Ruskin To-day – Ruskin Today is an informal network devoted to promoting wider knowledge and understanding of the ideas of the great Victorian writer, reformer and artist, John Ruskin (1819-1900).

Ruskin To-Day is an informal organisation that exists to celebrate the life and ideas of the artist, critic and social reformer John Ruskin (1819-1900). It brings together the activities of the many different societies, academic institutions and individuals who share an interest in Ruskin and in the many different aspects of his work. This website serves as a noticeboard to draw attention to the many Ruskinian events that take place across the world.

The 2024 Ruskin To-Day Brantwood Lecture

‘One Haunting Conception’: Ruskin, Turner and the Legacy of Trafalgar

The Warburg Institute, Woburn Square WC1H 0AB

Friday 1 November, reception from 6pm, lecture 7pm

Christine Riding, Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery.

Please register your attendance by clicking this link by 30 October.

The lecture is free, but booking is required. Please bring your ticket with you.

J.M.W Turner “The Fighting ‘Téméraire’, Tugged to Her Last Birth to be Broken Up, 1838” 1839. National Gallery London

Christine Riding was appointed Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery in February 2023, having been the Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department and Curator of British Paintings for four years. Before joining the National Gallery, Christine held curatorial positions, first at the Museum of London and the Palace of Westminster and then, from 1999 to 2011, at the Tate, where she co-curating numerous exhibitions including ‘Hogarth’ (2007) at Tate Britain and ‘Gauguin: Maker of Myth’ (2010) at Tate Modern. From 2011-18 she was Head of Arts and Curator of the Queen’s House at the Royal Museums Greenwich and led on the acquisition of the ‘Kangaroo’ and ‘Dingo’ by George Stubbs (2013) and the ‘Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I’ (2016). She was also the curatorial lead on the major refurbishment of the Queen’s House, Greenwich, which included commissioning the installation in the Great Hall by Turner prize winning artist Richard Wright. From 2007‐12, Christine was Deputy Editor of ‘Art History’ (Journal of the Association for Art History) and from 2014–2019, she was Chair of The Association for Art History. She is also an alumna of the Clore Leadership Programme.  

At the National Gallery, she has curated the exhibitions, ‘Kehinde Wiley: Prelude’ (December 2021-April 2022), ‘Gainsborough’s Blue Boy: The Return of a British Icon’ (January-May 2022) and ‘Turner on Tour: Masterpieces from the Frick Collection’ (November 2022-February 2023) and is curating ‘Discover Constable and the Hay Wain’, which opens in October 2024. She is the directorial lead on ‘NG200: The Main Event’ project for the Gallery’s bicentenary celebrations. This will be the first complete redisplay of the National Gallery’s world-class art collection in over thirty years. She is currently leading on a major redevelopment of the National Gallery’s Research Centre as part of the ‘NG200: Welcome’ programme.

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The Stones of Venice

Selected, introduced and read by Robert Hewison.

A reading in twenty episodes, sponsored by Sovereign Films, with special thanks to Donald Rosenfeld and Andreas Roald.

Listen here