Here are two books to get you through a year of assemblies. To mark Guy Fawkes’ Day, Andrew Graham-Dixon chose Whistler’s “Nocturne in Black and Gold: the Falling Rocket” for his Sunday Telegraph column, In the Picture.
It’s now the first November entry in a selection of columns published by Penguin and subtitled A Year Through Art. This is the painting that led Whistler to sue the critic Ruskin for libel, and to be awarded a farthing damages.
Meanwhile, Germaine Greer explores year-round earthy pursuits in a delightful anthology, Poems for Gardeners (Virago). Seasonal selections for this month could include Edward Thomas on “Swedes”, Charles Tomlinson on “Parsnips” or Anne Ridler’s “Winter Song”.
