fagence Cooper (Quercus). MM