Art, Class

I had a strange day in a world I don't really understand. My life has not exposed me to fine art and I don't have any innate talent of my own. Of course I have visited some of the famous public galleries and seen work by some of the acknowledged masters, but I don't have either the instinct or the education to distinguish brilliance from competence or a passing fashion from a timeless classic

I've certainly never crossed the threshold of the type of commercial gallery where the price of the work is printed in the smallest font on the label. Today, we were taken on a conducted tour of several such high end bazaars - places where, ordinarily, we wouldn't have had the nerve to walk in (or, in one case, ring the bell to gain entry!) Whatever my principles about the earth being a common treasury, or my worth as a human being not depending on my wealth or class, these things still exert a strong constraint on our behaviour and choices. And we were in the dark heart of the Cotswolds, where wealth and class are expressed in every cuff and button

I got half way around the first premises before I fully understood that everything was priced for sale, just like a supermarket or a hardware store. There were thick carpets and plush leather sofas and champagne on the low level tables, with flutes placed ready. Would I have been offered a glass if I showed interest, or only when I'd handed over a cheque? But, in the end, these are retail stores offering goods for money

To be clear, many of the prices were more than I have ever paid for a car. On a corridor at the top of stairway, in a difficult to view spot, I noticed a Degas pencil sketch that was almost half the price of our house. Next to it, a Picasso sketch (that would probably get me reported if I posted a photo of it on Blip) looked surprisingly cheap, by comparison. On another wall we're a couple of L S Lowrys. I had no idea that paintings like this - by artists even I knew about - were traded in this way: on a village wall with a price tag attached

I found ceramics and sculpture more photographable than pictures, so I'm posting a selection, plus an exquisite piece of embroidery, one of a dinner set

I'm grateful for the chance to see a world beyond my normal. I'm not sure what I've learned from my day. Maybe something about perspective