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Peter Campbell

Peter Campbell is the London Review’s resident designer and art critic.

From the London Review dated 7 March 2002

Why does it take so long to mend an escalator?

Stepping onto an escalator is an act of faith. From time to time you see people poised at the top, advised by instinct not to launch themselves onto the river of treads. Riding the moving stairs is an adventure for the toddling young and a challenge to the tottering old. Natural hesitancy puts a limit on throughput. London Underground escalators carry passengers at a top speed of 145 feet per minute – close to the maximum allowed under the British Standard specification. There is little temptation to run the machines faster, as trials show that above 160 feet per minute so many people pause timidly that fewer are carried. In the early days they had to be persuaded to get on at all. A one-legged man, ‘Bumper’ Harris, was hired to ride for a whole day on the first installation – it was at Earls Court – to show how easy it was. Some people were sceptical (how had he lost his leg?) but others broke their journey there just to ride up and down. [ read more . . . ]

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In the LRB archive

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At the British Museum: John White’s New World · 5 April 2007

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At Tate Britain: Peter Campbell on Turner's Rigi watercolours · 8 March 2007

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At Dulwich Picture Gallery: Peter Campbell on Adam Elsheimer · 2 November 2006

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At the National Portrait Gallery: Peter Campbell on the Portraits of Angus McBean · 3 August 2006

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At the V&A and Tate Modern: Peter Campbell on Modernist Design · 20 April 2006

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At the Courtauld: Peter Campbell on Giambattista Tiepolo · 23 March 2006

At the Hayward: Peter Campbell on Dan Flavin · 23 February 2006

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At Tate Modern: Peter Campbell on Henri Rousseau · 5 January 2006

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At the British Museum: Samuel Palmer’s dream landscapes · 17 November 2005

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At Tate Modern (and elsewhere): How architects think · 21 July 2005

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At the Royal Academy: Matisse’s revelations · 19 May 2005

At Tate Modern: Like a badly iced cake · 5 May 2005

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At the Royal Academy: the art of William Nicholson · 18 November 2004

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At the National Gallery: Peter Campbell on Russian landscapes · 5 August 2004

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At Somerset House: Peter Campbell on Islamic art · 6 May 2004

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At the Royal Academy: How to Draw Horses · 9 October 2003

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At Tate Britain: British Art and the French Romantics · 20 February 2003

At the Whitechapel: Peter Campbell on Mies van der Rohe · 23 January 2003

At the British Museum: Peter Campbell on Dürer · 2 January 2003

Reading the Signs · 12 December 2002

At Tate Britain: Peter Campbell on Gainsborough · 28 November 2002

On the Catwalk · 14 November 2002

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At Tate Modern: Peter Campbell on Barnett Newman · 3 October 2002

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At Tate Britain: James Gillray · 21 June 2001

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Not currently in the LRB archive

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From the LRB letters page