a wonderful exhibition just opened at modern art oxford. graham sutherland: an unfinished world curated by george shaw (a painter whose humbrol coventry landscapes i love). i had, for a long time, thought of him, along with john piper, as a rather dowdy, insular painter of half-hearted not-quite-abstractions. i was wrong. it's also a joy to see mao - a place i love - packed with warm human stuff (the artwork and the people) after some cool, cold and less-than-popular shows. 

that was sutherland, this is shaw (you knew that, of course...)