The AnswerBank Articles

Aboriginal art

Q. What is Australian Aboriginal art all about A. Traditional Aboriginal art is almost entirely religious and ceremonial, and it portrays - often in a very abstract manner - stories of 'the00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Give a dog a home: The Dog of Alcibiades

Q. What is the Dog of Alcibiades A. 'The Dog of Alcibiades' - also known as the 'Jennings Dog' - is a twice-lifesize marble sculpture of a Molossian Hound, the ancestor of modern mastiffs and00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Q. Who was Aldous Huxley A. The English novelist and essayist Aldous Leonard Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, on 26 July 1894. He came from a distinguished scientific and literary family: his00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Francois Mansart (1598-1666)

Q. Who was Fran ois Mansart A. Mansart - also spelt Mansard - was the first really important purveyor of French classicism in architecture and he played a leading role in shaping the French baroque00:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

Covinous, my dear Watson: Literary frauds

Q. What's behind the story that Conan Doyle was not the author of The Hound of the Baskervilles A. Historian Roger Garrick-Steele has suggested that the super-sleuth's most celebrated adventure was00:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

The Elgin Marbles

Q. What's the history of the Elgin Marbles A. After their victory against the Persians at Plataea in 479BC, the Athenians returned to find the Acropolis in ruins. It was rebuilt under the patronage00:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

What are the Arts Councils and what do they do with your money

Q. What arts funding bodies are there in the UK A. There are four separate arts councils in the UK: the Scottish Art Council, the Arts Council of Wales, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the00:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

Art Nouveau and Art Deco

Q. What's the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco A. These two movements, while they have much common ground, are quite distinct from one another, though many people mix them up. Both found00:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

Just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art : The Mona Lisa

Q. What's the story behind the theft of the Mona Lisa A. On Monday 21 August 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda - better known as the Mona Lisa, the world's most famous work of art - was stolen00:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

Eudora Welty: Who was she

A. Eudora Welty - who died following a bout of pneumonia on 23 July 2001 - was perhaps the most discreetly eminent of the 20th century's great American writers. She became famous for her short stories00:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

What are the origins of the pop video

A. In 1976 the kaleidoscopic images of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' burst on to our screens and the birth of the 'pop video' was announced. But was it art Certainly it was not entirely new.00:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

What's been happening at Somerset House

A. In the tradition of Covent Garden and Spitalfields Market, Somerset House - until recently government offices which had seen better days - has been refurbished and converted into a public area with00:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

What exactly does masterpiece mean

A. There are three main meanings, of diminishing degrees of precision: first - and in its original sense and one that we don't really use today - a test-piece of work submitted to a craft00:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

What are 'Hayvend' machines

A. Hayvend machines are the kind of vending machine more usually associated with pub toilets, though these don't dispense anything cocktail-flavoured or ribbed. First appearing in 1995, and the idea00:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

Street Theatre: legitimate art form or public nuisance

A. Time was when all theatre was street theatre or held in public places such as the courtyards of inns The exceptions were those that took place in private residences and churches. In Britain00:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

What is the Royal Collection

A. The Royal Collection has largely been formed by succeeding sovereigns, consorts and other members of the Royal Family in the three and a half centuries since the Restoration of the Monarchy in00:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

Why are publishers complaining Has fiction had its day

A. To look at the publishing industry in Britain today, you'd think things couldn't be healthier, with more books published year on year (currently about 120,000 new titles a year in the UK),00:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

What is vaudeville

A. Vaudeville is the American version of British music hall and variety. It flourished from the last quarter of the 19th century to the mid 20th. Q. Where does the name come from A. The term00:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

A kitsch too far: the return of the Green Lady

Q. The return of that Green Lady Surely not A. Yes, she's back. Vladimir Tretchikoff's Green Lady, J.H. Lynch's Tina (hugging a tree trunk she stares provocatively from the picture, lips slightly00:00 Mon 09th Jul 2001

Was Henry Root a real person

A. Henry Root, who retired at 45 having made a fortune in wet fish, was not a real person, though many thought - maybe still think - he was. Root was the alter ego of William Donaldson, author and00:00 Mon 09th Jul 2001