‘Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.’
Meeting Margaret Thatcher at the Lithuanian Independence celebrations in London, 2008
The Judas Kiss
The Judas Kiss
Director - Neil Armfield
Duke of York’s theatre, London
Theatre Review
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph noted that the play was “first staged in 1998, David Hare’s play about Oscar Wilde and his beloved Lord Alfred Douglas received a critical mauling. But Neil Armfield’s fine production, first seen at Hampstead last year, has turned a famous flop into a genuine hit, greatly helped by Rupert Everett’s brilliant and deeply felt performance as Wilde.”
It was a good play, quality acting, but nothing really exceptional. My interest was spurred by a rather heartfelt account of Oscar Wilde’s life by Frank Harris, who knew the Irish writer personally. His observations struck me as naive at times, particularly in references to Wilde’s sexuality, but provided a reasonable glimpse into society and London (from Chelsea to Savoy to the Cafe Royal) Wilde operated in.
Duke of York’s theatre warned against “the scenes of adult nature”, which came in a form of well endowed naked Mediterranean fisherman lieing around with Apollonian marble skin Freddie Fox as Lord Alfred Douglas. A bit distracting but not obscene and thus the play retained a good flow and impeccable performance by Rupert Everett.
Shame about the lemon sole that we had to leave untouched at St John’s restaurant as we were running late for the show. It is seriously good food restaurant. Our friends were on some crazy diet where no carbs allowed and St John’s is perfect for that. Earthy real British food, meat and meat and fish and meat. Snails salad is a must.
The Unbearable
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Book Review
When I was reading it, I thought it must be like 50 Shades of Grey for young male pseudo intellectuals…
Disclaimer: I haven’t read 50 Shades of Grey nor do I know a single young pseudo intellectual… Well, one, perhaps… or two. A few, if I am honest.
***
Have you ever read a book on war whilst on a trip? I have picked up Kundera’s the Unbearable Lightness of Being for my Alps - Bonn trip and upon my return to the adopted home in London, I couldn’t feel anything but blissful happiness to be back. And over with the book.
Books can alter time & indeed it felt as if it has been years rather than days away. Perhaps its the chauvinism of Kundera’s male hero or the heaviness of Cold War or simply bad book.
I don’t care what intelligent people that write book reviews for the Sunday Times or Ian McEwan (who praises the book) think. I felt the book was the Emperors New Clothes with cliché portrayal of Soviet Union and neuro-erotic sketches copied from pompous Sigmund Freud’s lecture notes. Totally male perspective of female complexities.
While Kundera captured the character of a Soviet émigré found in gatherings of diaspora in Zurich wagging his finger well and there were few other interesting thoughts, but to my mind the book was full of cliches. I would go as far as to say that it was kitsch: a collection of other philosopher’s thoughts wrapped in distasteful and misguided male - female paradigm.
I feel like I am on my own with this rather negative opinion of the book. Perhaps I will try to read it again in 5 years time and see whether I change my view. And perhaps this book will leave a huge impression on me for a long time, but I have zero interest in reading another one by him.
I sometimes wish I didn’t feel such a commitment to complete reading books I told like. Alas!
Day After “No”
Opinion
Yesterday (16 April), the European parliament considered the proposals in a make-or-break vote and rejected the Commission’ proposal to postpone issuance / auctioning of 900 million EUAs. Carbon prices plunged to record lows.
The irony is that MEPs, who voted against carbon fix, based on arguments that carbon price increase energy prices and damage already weak economies, shot themselves in the foot.
Backloading was needed to give confidence in the market, even if technically is a ‘non-solution’. The permits are not cancelled, rather their issuance via auctioning is postponed. In other words, looking purely at the numbers backloading does not affect the price over the long period of time. Its a little like quantitative easing. Printing money does not increase value of the economy, but gives a positive signal to the market.
Yes, backloading would have increased the price of carbon. According to analysts, perhaps by few Euros. But few Euros on power price that is close to €40 (at the time of writing this article German power baseload 1 year was at €39)will do much less damage to the European economy than going back on a flagship climate policy instrument (EU ETS) that according to the EU Commission’s data has driven carbon emissions reductions and partly investments in green energy.
Moreover, Germany’s biggest utility E.ON was quoted on Point Carbon that Europe could face higher energy costs after failing to bolster the EU carbon market. It was noted that “without a functioning ETS, EU countries needing to meet green energy targets, are likely to turn to carbon taxes and further subsidies for renewable sources that will be passed on to consumers.”
Indeed, the alternatives could be carbon tax or command and control type of regulation. They can be implemented nationally, since there is no escape from the emissions reductions targets the Members States took on already. UK has already announced plans to have “carbon floor price.” See how that will increase the power price.
So by voting against improving the design of cap and trading system, the opposing MEPs, actually voted against a policy tool that could ensure the carbon price that reflects the economic reality and drives the move towards low carbon economy.
