Some Cultural Recommendations, Courtesy of Michael Hill, Robbie Collin, and David Coggins

As life in lockdown continues, we gathered a handful of cultural recommendations to see you through the weekend and beyond, courtesy of our Creative Director Michael Hill, and two friends of the brand: traveller and writer, David Coggins, and Telegraph chief film critic, Robbie Collin. 

I and I at Turn Gallery, NYC

A Selection of Online Art, with Michael Hill

 "I've been thinking about what a shame it is for artists who can't show their work at this difficult time, particularly those with exhibitions that have been scheduled in for months, only to be cancelled on account of the lockdown. 

"Thankfully, many galleries and artists have responded to the situation with admirable resilience and innovation. Turn Gallery in NYC is currently exhibiting work by the excellent painters Farshad Farzankia, and Mason Saltarelli. Obviously the gallery itself is closed, so instead they are offering a 3D tour of the exhibition, which is also great for those of us not in New York, who would have missed out anyway. 

"Dominic McHenry - an exceptionally talented young sculptor, and friend of the brand - would have been showing last month at the Blue Shop Cottage in Camberwell. BSC have made images of the exhibition available on their site, as well as some info on Dominic. A handful of Dominic's pieces are also on display in our Savile Row shop, so I would encourage you to come by and have a look, once we're safely reopened!

Dominic McHenry at Blue Shop Cottage

"New York's Cheryl Hazan Gallery is also making their current exhibition available on Artsy. Entitled Cake, the show comprises art by two Swiss painters who I'm fond of, Yvonne Robert and Gabriele Herzog. Another gallery using Artsy to share art with its followers is the East London-based Arcade (which is only the other side of Old Street from our tie factory). Representing artists such as Drake's favourite Clive Hodgson (another artist whose work you can find in our Savile Row shop), Arcade is running a series of online exhibitions called 21 Days, in partnership with Artsy. 

Yvonne Robert at Cheryl Hazan Gallery, via Artsy

Gabriele Herzog at Cheryl Hazan Gallery, via Artsy

"Going back to the other side of the Pond, Cheim & Read gallery has made available images of their current exhibition of paintings by the renowned abstract artist, Kimber Smith. Well worth a look. Otherwise, I've been following the work of Artist Support Pledge, which is a sort of circular fundraising initiative designed to support artists, who in turn support other members of the art community. Artists we've featured in the past, such as Charlie Schaffer and Ben Deakin, have been involved, and it's a great opportunity to get your hands on some lovely pieces of art.

Kimber Smith at Cheim & Read Gallery

"For many of us, visiting a gallery on a weekend is an experience that's sorely missed. Our routines may have been dramatically interrupted, but there are still many ways to enjoy art from the comfort of our homes."

A Selection of Travel Books, with David Coggins

 We asked friend and contributor David Coggins to share some choice travel books from his enviable collection.

How to Travel Incognito by Ludwig Bemelmans

"Known for his children’s books and illustrations (and the wonderful murals at the bar which was named for him), Bemelmans is one of the most impossibly charming writers of the twentieth century. He traveled widely and well, ate and drank heroically. It’s not clear what’s real and what’s made up about this trip through France pretending to be an obscure German prince, and it doesn’t matter."

White Mischief by James Fox

"Not a travel book, but a true crime story of British aristocracy in Happy Valley in Kenya. Some very bad behavior, and that’s before the murder. Brilliantly chronicled by James Fox, who went on to ghost write the celebrated Keith Richards memoir Life. Absolutely riveting."

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby

"Newby hilariously recounts his ambitious climb in the Nuristan peaks despite no mountaineering experience. A favorite for the author’s incredible appeal and wry self-deprecation."

The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee

"The author chronicles the making of a traditional canoe mastered by Native Americans, (all bark with no screws or nails). Then he goes on a trip through the Maine wilderness in that very boat. Like all McPhee’s work it’s wonderfully observed and pitch perfect."

A Selection of Films You Might Not Have Seen, with Robbie Collin

 Telegraph chief film critic and BBC broadcaster, Robbie Collin, picked out a few films that would make perfect quarantine viewing, and which might have escaped you up until now.

The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges, 1942)

"Light-speed screwball in which Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea decide to divorce in order to solve their money worries, and don’t quite manage. Sturges’ comedy isn’t merely freewheeling: it cuts its own brake cables."

Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955) 

"The heist film against which all others are measured, shot in Paris by a studio director in exile, and swirling in cusp-of-the-New Wave cool. Its centrepiece break-in has to be seen – in pin-drop silence – to be believed."

The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1967)

"How did the Hollywood musical get from Singin’ in the Rain to La La Land? Via this vitamin shot of pure French joie de vivre, in which Catherine Deneuve and François Dorleac dream of big-city stardom in their sleepy coastal market town."

The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

"Elliott Gould’s Philip Marlowe is an old-school private eye adrift in Nixon-era LA, wrestling with a mystery he can barely wrap his head around. Beating Chinatown to the punch by 15 months, this is neo-noir at its most dazed and seductive."

Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich, 1973)

"A silver-tongued conman and his nine-year-old assistant scrape a dishonest living together in the Great Depression, parting widows from their savings with uproarious ease. Played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, the two are quite literally a born double act."