Yes, it has been foggy here, plus windy, sloppy underfoot and just this side of bitterly cold. Ah, London. It's not usually like this here at the beginning of March. I know that because the press is making much of the rotten weather. As usual, hope is on the way.
Friday, March 2
We have certain museums in each major city that we like to visit every time that we are there. For me, the National Portrait Gallery is one of them. I just adore well done portraits. What is a well done portrait? For me, it is an almost photographic likeness of the face and the fabric of the clothing. The type of fabric should be evident: Is it velvet? Satin? Knit? Rough weave? That a painter can simulate these different types of fabrics and have the viewer understand instantly is something just short of miraculous to me. I don't understand how painting is done, so this mystifies me. And, to top it off, a portrait should relay something about the person; his or her station in life and personality.
Here are some of my favorites:
This is Lady Campbell by Giovanni Goldini, 1897. This style very closely resembles John Singer Sargent.
This is Sir Christopher Wren, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1711. Wren was the architect of many remarkable public buildings.
This is Arthur Conan Doyle, by Henry Gates, 1927. I like the way that he is looking directly at the viewer.
This is Charles Darwin, by Robert Collier, 1881
This is King Charles II, by Thomas Hawker, 1680. I saw several portraits of him and he always had that same expression on his face, probably because and and his wife, Queen Charlotte were not on good terms.
And here are some that I liked very much but did not think to note the information about them.
This lady is clearly wearing velvet.
This woman has such a great expression on her face; very confident.
And, this is just such a wonderful casual scene. Not many portraits catch the sitter at ease like this.
Friday, March 2
We have certain museums in each major city that we like to visit every time that we are there. For me, the National Portrait Gallery is one of them. I just adore well done portraits. What is a well done portrait? For me, it is an almost photographic likeness of the face and the fabric of the clothing. The type of fabric should be evident: Is it velvet? Satin? Knit? Rough weave? That a painter can simulate these different types of fabrics and have the viewer understand instantly is something just short of miraculous to me. I don't understand how painting is done, so this mystifies me. And, to top it off, a portrait should relay something about the person; his or her station in life and personality.
Here are some of my favorites:
This is Lady Campbell by Giovanni Goldini, 1897. This style very closely resembles John Singer Sargent.
This is Sir Christopher Wren, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1711. Wren was the architect of many remarkable public buildings.
This is Charles Darwin, by Robert Collier, 1881
This is King Charles II, by Thomas Hawker, 1680. I saw several portraits of him and he always had that same expression on his face, probably because and and his wife, Queen Charlotte were not on good terms.
And here are some that I liked very much but did not think to note the information about them.
This lady is clearly wearing velvet.
This woman has such a great expression on her face; very confident.
And, this is just such a wonderful casual scene. Not many portraits catch the sitter at ease like this.
Saturday, March 3
Saturday was a day off from museums. In the afternoon, we went to the new Globe theater (which is inside as opposed to the reconstructed Globe Theater, originally built by Shakespeare which is open air) to see "All's Well That Ends Well" which neither of us had ever seen before. It turns out that the reason for not seeing it is that it is rarely performed. After seeing it, I can understand why. The plot is a bit complicated and the play is not nearly as well written as most of the others. I thought that perhaps it was written towards the end of Shakespeare's writing career, when his plays became much less interesting (think "Winter's Tale, for example). But, in fact, "All's Well That Ends Well" was right there in the middle of the pack. Besides being a mediocre play, the directing was not helpful. There was a lot of moving around of floor tiles, for some reason that totally escaped me. There was also an unnecessary use of a bathtub. I didn't think that the script specifically called for such a device. It was nice to spend an afternoon at the Globe, anyway.
After the play, we made our way to Trafalgar Square to have a bit of dinner in the crypt before attending a baroque string concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields across the street from the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Naturally, we opted for the cheap seats on the theory that the music is exactly the same no matter where you sit. Our seats turned out to be quite close to the front, with fairly good sight lines, in a boxed pew on the side. The music was Vivaldi's Four Seasons (winter and spring in the first half of the program and summer and fall in the second half of the program), Bach, Mozart and Hayden. We both enjoyed it very much. Those in the know brought cushions.