***
I always said that no policy or its design should be a sacred cow, its a pillar of good governance and democracy and therefore emissions trading scheme as a policy tool should be subject to review. However, I think there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the vote is about.
Many MEPs didn’t even engage with the issue (of inelasticity of the instrument) at stake but rather use the time to manifest support for industries and please some lobbyists. They voted on the question whether EU economy is on the mend, no on the actually question of climate policy design. An example of the quality of the debate can be illustrated with a statement by a British UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom:”This debate of on backloading is nonsense because climate change is not happening.”
This particular instance makes me believe that in some instances, a detail of an agreed policy tool design should not be discussed on federal legislative level, but left to the executive branch, responsible for implementation.
***
The European carbon market
The predictions before the vote were that should the vote not pass, we will have the prices of carbon could fall below €1. But yesterday after vote, Dec 13 EUA contract only fell to €2.63, later recovering and closing at €3.09. There is no question that the market is oversupplied and the price will continue to drift downwards, as utilities stock up cover their shorts until 2020.
But market participants are also aware that its not over for the EU ETS. It is a flagship climate policy and it will take one decisive step – to increase the overall emissions reductions targets to 30%, however unlikely it might seem.
There are other options identified by the EU Commission :
Increasing the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020 from 20% to 30% below 1990 levels;
Retiring a certain number of phase three allowances permanently;
Revising the 1.74% annual reduction in the number of allowances to make it steeper;
Bringing more sectors into the EU ETS;
Limiting access to international credits;
Introducing discretionary price management mechanisms such as a price management reserve.
Alternative option - backloading by Member States
Rather than adopt legislation to prevent the allocation of EUAs over the next three years, European governments could instead buy these credits in the spot market and sell them back in the future at a fixed price determined now.
Through this structure European Governments can replicate the effects of the proposed back-loading structure meaning reduced short term over supply whilst reintroducing the volume in the future. The exchanges that have been approved by the EU and UK Government to auction existing EUAs already provide these contracts.
***
Facts and figures of the carbon market
From the EU Commission website:
The cap on emissions in phase two of the EU ETS (2008-2012) is some 6.5% lower than for phase one (2005-2007) and was considered ambitious when it was set. However the economic crisis has radically altered the picture and since 2009 the EU ETS has experienced a growing surplus of allowances and international credits compared to emissions which has significantly weakened the price signal.
By early 2012 the surplus had reached 955 million allowances and a continued rapid build-up is expected over the rest of 2012 and in 2013 due largely to a number of temporary factors directly related to the transition to phase three (2013-2020). This means that by the start of phase three the surplus could be well over 1.5 billion allowances or even up to 2 billion.
For more references you can see the contributors to the discussion on auctioning at
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/consultations/0017/index_en.htm
***
Wider implications of the vote
Power price and power company share price
The carbon price is an important driver of the European power price and important driver into the renewables. For utilities carbon is a cost that is passed on to the customers. In a coal dominated power generation market, as for example Germany, utilities need to buy about 0.8 certificates for each MWh of power they produce. Therefore, German power prices move by about €0.8 per MWh for each €1 change in the carbon price - says Roland Vetter - head of research at CF Partners.
The higher the price of carbon – the better it is for utilities that generate powers from low or zero carbon sources. It is also, good for coal driven utilities as they pass on the price on the consumer.
The decision against backloading yesterday caused a sell–off of the European utilities sector (the S&P utilites index SX6P closed down 2.1%). Power prices in Europe declined on the back of lower carbon prices (German power was down about 3%), which means lower profits for companies with direct exposure to power prices (mainly nuclear and hydro generators), - he noted.
No vote dashed hopes a quick recovery of the sector profitability. Campanies most hit were the large hydro generators Fortum (-7.5%) and Verbund (7.0%). Among the integrated large cap companies E.ON showed the largest decline (5.0%).
Investments in carbon projects – well is down down down
Carbon projects investments have been dead before even this vote. With price of Kyoto permits generated in the development countries through Clean Development Mechanism less than a Euro, investments are simply not worthwhile. And it has been a widely documented and discussed case now for a while.
Carbon project finance that depend on a traded carbon price should completely come to a halt until there is more clarity if the EU is capably of implementing structural changes to the system. This would mean, either reducing the longer-term allocations or putting a carbon floor price in place to guarantee a price that makes investments in low carbon technology economic. However, a lot of investments in renewable technologies (mainly wind, solar and biomass projects) currently do not depend on the traded carbon price but get direct subsidies in form of feed-in tariffs (a guaranteed price) or renewable certificates (additional payments on top of the power price). As long as these subsidies stay in place the respective investments should continue.
To Be Or Not To Be for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
I thought the answer to the question to be or not to be is To Be! But I was wrong. The answer is “barely alive”. For now.
The European Commission tabled the backloading proposal in July, suggesting to raise flat-lining carbon prices by withholding 900 million allowances from auction, so creating a market scarcity.
Today (16 April), the European parliament considered the proposals in a make-or-break vote and rejected the Commission’ proposal. Carbon prices plunged to record lows but ETS is not dead!
‘No’ vote simply means that the chosen approach to ensuring the effective EU climate policy instruments is not the preferred one. I noted before, involving legislators in detailed policy designed is not always wise. However, the important thing to keep in mind is what a policy tool such as cap and trade system is an instrument of. It is there to help to achieve the green house gas emissions reductions in the EU and drive our economies towards sustainability.
There are a number of ways to achieve emissions reductions and EU ETS showed a lot of potential. It is a reason why many other countries such as China or Australia are implementing cap and trade.
Commissioner Hedegaard in her statement following today’s vote by the European Parliament noted that “when it was suggested in the second vote that the Parliament finalised its rejection right away, this was not supported. The proposal will now go back to the Parliament’s Environment Committee for further consideration.” In other words back to the drawing board.
To my mind its a painful but necessary process. No policy tool or its design should be a sacred cow, particularly in the developments stage. It has to serve the purpose it is intended for. If a policy instrument fails to achieve what its meant to, it has to be adjusted or alternatives found. For me its the essence of democratic governance.
So even though we have a ‘no’ vote today, the EU will stays committed to GHG emissions reductions and choose an appropriate and acceptable instruments to continue. Some commentators noted that there is always an option of increasing the ambition. Perhaps adjusting the commitment to emissions reduction mid-term to 2030.
We go back to the drawing board and think what is the best and most effective way to achieve climate policy goals. Emissions trading is a great policy tool but has to be appropriately designed.
‘NO’ and the international climate negotiations
Even though we have ‘no’ at the EU Parliament, it should not have much effect on international climate negotiations. It can be a signal to other countries that are implementing emissions trading schemes as climate policy tools, to ensure that the design of a system is flexible enough to reflect the context it is designed to operate in.
I am certain that EU is committed to low carbon economy and emission reductions. There is no change in overall EU admission. It has to be stressed stressed this vote is a question of policy design and I trust Parties to UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol will see that.
Earlier text, written in the anticipation of the vote.
Will it pass?
God knows. There are so many mixed messages that there is no way to predict.
Politicians took their stances even to Twitter and the fight is in full swing:
According to the last MEP head count by IETA:
In favour 339; opposed 321; unknown 88 = Total 748
Although we need simply majority it seems too close to call, not least because of simply contradicting news in the media. Bloomberg notes that while ALDE says carbon fix should be adopted, half of EPP members are against.
On Friday, EuroActiv suggested that German officials appear to opposing intervention, when only a day after Reuters wrote: “Germany backs backloading of emissions trading allowances”.
Why is it such a close call?
It seems that there was a miscommunication as to what the Commission’s proposal is trying to achieve. Instead of talking about simply the aim to raise carbon prices, the idea, that particularly scares coal driven power markets, it should be communicated that the goal of the exercise is to adjust the EU ETS design. Adjusting the cap-and-trade should bring the carbon prices in-line with factual and economic reality, not above it. Improving policy design is necessary to ensure the functioning of the policy instrument to achieve the climate policy aims, the EU has committed to already!
What should have been a question of improving policy instrument design became a vote for or against raising carbon price and raising energy price in the EU. This formulation, therefore attracted a wrong sort of debate and could be voted down for the wrong reasons.
It is unfortunate that what should have been a technical question, became a political scaremongering.
From theoretical point of view, I feel that concrete choices as to a policy instrument design or its adjustment i.e. technical details should be left to expertise driven executive (in this case, the Commission) rather than discussed by the legislator.
Tomorrow’s ‘NO’ vote could seriously jeopardise EU flagship climate policy and for the wrong reasons.
What if it is ‘NO’?
‘No’ vote would simply mean that the chosen approach to ensuring the effective EU climate policy instruments is not the preferred one. I noted before, involving legislators in detailed policy designed is not always wise. However, the important thing to keep in mind is what a policy tool such as cap and trade system is an instrument of. It is there to help to achieve the green house gas emissions reductions in the EU and drive our economies towards sustainability.
There are a number of ways to achieve emissions reductions and EU ETS showed a lot of potential. It is a reason why many other countries such as China or Australia are implementing cap and trade.
However, no policy tool or its design should be a sacred cow, particularly in the developments stage. It has to serve the purpose it is intended for. If a policy instrument fails to achieve what its meant to, it has to be adjusted or alternatives found. For me its the essence of democratic governance.
So even if we have a ‘no’ vote today, the EU will stay committed to GHG emissions reductions and choose an appropriate and acceptable instruments to continue. Some commentators noted that there is always an option of increasing the ambition. Perhaps adjusting the commitment to emissions reduction mid-term to 2030.
‘NO’ and the international climate negotiations
Even if we have ‘no’ at the EU Parliament, it should not have much effect on international climate negotiations. It can be a signal to other countries that are implementing emissions trading schemes as climate policy tools, to ensure that the design of a system is flexible enough to reflect the context it is designed to operate in.
I am certain that EU is committed to low carbon economy and emission reductions. There is no change in overall EU admission. It has to be stressed stressed this vote is a question of policy design and I trust Parties to UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol will see that.
Prices
On Monday, 15 April, a day before the vote, the prices we slightly below €5 - not strictly positive, but rather flat.
To refresh your memory when the question was posed at the EP ENVI committee, analysts projects were that should the decision on backloading pass, we could expect a jump to €10. Now, in the amidst of the unknown Reuters report that prices could fall below €1, but the most pessimistic clients that our traders spoke to predicted €1.5 Still, the sentiment seems to be that even if the backloading vote passes, the rise in EUA prise will be mild if not marginal. The predictions on price, if the vote is positive, vary from flat to maximum of €7.5. More on the lower end of the scale.
After all, the process of implementing the decision will take months and we might not see the actual effect of reduced EUA auctioning volumes until 2014.
What EU ETS participants say
Well, they definitely not shorting the market. Most of the clients are long. Generally, traders with who we spoke, agree that the decision be taken that it will pass, but it won’t substantially affect the short term strategies.
Overall, however, market participants are tired of the uncertainty and therefore best quotes of the traders we spoke to:
“Yesterday I just decided I have no clue and I went to the bar”
“I think the best approach is flat book then head to the pub”
We wait and see.
Speaking on sustainability and national security at the 2012 Young Atlanticist Summit, Chicago
Hosted by the Atlantic Council and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Young Atlanticist Summit was the primary public diplomacy event at the 2012 Chicago Summit that took place from May 19-21. It provided nearly 250 young professional leaders—the decision-makers of tomorrow—dynamic opportunities to engage with the leaders of today. Including members of parliament, CEOs, academics, government officials, military veterans, and journalists—aged 25-35—the delegates represented all countries of the NATO Alliance, as well as partner nations such as Australia and Afghanistan.
Delegates of the Atlantic Council’s Young Atlanticist Network participate in a panel about energy security.
Panelists:
ANSIS SPRIDZANS, Senior Associate, Sorainen Law Firm
LAURA DZELZYTE, Senior Climate Finance Advisor, Minister of Environment, Government of Lithuania
SAMIR BATTISS, Lecturer and Research Associate, Quebec University, Montreal
CORINA MURAFA, Public and Regulatory Affairs Expert, OMV Petrom
Moderator:
KEVIN DUFFY, Lieutenant Commander, US Coast Guard
Climate Bonds - when borrowing is saving the world
I am interested in various approaches to financing sustainable development.
“Bonds will play a crucial role in financing the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
In spite of the financial crisis, institutional investor commitment to action on climate change has grown not fallen. Back in 2009 at the Copenhagen climate summit, 187 institutions with over USD 13trn in assets under management (AUM) supported a statement asking for robust policy action. By the time of the 2011 Durban conference, this backing had increased to 285 institutions with over USD20trn in AUM.”
Read a rather good report, commissioned by the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence and prepared by the Climate Bonds Initiative, which presents a first estimate of the outstanding global bond market size linked to key climate change themes, and examines future drivers and trends in the short term, here.
Climate Bonds Initiative’s 8 points plan to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy
Create deal flow – Bond investors need scale; renewable energy and energy efficiency projects (markets) need to be aggregated into larger offerings suitable for the appetite of the big investors;
Engineer investment grade offerings – High demand oflow riskinvestments. Renewable energy investments are seen as a “novelty”, we need to change this perception. In order to do that, a grand pact between governments and institutional investors is needed. Governments engineer a stream of large scale investment opportunities and does everything it can do to make sure they are investment grade; in return institutional investors turn on the taps;
Be clever about public sector risk-sharing – Financial leverage (e.g. policy risk insurance and currency risk insurance) and regulatory leverage.
Build green enabling institutions – Green Investment Units and Banks are needed;
Give tax incentives for climate bonds – very little treasury loss can be a big boost to investment;
Build an economic recovery narrative – the transition to a green economy revamps our economy across every sector and addresses the climate change threat;
Use Climate Bond Standards as a screening and preferencing tool –a tool that helps investors monitor and verify the climate effectiveness of their investments;
Make it easy for politicians – bond investors and business issuers have to get better at packaging politically sellable solutions, help politicians see how they can successfully sell those plans to voters
In The Republic Of Happiness
In The Republic of Happiness by Martin Crimp
The Royal Court theatre
Director Dominic Cooke
Theatre Review
It was the last minute impulse buy. I rarely get those, as I love theatre and good performances you need to book half a year in advance in London. But it was only £12.50 and right next door to our home. So it was a sort of impulse substitute for cinema after quick dinner.
