I have to admit I’d walked over Boris Anrep’s witty mosaics in the entrance of the National Gallery (below) for years without knowing who made them, even though the gallery has a good book about them. Then yesterday I saw Anrep’s mosaic work in Westminster Cathedral in a tour with the Decorative Arts Society led by Rory O’Donnell.
Anrep worked intermittently at Westminster over a long period from 1914 to 1963, his last work there being completed when he was 79. Everything he did is notable for its clear outlines and simplification appropriate to the medium. Naturally, he was influenced by the mosaics at Revenna, which this Westminster peacock recalls.
MARSHALL COLMAN 