Art of England - The Daily Express of Art Magazines

I bought Art of England for a contrast to Art Review and Art Forum. It has a very strange editorial policy, no apparent worries about integrity or credibility. Its target audience I would say is the retired water-colourist and the evening class taker.

This month the theme seemed to be Rolf Harris, as you will all know, Britain's most famous artist. The cover story was about the TV portrait programme he presents and the second was about the portrait of the Queen he was commissioned to paint for her 80th birthday celebrations. The cover feature is about the portrait equivalent of Ready Steady Cook Where three established portrait artist are challenged to paint a surprise guest in a place of the Celeb's choice. I can't really knock it as, although I don't really watch TV if I stumble across it, I will watch it through to the end, as I did with the article. As well as talking about the programme in general, it interviewed three of the most recent artists who had Barbara Windsor as a subject. What they had to say echoed my own feelings, they were in it for mostly three reason firstly and probably most importantly, fiscal the exposure and PR was worth it on its own, secondly to get out of the studio and work along side other artists and Thirdly for the challenge. I know it is very easy to slip into habits and close your mind it's why I came to University to open myself to new ideas. But a little less about me, and more about the article. It was really to promote a TV programme, which is a little like going to see artists in a zoo and watching them jump though hoops. At least the artist were getting their bit out of it too. It's like any relationship it can be boiled down to who's exploiting whom, this is not touched on at all by the magazine there is very little critical depth or opinion, it's input is more "just grateful to be here with the lovely Rolf”

The rest of the articles followed similar lines, one about a show of celebrity portraits from the National Portrait Gallery in a gallery in Walsall another on some anniversary or other show of the Royal Society of portrait Painters, no critical discourse just a mostly factual gently sycophantic description, big adverts really. But here is where I confuse myself a little, I quite admire the brazen “middle of the road-ness” of the magazine, the total lack of pretension, its ability to be self-sustaining to a mass audience. I wish there was a middle ground where a magazine tried to lead the evening classers away from the safety of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. But that is just another battle in my own personal art war."