A series of reflections on art and life, Tess Jaray’s The Blue Cupboard: Inspirations and Recollections, published this week by the RA, is part-diary, part-memoir.

The blue cupboard of the title was bought by her parents on their honeymoon in Salzburg in the 1930s. By the end of that decade, the family had fled their home in Vienna to begin a new life in Worcestershire.

Today, the blue cupboard has pride of place in her London home, where it provides a constant reminder of her family history. Recollections of her colourful parents Pauli and Franz, her rural childhood and her time at art school are all threads that run through The Blue Cupboard. The resulting collection of 40 mini-essays has been described by the critic Brian Sewell as “an enviably beautiful book”.

In the video above, Tess Jaray reads a chapter from the book: ‘Still-Life with Flowers and Striped Tablecloth’.

The Blue Cupboard: Inspirations and Recollections by Tess Jaray RA is published by the Royal Academy of Arts and is available from our online shop.