Rocky ride

Now that the great design surveys regularly mounted by the V&A have come up to date, what will it seek to beguile us with next? These exhibitions have always been of interest, at least in parts, and often infuriating, a combination that has helped to ensure their success. The wide range of paintings and objects on display has also given them the status of offering ‘something for everyone’, rather like a vastly superior village bazaar. The current show is no exception. It begins very well, and then conks out repeatedly like an untuned engine. Ah well, who said the course of true progress (and innovation —  don’t forget innovation) runs smooth?

The exhibition (sponsored by Ernst & Young) opens with a small section of John Piper’s huge 1951 Festival of Britain mural ‘The Englishman’s Home’, which has lately been on view in its entirety at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank.