interwar years

The anxious gaiety of Britain’s interwar years

17 January 2026 9:00 am

With the gradual extension of the franchise, a more egalitarian society flocked to theatres, music halls and holiday camps in a desperate bid to leave the trauma of war behind

‘Pastry Cook of Cagnes’, 1922, by Chaïm Soutine

Cabbages and kings

14 October 2017 9:00 am

The first pastry cook Chaïm Soutine painted came out like a collapsed soufflé. The sitter for ‘The Pastry Cook’ (c.1919)…

Great halls, last balls

28 May 2016 9:00 am

Contrary to popular myth, the exuberant flame of life in the English country house was not extinguished by tears at…