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London Review of Books Christmas Books

At the National Gallery subscriber-only content

Peter Campbell

The hot, humid weather these last weeks has made me more conscious of the ways people stand and move about. Exposed flesh increases in area as the temperature rises. Traditional hot-country solutions, something loose and flowing – pyjamas, jellabas, saris and so forth – are not much in evidence. In crowded streets, a tetchy weariness surfaces. Some people are more affected than others. For instance, casual observation suggests that we are in the middle of a baby boom, but it may just be that imagining what it is like to be near term or strapped in a buggy in sticky weather makes me pay more attention to pregnant women and babies.

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Peter Campbell is the London Review’s resident designer and art critic.

LRB cover artwork

From the archive

At Tate Britain
Barry Schwabsky on Bridget Riley

At the Royal Scottish Academy
Eleanor Birne: Ron Mueck

At the National Gallery
Peter Campbell: Ingres-flesh

Brush for Hire
Eamon Duffy on Protestant painting

So South Kensington
Julian Bell on Walter Sickert