Sunday, March 4
Today is the day of the annual half marathon, called the Big Half. We wouldn't have known but for it running right past our apartment building. We appear to be about 2/3 of the way along the route.
The first participants to come through were the ones in the racing style wheelchairs. Those guys are tough. Then came the race leaders, three men in a pack, followed a couple of minutes later by a group of four. Then, nothing. I was wondering if it was a private race. But, the thousands of water bottles on tables across the street from us put a lie to that assumption. I read later that there were 11,000 runners.
When the first two groups were safely out of sight, along came the next groups of serious runners, all looking to improve on their previous times. Soon after came the ordinary runners, those out for a good competition but with nothing to lose (or gain) by their time.
And then came the main pack which continued for more than a half hour. After an hour and half into our portion of the route, we were down to the runner/joggers, the jogger/walkers, the social walkers (walk-and-talk), a blind runner with his running partner, a guy in scrubs and a lab coat, and the costumed walkers. I saw a football player, several ladies in tutus, a bumblebee, a caped crusader, wonder woman, several team mascots, a woman on stilts (yikes!), a robot (or was that an ATM?) with very tired legs and a tram car of some sort powered by six men walking a pace.
Then, there were the unofficial racers who were running along side the route on the sidewalk. By 11:45, the street cleaners were coming along behind.
Two days ago, the race organizers cancelled the race due to the storm conditions; snow and slush everywhere. Then, yesterday it was back on again. At the end of the month a full marathon will go by this same route, with the first half on the other side near the Tower of London.
The forecast for today was rain. However, we woke up this morning to the first sun that we have seen in days. It didn't last long, though.
After lunch, we went to the Museum of London which has two primary exhibits right now. On one floor, there is an exhibit of London's history, from prehistoric times to relatively present times, including quite a lot about the Roman occupation and consequent development of the city. Under the Romans, London, (like most places conquered by Rome) flourished. The Romans built many palaces, baths, roads and such; a total infrastructure for their vision of a city.
After lunch, we went to the Museum of London which has two primary exhibits right now. On one floor, there is an exhibit of London's history, from prehistoric times to relatively present times, including quite a lot about the Roman occupation and consequent development of the city. Under the Romans, London, (like most places conquered by Rome) flourished. The Romans built many palaces, baths, roads and such; a total infrastructure for their vision of a city.
On another floor, there was a large exhibit of London from early Victorian times up through mid-Twentieth Century. This was interesting because most Americans are familiar with Victorian England (we watch a lot of Masterpiece Theater, right?) and some of us actually remember the 1960's. My favorite part of this modern exhibit was this doorway from the Art Deco period, which was just a little before my time.
We came back to our apartment to see London lit up for the evening.
Monday, March 5
On Monday, the skies began to clear, giving us hope for better days. As you can see, we had some actual blue sky as we went to the National Gallery.
The National Gallery has art from many periods, somewhat like a mini Louvre in a way.
With better weather, the "artists" were out with their chalk producing mostly flags on the walk in front of the Gallery.
I don't think that I saw a single painting by Canaletto during our trips to Venice, but I saw several of them at the National Gallery. That was such a pleasure. Here is a well-known painting of his of the canal from which he took his professional name. I love his paintings because even though he painted large scenes, he took the time to paint in the details like the gold jewelry and feathers on hats and brass buttons on the cloaks, none of which are evident in this photo. Trust me that they are there.
One of his students, Francesco Guardi was also represented.
And, there was this wonderful painting by Ingres of Mme. Moitessier (1856). I LOVE this painting because of his perfect rendition of the fabric of her dress. He spent 12 years on this painting until he felt that it was finished. He also designed this ornate frame for it.
