Sir – Anne James’ article (Weekend, January 8) summarising what is in store for art lovers in 2015 in Oxfordshire highlighted the shortcomings of Oxford itself.

 

Where can one go to see permanent collections of contemporary art particularly modern British art, for example work by Kurt Jackson, Jenny Saville, Mick Rooney or the Chapman brothers, all of whom either live in Oxfordshire or have connections with it? Does the city have anything like this?

 

The Ashmolean’s What’s On guide for the year ahead includes the work of Chicago artist Ed Paschke (January 17-July 5) and interestingly the work of 20th-century Bengali artists (March 2-June 1) which Ms James does not highlight.

 

Showing work in the archives of both the museum and Modern Art Oxford would indeed be interesting.

 

But sadly anything else worth seeing is tucked away in Oxford colleges and is unlikely to be viewed by the public.

 

Oxford is more of a desert than an oasis for those wanting more than fleeting glimpses at galleries and art fairs.

 

If that is indeed all that can be hoped, wouldn’t it be good idea to provide a proper calendar of events and give more kudos to the big draws of Artweeks in May and Art in Action in July and to highlight groups like Oxford Art Society, as well as those Oxfordshire artists who regularly make it to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Now that really would be putting Oxford and Oxfordshire on the map.

 

Jim Robinson, Chalgrove