My daughter and I travelled to London on the train hoping to visit the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery, but this is the final week of the show and it was impossible to view the exhibition without tickets. We were also told to start queuing for tickets around 4am but it was 6am by the time we arrived and it was already too late. Disappointing but understandable. If I had known in advance that I would have been able to visit, then I would have been more organised. Maybe at some time in the future I can travel further to see his paintings.
But all was far from lost. After all, there are plenty of Galleries and Museums in London. The trip was also a Birthday treat for my daughter, and so we shared the time between both our interests.
We visited the National Gallery and saw a West End show, “Legally Blonde” at the Savoy Theatre on Saturday; Sunday we visited Tate Britain and did some sightseeing, Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, walked along the River Thames and across Westminster Bridge; on Monday we visited Madame Toussads and the Science Museum. We also spent some time wandering around Harrods which had some beautiful photographs and sculptures in its Gallery. I bought a book “100 Days of Active Resistance” by Vivienne Westwood which is full of wonderful photographs accompanied by photographs that people from all over the world have contributed, showing that people can be, and are proactive in many ways.
London is full of arts and culture and it is always for me, an inspiration to be in the middle of it all.
Two of the paintings that stood out for me at the National Gallery were works by Rogier van der Weyden The Magdalena Reading (before 1438) and A Man seated reading at a Table in a Lofty Room (c 1628-30) by a follower of Rembrandt. Interestingly to me, they both use window light and the subjects of the paintings are reading. This is something that I have been attracted to in Vermeer’s paintings. I have experimented with ambient window light, and like the atmosphere created by the light and with a subject reading. I am drawn to these two things.
Tate Britain was wonderful. I had never been here before and wanted to view some 20th century art. There were photographs by Martin Boyce and John Stezaker; both collage pieces depicting a portrait of a man and woman appearing to wear masks. There was also a photograph by Rose Finn Kelsey titled “a restless image” a discrepancy between the felt position and the seen position. The image is of a girl doing a hand stand on a beach.
The Science Museum was very interesting and had far too much to take in, in one visit. I enjoyed the participation of experiments for the brain, and was in awe at the 1969 Apollo 10 Command Shuttle that brought the astronauts back down to earth. It looks so primitive and hardly strong enough to do such a job. I liked the quote that stood next to the shuttle “is this that pinpoint which is divided by sword and fire among so many nations? How ridiculous are the boundaries of mortals.” I began to think that if those who want to destroy our planet were taken up into space, to look at our fragile earth from a distance, would they perhaps think twice about what they are doing. Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference to them, but then again, maybe it would.
My daughter had never been to Harrods, and it is many years since I visited it myself. I think I may have been there on a school trip many moons ago. But Harrods is truly fascinating to my eye. There is everything imaginable there that you would ever want to buy. The Gallery on the second floor was fabulous. The sculptures we saw there were amazing; sadly I didn’t have £45,000 or more to buy a piece of sculpture. But the sculptures I particularly liked were of a woman, one in a cape, one not, holding on to the earth by a kind of lasso. I liked the strength of the art and the context that I imagined it held within it. Holding on to a fragile earth that needs to be cherished and nurtured by us all. Really beautiful.
Thinking about our current project to curate an exhibition, I took notice of the way the sculpture, paintings and photographs were exhibited together. The one factor that I noticed the most was the distance between each piece to give each its own space. Walking around the art it is then noticeable that you can think and ponder over each piece singularly. Of course in a place such as Harrods, the ultimate desire is to sell. But it was also evident in the galleries and museums that art work is mostly set apart, so that the viewer can see it without distraction from other pieces.
Sprouts Interior Mobile Image
In our exhibition venue, we will not have this luxury, the restaurant is small and intimate and we have made a conscious decision that we will cover the whole of the wall with our work. This is also a stipulation by the owner of the Restaurant. But to overcome the danger of our work being seen to be crowded, we are going to use an eclectic array of frames so that it will help eye of the viewer to keep an interest in each piece he/she surveys.
Madam Toussads was another museum that I had not visited since I was at school. My daughter specifically wanted to go there and we spent a very enjoyable 2/3 hours viewing the wax work celebrities and historical figures, being scared out of our wits in a dark tunnel full of actors playing gruesome characters, and watching a 15min superhero 3D film that was incredibly realistic. While watching the film, it took me a little time to adjust to the fact that the shattered glass wasn’t going to harm me as it seemed to come careering towards me. The effects were brilliant and a really good experience.
Our three days in London, although I haven’t yet found out what inspired me the most throughout our time there, was a great opportunity to view art and sense the culture that is London. If I could, I would visit the galleries and museums in London far more often; there is so much to see, and never enough time to see it all. It’s very tiring trying to take in so much that is visual and educational and enjoyable all at once.
It will probably take me a few days to digest what I have seen, and my inspiration from the visit will come at a time when I am least expecting it.
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