But this photo without the frame is the one I chose for my cellphone's wallpaper. Just look at her with her slightly pudgy, creamy skin and her gorgeous dress.
Finally, we got to the Impressionists. This Monet painting of the Gare du Nord is one of my all-time favorites. It is one of a series that he painted, testing out different effects of steam.
This painting of the bathers was done by Seurat just as he was experimenting with pointillism. This painting was quite large; clearly not meant to hang in a private home.
Neither of us is much interested in any art before the middle of the 19th Century when artists began to go outside to paint outdoor scenes. What a thought! Until then, all landscape painting was done in a studio and the scenes were all dark and usually bucolic. Think rural scenes with a brook meandering through, a few people dressed in simple clothing, perhaps a horse drawing a cart, etc. Often the people were tiny to show the magnitude of the area painted.
Then came an explosion of light, fresh air (en plein air) and color. Four young art students, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Bazille, decided to throw off the rules of studio painting, take their canvases and brushes outside and capture the sunlight. The result was a revolution in the art world. They were not admitted to the major art shows (salons) in Paris and countered by starting their own shows.
I never realized the effect that the Impressionists must have had on the art world until I saw an exhibit one year entitled "Origins of Impressionism". To see the dark, murky traditional style juxtaposed with a bright, quickly painted en plein air version by Monet was quite shocking. I can only imagine the reaction of the Victorians when they saw these paintings for the first time.
Tuesday, March 6
Big museums are a challenge for us because we tend to tire out much faster than we did, say, 20 years ago. So, on Tuesday, we opted for a significantly smaller museum, one highly recommended by a friend of mine who knows our taste in art. The Courtauld Gallery is part of the Courtauld Institute for Art, a school of the University of London. It occupies quite a few rooms in what looked at first glance to be a small mansion, but is actually one of the extensions of Somerset House. The gallery is known for its Impressionist and post-Impressionist collection. They also had a room of medieval art, which does not interest us at all.
The lighting in the gallery made it nearly impossible to take any photos (which were allowed) without a big blotch of glare from the light on the glass. Here are a few that I managed to get.
This is a rather famous painting by Manet called "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere", painted in 1881. I didn't understand until reading the description that the woman with her back to us is actually the woman who is looking at us, but as seen from the mirror behind her. You can see that she is talking to a man who must be standing approximately where the viewer is standing. And, you can see that she is standing across the hall from some type of entertainment going on. Barmaids often served several functions, so read what you will into her conversation with the gentleman. Whatever he is selling, she doesn't look like she is buying.
Here is one version of Cezanne's "Card Players". He made several, from different angles and with a different number of people. I took this photo at such an odd angle because of the light which was directly over the painting, causing a very bad glare.
This is an unusual look for Henri Rousseau who generally painted primitives of jungle scenes. You can see my reflection in the glass.
As is frequently the case, the building was quite interesting, like this staircase:
Several rooms had very decorative door handles which caught my eye.
On our way back to the apartment from the Courtauld, we stopped at Borough Market where you could buy a quick meal on the go or the ingredients to make dinner. At a little after 4:00, some of the vendors were beginning to close up for the day. Still, there were plenty open including stalls for fish, meats, poultry and game, cheese, olive oil, produce, condiments, candies and fresh flowers.
It was about a half-hour walk back to our flat from there, but at the end of the day we were tired and opted for the tube which was conveniently right there at the gate.
.
We came back to our apartment to see London lit up for the evening.
Monday, March 5
On Monday, the skies began to clear, giving us hope for better days. As you can see, we had some actual blue sky as we went to the National Gallery.
The National Gallery has art from many periods, somewhat like a mini Louvre in a way.
With better weather, the "artists" were out with their chalk producing mostly flags on the walk in front of the Gallery.
I don't think that I saw a single painting by Canaletto during our trips to Venice, but I saw several of them at the National Gallery. That was such a pleasure. Here is a well-known painting of his of the canal from which he took his professional name. I love his paintings because even though he painted large scenes, he took the time to paint in the details like the gold jewelry and feathers on hats and brass buttons on the cloaks, none of which are evident in this photo. Trust me that they are there.