Royal Court prides itself in supporting to new work by innovative writers from the UK and around the world. My friend and amazing Lithuanian playwright Marius Ivaškevičius was taking part in the International Residency there in 2011.
But In The Republic of Happiness was not that innovative nor that happy. In fact, if felt like an acid trip in undefined last century decade with a smell of aesthetic 60s futurist. I was at some points rather impressed by a great work of actors on stage. Anna Calder-Marshall playing granny and Michelle Terry in the role of Madeleine had their moments.
Still. My surfer hair fell asleep. I don’t blame him. I should have checked that running time is 1 hour 45 minutes no interval.
When he woke up from the claps at the end, he said he liked it. Quite possible sleeping was better than the performance.
Carbon - where YES or NO is not even legal
There has been somewhat a confusion as to the legal weight of the amendments of the directive as passed by co-decision of the EU Parliament and EU Council.
What is this big day of 19th February?!
The truth is that the Commission can legitimately adjust the time and volume of auctions even now as based on the COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1031/2010 of 12 November 2010 “on the timing, administration and other aspects of auctioning of greenhouse gas emission allowances pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowances trading within the Community” Art 12: The volume of allowances covered by Chapter II of Directive 2003/87/EC to be auctioned each calendar year as from 2013 onwards shall be the volume calculated and decided by the Commission pursuant to Article 3d(2) of that Directive, divided equally over the number of years making up the trading period in question.
So Commission can pass a new ‘regulation’ as approved by the CCC (like it did with ERUs), then in 3 months it will take legal force, if Parliament does not object. It practically never objects to regulations of the Commission.
However, considering the impact of the proposed adjusted annual volumes (backloading) would have, The Commission sought for clarification of the Directive 2003/87/EC, whether the Directive 2003/87/EC confers sufficient rights to the Commission to make radical adjustments in the timeline (even though it has such power already).
This hesitation sent political ripples and even though legal interpretation is that Article 10(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC does not specify how volumes of greenhouse gas emission allowances to be auctioned are to be distributed over the trading periods and thus Commission can do it to what it feels fit, the political climate is as such that the Commission with will not do backloading without more explicit support from the EU Parliament.
In other words, ‘just to be sure’ (or perhaps heavy lobbying) the Commission decided to check they did indeed have such powers by proposing an amendment to the ETS Directive that needs to be approved through co-decision of the Parliament and the EU Council.
And now politics have got involved, and what should have been a technical issue has turned into an ETS debate!
So all in all:
· The Commission can do backloading even now, but won’t do it unless EU Parliament shows that it is ok in a fear of veto.
· To that effect, The Commission proposed amendment of the Directive 2003/87/EC to explicitly say that Commission can do what it sees fit.
· In order for the EP Parliament to vote on the amendment, the Environmental committee of the EP (ENVI) has to agree to put forward the question to the EP.
· February 19th ENVI vote is whether to put this question to the EU Parliament.
· If more than 50% of the members of the committee at the meeting say ‘yes’ (simple majority), then the question goes to the Parliament.
- If Parliament says ‘yes’ and the Council by co-decision say ‘yes’ then you will see backloading bigger than now discussed. Basically, the Commission will be able to do what it pleases (to a certain extent).
- If Parliament says ‘no’, - watch the Commission’s ingenuity. The chances are that it will not let the precious ‘baby’ EU ETS go just like that.
· If ENVI votes against, then this, by default means no backloading will take place (you could argue that in theory the Commission could still decide to put the backloading proposal for a vote in the CCC but they would be more or less certain that the Parliament vetoes it on the grounds that the Parliament didn’t give the power to the Commission to change the timing of auctions).
So one might argue that the Commission shot itself in the foot by seeking for clarification in the first place. On the other hand, carbon price has an impact on energy and has wider economic implications, so it should be properly discussed in a wider audience.
From theoretical point of view, I believe that concrete choices as to a policy instrument or its adjustment i.e. technical details should be left to the executive (in this case, the Commission) rather than discussed by the legislator.
Tomorrow’s ‘NO’ vote could seriously jeopardise EU flagship climate policy. Germany - a very important player is ‘pre-election’ mode and thus unpredictable. It can vote ‘NO’ for other reasons than climate or industry but rather to please a certain part of electorate.I am not suggesting it will, but I am saying it might. Established policies, affecting economies should not be at a mercy of political cycles.
Tomorrow’s vote is such a close call - that one would be mad to predict, let alone bet.
London Fashion Week - in my absence
For the first time in my life I got a private invite to the London Fashion Week as a blogger this year. Oh, what joy it was to begin with!
Yet today, as I was choosing my best outfit: not too dull, yet not too quirky - just right to be noticed - I suddenly decided to boycott the whole thing.
Ghasp! Yes. Just like that. Not in the mood.
My hero Vivienne Westwood said we need to buy less dresses (i.e. Kate Middleton should buy less) and I thought: damn, right! (Although to be fair and humble - she didn’t invite me to her show and I heard this on TV). So I avoided the buzz… just in case I get inspired and subsequently tempted to visit local Zara or a vintage shop…
I am sure I will be begging for an invite to LFW next year.. again, yet today I felt free and liberated from my our indulgences.
The tea at the Greenwich park was nice too. And good weather.
Climate revolution. As it happens in the outskirts of LFW. In a humble life of mine.
Spanish black Manet at the Royal Academy
Edouard Manet
The Royal Academy, London
Exhibition Review
I had to see it. And fast. I didn’t want to wait till the first wave of art aficionados paid their tribute to the French master. I tend to avoid the art hungry masses, the swelling of which peaks immediately after Waldemar Januszczak’s review is published in the Sunday Times, but this time I couldn’t wait. Even after very hectic week touring Europe (thank God for Eurostar), I committed to braving the crowds to see Manet in its glory at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Manet - the father of modernism, the unwilling Jesus amongst the apostles of impressionism, re-inventor of portrait and possible the only member of the Mid-19c French avant-garde crowd that I truly like. However, as Sarah Crompton reminded in the Telegraph, Manet is often dismissed as “a painter fit only for chocolate boxes, or posters”. And this specific RA exhibition in London exposed why the master earned this unfortunate label.
You see, Manet is nice. Manet is aesthetically pleasing like fashionable people in 19C Parisian cafes and their elaborate hats. Manet portraits are a romantic glimpse into the life of what we believe intellectually inquisitive, exquisitely dressed, time abundant, ribboned and laced crowd. You just want to be there and listen to the music in the Tuileries. How fabulous! The painting is great too. (see illustration above). Except its February in London. 2013.
While the Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l’herbe) was rejected by the Paris Salon in 1863 and exhibited at the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) for the outrageous depiction of nudity which was shocking for the middle class French society at that time, it hardly strikes as provocative for a present-day viewer. However, its comfortably a notch up from ‘boring’ academic art: sharper in contrast, flatter in perspective and more daring in interpretations of old masters.
Manet is modern – yet consumable, he doesn’t offend you, and even though he leaves some mysteries like an odd sword, peeled lemon or unexplained relationships between the subjects of the Luncheon (what is the connection between the boy, the writer and the servant above?) he doesn’t make you work in front of his picture too hard. It is not your Picasso de-constructing and reassembling a subject in the painting, where your head hurts after close inspection of only one cubist painting (albeit to be fair cubism came about decades later), Manet is challenging realism in a subtle, incremental way, providing food for fought in moderate quantities, accessible and comforting to us in the 21C.
Manet wanted to succeed in the Salon not in the Salon des Refusés. (He wouldn’t even be seen with the impressionists). He was hanging around the top echelons of Parisian society, painting his wife, friends and patrons. And that comfort is at a stark contrast to the environment of his English contemporaries - Pre-Raphaelites, working in shabby studios, using prostitutes and destitute blind girls as sitters. And while Manet’s art is more pleasing and cosy, I find the narrative of Victorian avant-gardists such as Hunt (see illustration below), who travelled the world in search of new expression in fine art and inspiration more compelling.
So I tried to concentrate on one of the things Manet was master at and RA exhibition provided a plenty of examples. Black - THE colour of 19C that the French painter decided to perfect after his visit to Spain and after seeing works of Velazquez and Goya at Prado museum. Oh, the beauty of Berthe Morisot’s hat and the jacket of Zacharie Astruc!
The exhibition is perfect for Sunday afternoon after a long week. It is as light, yet sour and rather intellectual as afternoon tea salmon sandwiches at Fortnum & Masons. In a good way.
Would I recommend it? Yes.
Manet is on show until 14 April 2013 in the main Galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts. Booking in advance is advisable.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/manet/
***
The other day, my favourite Italian dandy and I were having dim sum for dinner at Jia in South Kensington.
- I loved the exhibition before I went to see it. – I said. - I loved it whilst I was there. Its only when I left the Royal Academy and sat down for afternoon tea in contemplation that I processed how tiny bit boring the exhibition was. Perhaps I was tired but the whole collection felt a little monotonous. I only remember portraits, lots of them, faces, Spanish black and thinking how similar yet different the English avant-garde quest was.
- Laura! – exclaimed the Italian dandy. (He always starts his sentences with a considerable intonation) - Whilst Manet is genius, this exhibition is poorly put together, it doesn’t reflect the prolific work of Manet - he contended.
- I agree, after all, they did not show Le Suicidé or The Cafe Concert. I guess the exhibition simply doesn’t give justice to the artist. Let’s talk about the macaroons. I decided I don’t like them.
- Ah, macaroons…
When Queen Is Only a Banker’s Wife
The trip to Brussels was positive.. ish..
Got stuck in a poky lift of a plush hotel. Alone, if you wondered. (So its not going to be a romantic note). When rescued, I was escorted to my room via staircase with a shabby and tired wallpaper. I don’t trust places where foyer is polished but bathrooms and staircases are unkempt… Its the same as not taking care of your underclothes.
Stumbled upon the new Lithuanian PM. Asked about climate change. “Still, a priority” - he said… Sigh… Still a stepdaughter, I thought…
Brussels reminds me of Washington somehow: plenty of young charming and effective professionals and no children in the streets. Great shops and pretty cafes though. Better shapes of clothes, quirkier and somewhat more expensive than in London. At least on Avenue Louise.I guess all the disposable income has to go somewhere if not towards kindergarten fees.
Belga Queen turned out to be more novou riche than a royal with all the glitz and overpriced foie gras au chocolat. No wonder the lush premises were a bank before. The company was merry though.
So all in all, if not the couverture chocolate - a very high quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter that Belgians perfected, I would have come back pretty miserable.
Or perhaps its just January blues… because it certainly isn’t jazz…
Why cheesecake is better than Oprah
Some mornings are not worth waking up to.
I tried to rectify this by having not one but two buttery croissants and an extra shot of espresso in my cappuccino. It failed to improve the prospects. Day proved (as expected) - a failure. But you know me. I don’t give up easily. For lunch, I ordered a massive piece of fatty, creamy, crunchy, tasty, yummy cheesecake at my favourite organic Brooks cafe on and double espresso no milk. I was buzzing.
Alas! When I came back to my desk - matters went from bad to worse.
In a complete desperation I typed philosophically “who am I” into google search engine. Ironically, the first thing to pop up W. Oprah’s psychology test: “Who am I meant to be?”. In a minute of weakness, rolling in my misery, as a typical young Eastern European woman, I answered every question honestly but with a tint of guilt of such self obsession.
Results: “Striving to Be In Control”. And no invitation to TV show.
Thanks!
I need a cocktail. Or better. Something straight and no ice.
The moral: Girls, don’t do Oprah’s tests, they do not help and don’t taste as good as cheesecake.
The Rhythm Of An Onion
You know, New York smelled of a hard work: three jobs, no day off, whilst one’s body lasts.
Everything is earned here - not granted (except the green card to the lucky ones). It felt like a place where through hard work one can achieve everything - a fancy cocktail on the rooftop bar at the Meatpacking district, a sophisticated yet pretentiously expensive casual meal in West Village, a house in Hamptons. Even shopping is a thing to be done for a purpose - to spend what is earned to materialise the fruit of hard labour as oppose to acquire something that is aesthetically pleasing. There is no… how should I put it.. lightness of being. Something so present in London parks or Paris cafés and Madrid’s tapas bars.
There was no casual undeserved uninflected goodness dished out for free yet with utter respect for one’s space for which one is grateful and thus soulfully indebted. A dollar-free interaction, which in fact connects a human with others, yet allows for privacy was somehow missing in New York. Here people are polite to the extreme and engaging, of course, yet it’s not the same smile when you tip for it. I got to know the taxi driver’s cousin’s name and shop assistant’s mother’s illnesses as she was giving me a discount for my purchases. I paid both.
It felt as if everything is achieved here rather than given. And let’s face it - who doesn’t love to be given something for no reason. Besides, giving is a sort of a pleasure as well. I love the immediate exchange that is performed purely and without a necessity of a monetary transaction or requirement to engage. It’s that uninterrupted and ungreased momentarily relationship between two individuals where both are gods and devotees at the same time and they interact without an intervention of a church.. or money.. or potential future favour… or capitalism… Free, immediate, tactile.. yet unintrusive.
I was asked by a girl in a shop what I thought about the boots she was trying on: - You have beautiful legs, I think you should get something that is tighter around your calves. Personally, I think these are a bit loose, - I observed.
And no. I was not interested in where she is going to wear them or what sort of job she is doing to pay for them. I was not forcefully looking for an interaction, something that seemed to have been on most of the city dwellers’ agenda, as if all the New York’s shrinks were unavailable this week, so everyone had a compulsion to open up to whoever they meet. I guess I was an easy pray - obviously a tourist, thus unlikely to come back to haunt them with their secret confessions. I must admit, my preferred way is nice and simple. Question - answer. Pure and protestant.
Don’t get me wrong, I think New York is full of kind and giving individuals, but I guess, when you are running late to the 3rd shift of the second job, you really don’t want to give up your seat at the metro… and you save your charm for the interaction you are paid for or the one that has a potential or sorts.
Work, work, work.
Slave, earn and deserve.
Bigger, better, faster, stronger.
Smile, because if you don’t - someone else will.
More hungry, more eager, and younger.
This is the place where dreams are made.
They take time, that is why.
The city never sleeps.
It watches.
Who gets tired and unhappy
Is pushed and replaced
By more hungry, more eager and younger.
Less philosophical
And more physical.
New York oozes unrelenting competition – something that makes the metropolis so vibrant with some of the best in the world of art, food, opera, style, finance… but also as fake as Lance Armstrong.
As a stranger and a novice, I found it difficult to embrace the vibe and feel the rhythm. I think I was out of sync a little… I tried to understand my inability to play the chords of Manhattan, searched and wondered, and participated, and there were moments when I thought I got it – I was moving together with the city.. But quickly I realised that those moments were when I was sipping wine and philosophising with two Americans, both of whom studied in the UK, or when I was having a walk in the Central park with an old friend, or when I was eating at the Ritz, where waiters were too polite to interrupt in a true British fashion, when reciting Anna Akhmatova with a charming fellow in a Lower East Side, having a cocktail with someone I fancied some time ago or when accidently meeting Lithuanian artists at the gallery opening in Chelsea. So I have to be honest here. Except for the moments, which were tightly connected to the past experiences, I was tone death to the music of New York.
I was told New York is like an onion – it has many layers. I am sure I peeled and cried over just one – the top, the crusty one – that is already a bit gold and brown and yellowish - worn and walked on by others.
Guess I need to come back again and check out what the next layer is like…
Grid Systems & Time
I got lost on my way from jogging. Roaming the streets of New York I was getting cold and anxious and started drawing attention with my skimpy training outfit and clearly not-a-jogging pace. Truck divers were beeping. “What’s that about?! Are we in Texas or something?!” Never been in Texas. No idea whether drivers signal passing joggers. So to overcome the gaps in my urbanology expertise, I thought its fairer to resort to more familiar places. “What are we, in East London or something?! Are you a white van driver?!” I thought to myself but kept my serenity by briefing in.
- How CAN you get lost in the most comprehensible, elementary and simple grid street system in the world since Hippodamus times? - Rhetorically asked my friend professor, leaning back in his chair and having another sip of infusion from the American size tea cup, the colour of which echoed the bright blue cotton thread decoration over the shoulder seams of a fine sandy tweed.
- I can tell you how! By simple and innocent way of getting lost! All New York buildings, or rather bottoms of them, look the same: dark, dingy and with Starbucks on every corner. Have you noticed? Well, at least so it seems to a novice of the town.
I’m too short sighted to see the tops, skyline is not an option except on avenues, and since helicopter was not on offer, because Donald Trump wasn’t keen to help, and I had no mobile phone, because yes, I tried to be hip and cool by jogging “free from technology”, and accidentally or by God’s design my memory failed to store my new address correctly (and let’s face it number 474 on 49th is the same as “she sells sea shells”, so who wouldn’t forget the combinations of bloody fours?!) so, yes, fine jacket professor, no glasses, I did manage to get lost in the most elementary grid of streets since the Greek times!
Thank God for FedEx offices on 3rd Ave (between 46th & 47th). We tracked down my house or rather Japanese restaurant called Seo next door - the only thing I could remember about my residential location.
As a consequence, I missed coffee, then lunch and was late for the afternoon tea, and finally I was late to the Albert Watson’s vintage photographs exhibition opening in Chelsea by no more no less but 47 mins and 4s.
Thankfully they served wine. The loft was packed. Beautiful pictures. British bodies. I fell in love with the Taxi Driver, Moscow and The Golden Boy. Both as well as Alfred Hitchcock 1973 portraits were unsold when I asked the gallery owner before leaving. Even the fact that the photographer was shipped in person and diligently posed for digital pictures with curious New Yorkers in skinny jeans and gelled hair and signed their free exhibition flyers.
Good art is hard to sell. To my belief, it takes time to appreciate good art. It’s rarely a shocker for its own sake. One has to take time to get in tune with the work’s energy. And in the age of blackberries and iPhones, time has been squeezed and stuffed, numbing our memories and senses.
We then visited another couple of galleries nearby and had my first NYC burger for dinner. Felt stuffed the whole evening. Late evening events are much more relaxed about timing. It never feels late for a nice cocktail. We had some overlooking the park at Stone Rose.
I know timing is not my forte.
But let’s be honest - neither it is New York’s! The city was built by migrants from all around the world and according to my limited knowledge very few Swiss… So it’s natural that time is all over the place. Each have their own.
So yes, I should be excused. New York can be let off the hook too.
