Last night’s National Gallery summer party saw guests carousing among some of the finest pictures ever painted. Sadly it was so hot that most chose to congregate around the air-con vents in the floor rather than the Turners and Vernets.
Tickets were pricey. The National is valiantly trying to fundraise before its bicentenary next year, and staff spent last night trying to flog “unique experiences” to guests. These, the National says, will make “the world’s most iconic artworks… exclusively yours”. They include £10,000 drawing lessons for toddlers. “The children and their accompanying adults will have the galleries all to themselves,” promises a brochure. Also on offer are tours followed by dinner among the paintings (£75,000) and a private piano recital with champagne reception (£50,000).
Artist Grayson Perry, above, was not impressed. “This seems more like a party of people enjoying being posh rather than having a good time,” he told us. “We have a surplus of the elite,” he went on, pausing only to have his champagne refilled, “and if there is a surplus of the elite, there will be a revolution. And if you’re going to have a revolution, this would be the place to start it!” Perry, who admits being a ‘champagne socialist’, says he will settle for voting Labour, even though “it’s now the party for people who went to university”.
Rishi v Boris no contest in style war
We ran into design savant and self-appointed custodian of cool Nicky Haslam at the National Gallery’s party last night. He has a surprising message for Englishmen: take your style cues from the Prime Minister, not the King. “With the King, it has too much going on, it’s all so, so blah”, he scoffed, gesturing at his lapels. “I’ve only seen him look really good perhaps half a dozen times. But I adore Rishi. He tries!” Haslam is even willing to countenance the PM’s remarkably high trouser cuffs. What of Sunak’s predecessor but one? “Boris doesn’t look good in anything because he has a most unfortunate shape,” he quipped.
Celeste gets a new fan
Singer Celeste gained a fan after her performance at the National’s party. Bianca Jagger, right, was seen bopping to the music in a front row seat. “Isn’t she wonderful?” said Jagger. The feeling was reciprocated when we relayed the news to Celeste. “Stop! I love her! I am starstruck,” she said, before getting us to send videos of her new fan clapping along. When we offered Jagger, 78, a hand up, she told us she is still fit as a fiddle, “thank you very much!”
The return of Sir Beer Korma?
Strait-laced Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer still manages to keep up a healthy appetite for beer, despite the busy day job. In an interview with Arsenal blogger Tom Canton this week, Sir Keir confirmed that he still goes for pints on a Sunday with his five-a-side team after they have played their regular game: “We always go for a drink afterwards, it’s a collection of people who do different things in their lives coming together out of the love of a sport. The games I play on the Sunday, nobody really gives a damn what you do for a living, they just want to know you’re a decent person playing football”. And Sir Keir also says he likes to have a sharpener before watching his beloved Arsenal play. “Because I’m a season ticket holder, there’s the inevitable, we get together for a drink before the game, a whole bunch of us walk down together.” Maybe Boris Johnson’s “Sir Beer Korma” pun had something in it.
Keeping it in the family
Nepo-babies ruled the West End last night. Brendan Gleeson saw his son Brian in The Crucible, while Leslie Mann and director Judd Apatow went to daughter Maude’s first night in Cabaret. Does Judd take credit for her success? “No, other than, I guess, genes”. We tried to chat with Kate Hudson about the play but ended up helping her to find her lipgloss. Elle Evans was also there. Across town, Leomie Anderson was at the Albert Hall for Cinderella-In-The-Round.
