Xtra Diary: Ben Uri's Chagall to help move - St John's Wood gallery looks for bigger premises

Ben Uri’s Chagall to help move

WHAT'S an exhibition opening without wine and nibbles? 
Obviously St John’s Wood institution the Ben Uri gallery was confident their latest weapon, Marc Chagall’s “lost masterpiece”, was enough of a draw to do away with the drinks. 
Wednesday night’s show of art – just 5 per cent of their entire collection – had to be moved to the bigger Osborne Samuel gallery in Mayfair to allow the crowds to see Apocalypse en Lilas, Capriccio, Chagall’s Jewish Christ, which he painted in 1945 in reaction to the Holocaust.
David Glasser, chairman of Ben Uri, bought the piece for £26,000 at an auction in Paris last year. 
He even erected a special rope around what he called “his baby” to stop people who might be tempted to have a touch. 
The gallery has outgrown its St John’s Wood home and, judging by the mood of the crowd, Diary reckons it shouldn’t be too long until they get an offer of the bigger premises they need somewhere in central London. 
Mr Glasser told Diary he hoped his “priceless” Chagall would help them secure a 20,000 sq ft piece of prime gallery real estate in central London.

Pictured bottom: Suzanne Lewis of Ben Uri with David Glasser and Gordon Samuel of the Osborne Samuel gallery in Mayfair
• Apocalypse: Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art, is at Osborne Samuel, 23 Bruton Street, W1, until January 31.

Poets on shopping list

DENIZENS of Oxfam shops are adept at finding second-hand bargains while simultaneously giving money to charity, but walk into an Oxfam these days and you might find yourself in the midst of a cultural feast.
While many of the shops participate each year in the Oxjam music festival, the Marylebone store has been flying the flag for literature with its series of poetry readings.
Organiser Todd Swift, Oxfam’s first ever poet-in-residence (and a resident of Maida Vale), thinks the shop is perfect for readings. 
“It’s on the high street, so a lot of people walk in and a lot of them like poetry,” he said. 
“We get between 90 and 100 people at our events.”
He also thinks Oxfam and poetry are perfectly matched. “Poets tend to be humanitarian, at least publicly,” he said. 
“There are few pro-war poems.”
• A fundraising DVD, Asking a Shadow to Dance, which contains recordings of readings given by top local poets at Oxfam, Marylebone, is available now at the shop priced £12.99. 
Diary has had an advance peek and particularly recommends the poems by Lorraine Mariner and prize-winner Daljit Nagra.

Cheers, Guy!

THERE’S a rumour that British film director Guy Ritchie is to open his own brewery, Diary hears. 
There will be more than a few Mayfair residents worried by the names he has reported to have trademarked for his beer: Punch Bowl Beer and Punch Bowl Ales. 
The pub sharing the name in Farm Street has recently been the subject of a high-profile battle between customers and residents, narrowly escaping closure last month. 
Complaints of rowdy drunken crowds keeping the whole neighbourhood awake led the council’s licensing officers to impose an 8pm curfew on outdoor drinking. There’s always a chance Guy’s gone soft and the beer will be non-alcoholic.
 

Tim in the running for Circle line success 

MOST people don’t go around in circles intentionally. 
But that is exactly what running fanatic Tim Moss did on Saturday when he set out to run the entire length of the Circle line. 
Mr Moss, 27, is raising money for the British Lung Foundation, and hopes to run the length of all 13 London Underground train lines by the end of next year, from the two-mile Waterloo and City line, to the 43-mile Central line. 
Diary hasn’t had the time confirmed yet but as anyone who uses the dreaded Circle line knows, it can be agonisingly slow, especially around the Bermuda triangle   of Edgware Road. 
He said: “It’s great to find an adventure in my own city that doesn’t require any money, special equipment or training. I’ll just stick on some running shoes and take an Oyster card to get home at the end.” 
The adventure holiday consultant can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/ nextchallenge 
For his sake Diary hopes Boris doesn’t find all that money for the East London line extension.

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