One of his students, Francesco Guardi was also represented.
And, there was this wonderful painting by Ingres of Mme. Moitessier (1856). I LOVE this painting because of his perfect rendition of the fabric of her dress. He spent 12 years on this painting until he felt that it was finished. He also designed this ornate frame for it.
But this photo without the frame is the one I chose for my cellphone's wallpaper. Just look at her with her slightly pudgy, creamy skin and her gorgeous dress.
Finally, we got to the Impressionists. This Monet painting of the Gare du Nord is one of my all-time favorites. It is one of a series that he painted, testing out different effects of steam.
This painting of the bathers was done by Seurat just as he was experimenting with pointillism. This painting was quite large; clearly not meant to hang in a private home.
Neither of us is much interested in any art before the middle of the 19th Century when artists began to go outside to paint outdoor scenes. What a thought! Until then, all landscape painting was done in a studio and the scenes were all dark and usually bucolic. Think rural scenes with a brook meandering through, a few people dressed in simple clothing, perhaps a horse drawing a cart, etc. Often the people were tiny to show the magnitude of the area painted.
Then came an explosion of light, fresh air (en plein air) and color. Four young art students, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Bazille, decided to throw off the rules of studio painting, take their canvases and brushes outside and capture the sunlight. The result was a revolution in the art world. They were not admitted to the major art shows (salons) in Paris and countered by starting their own shows.
I never realized the effect that the Impressionists must have had on the art world until I saw an exhibit one year entitled "Origins of Impressionism". To see the dark, murky traditional style juxtaposed with a bright, quickly painted en plein air version by Monet was quite shocking. I can only imagine the reaction of the Victorians when they saw these paintings for the first time.
Tuesday, March 6
Big museums are a challenge for us because we tend to tire out much faster than we did, say, 20 years ago. So, on Tuesday, we opted for a significantly smaller museum, one highly recommended by a friend of mine who knows our taste in art. The Courtauld Gallery is part of the Courtauld Institute for Art, a school of the University of London. It occupies quite a few rooms in what looked at first glance to be a small mansion, but is actually one of the extensions of Somerset House. The gallery is known for its Impressionist and post-Impressionist collection. They also had a room of medieval art, which does not interest us at all.
The lighting in the gallery made it nearly impossible to take any photos (which were allowed) without a big blotch of glare from the light on the glass. Here are a few that I managed to get.
This is a rather famous painting by Manet called "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere", painted in 1881. I didn't understand until reading the description that the woman with her back to us is actually the woman who is looking at us, but as seen from the mirror behind her. You can see that she is talking to a man who must be standing approximately where the viewer is standing. And, you can see that she is standing across the hall from some type of entertainment going on. Barmaids often served several functions, so read what you will into her conversation with the gentleman. Whatever he is selling, she doesn't look like she is buying.
Here is one version of Cezanne's "Card Players". He made several, from different angles and with a different number of people. I took this photo at such an odd angle because of the light which was directly over the painting, causing a very bad glare.
Here's another famous painting, this by Renoir, called "La Loge". Who is she watching?
This is an unusual look for Henri Rousseau who generally painted primitives of jungle scenes. You can see my reflection in the glass.
As is frequently the case, the building was quite interesting, like this staircase:
Several rooms had very decorative door handles which caught my eye.
On our way back to the apartment from the Courtauld, we stopped at Borough Market where you could buy a quick meal on the go or the ingredients to make dinner. At a little after 4:00, some of the vendors were beginning to close up for the day. Still, there were plenty open including stalls for fish, meats, poultry and game, cheese, olive oil, produce, condiments, candies and fresh flowers.
It was about a half-hour walk back to our flat from there, but at the end of the day we were tired and opted for the tube which was conveniently right there at the gate.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment