We went to London again

Easter week was my usual time off work, and this year it was also half-term break from schools. So, I decided to take my daughter for a little trip to London. After our previous stay in London in autumn last year we decided that our next visit would be mostly about famous London galleries.

The National Gallery main entrance
Took this picture on 2 April 2013

   

Trafalgar Square - The National Gallery behind my back (2 Apr'13)

National Gallery was our first stop. We had visited it before but afterwards felt we needed to spend much more time there on our next visit. And so we did - many hours, as this time we rented the audio guides and walked from painting to painting listening to the guide (listening about paintings that interested us most). I found out and saw a lot, and some paintings just had me standing there ... totally attracted as if glued to them. 'The umbrellas' (Renoir), 'The Boulevard Montmartre at Night' (Pissarro), 'Surprised!' (Rousseau), 'Water-Lilies' (Monet), 'Sunflowers' (Van Gogh), 'Calais Pier' (Turner) and so many others! You just need to be there to feel it.

I was already in possession of the National Gallery Pocket Collection (purchased in the National Gallery shop during our previous visit) which I studied quite a few times over the last few months - remembering the feeling of awe and admiration to the talent of the painters. This time even though we were on quite a tight budget, on entering the gallery shop again and seeing all those books so beautifully displayed I could not help myself and  purchased 'Impressionism - 50 paintings you should know'. I only know about art what is generally known by an average person - most famous names, some paintings and a possibly major (most famous) styles. Impressionist paintings are by far our (my daughter's and my) most favourite ones, therefore I wanted to explore a bit more. That's why this book. I read it on our coach trip back home. And what an interesting read that was. Introduction is all about the famous impressionism painters, how they became friends, their painting were rejected by the Salon and majority of society at the time, but they never gave up.  Then, individual paintings are described (in chronological order according to the year of their creation) and commented on with a little historical background. If one is as impressed by paintings of Pissarro, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Morisot, Manet and so many others as I am and at the same time knows so little about them, I would recommend reading this book.

 

The next day was a visit to both Tate galleries. Tate British was quite quiet that day due to some reconstruction works taking place in some part of the building, therefore part of the collection was not on display (the works are going to be finished in May this year). Nevertheless, there was a lot to see, and it was a real pleasure to actually quietly and intimately contemplate and admire art of Turner, Constable and many others. John Martin's great triptych - Judgement series really caught my attention - especially mighty 'The Great Day of His Wrath'. And it would be very difficult to miss it as its huge in size and very impressive. Then visit to the wonderful world of books about art in the gallery shop. We just wanted to have a glimpse of what is there and ...walked out with two books: one for me about art and another for my daughter - sort of like a play-with-art activity type book.

"This book is a handy guide to a wide range of art 'isms'. From the isms of the Renaissance(..) to more modern isms such as Minimalism and Futurism, this is the ideal introduction to all the significant movements that have shaped art history."
This is how this book is introduced - a guide with lost of photos. "A handy reference book" and I am going to read it all. Looking forward to it.




We took a boat along the river Thames to Tate Modern.

Enormous factory-look-alike building of Tate Modern Gallery
It was a very cold and cloudy day (3 April'13)

View of Thames and St Paul's Cathedral
(from the gallery's café 3 April'13)

I must say Tate Modern made a big impression on me. Such a great collection of modern art. We enjoyed it immensely. There was so much to see. We must go back there again. It was full of people though, so busy that in some places it felt like a train station. I wonder if it is ever any quieter. Anyway, Picasso paintings were there (wow!) and even one huge painting of Monet! "Questioning children" (Karel Appel) really caught my eye - even though so simple - coloured pieces of wood with painted faces of children (in a simple sort of like stick people fashion)  on a wooden board! So simple, yet I could see those children eager, asking questions - I could feel their eagerness.
We were also lucky there was a special exhibition of no other than one of the most leading pop-art  artists: Roy Lichtenstein. We had to pay extra to see it, and it was not cheap, but yes it was definitely worth it. It was wonderful to see the actual paintings and sculptures - so famous! How did they manage to gather that collection since individual pieces came from different galleries and private owners? Must have been a lot of work involved. My daughter will be doing some work on pop art at school at some point, so it was really a great opportunity for her to be introduced to pop art by seeing famous Lichtenstein works.

Just a note: on return home, we visited our local library and this book just 'popped out'. I did not mean to take any book out as I still have some on loan, I was just waiting for my daughter who was looking through teen section. I was just casually looking at some books in languages section - at some Polish and Spanish books and this huge-size book was there sticking out - filed totally in the wrong place. Coincidence? I had no choice I had to take it out now. So, here I am reading about Pop Art now. From introduction: "What is Pop? A play on words, a lifestyle, a particular generation, a new understanding of art? And what is Pop Art - the term for an influential cultural movement of the sixties? Pop Art does not describe a style; it is much rather a collective term for artistic phenomena in which the sense of being in a particular era found its concrete expression....The rules of civilization mould our images of people and things, of nature and technology. Pop is a buzzword.(...) The growing political and economic stability of the post-war era led to a reappreciation of what is normally referred to as "the people" or "the popular". And English word for the people as a mass is the "populace"; the "popular" thus has its roots in the traditions and habits of the people. It is what is loved by the masses. This points us to the origins of the term "Pop Art".

In the evening, after a day fulfilled with art, we went to Oxford Street to have a typical girly wander around some clothes shops and got a lovely summery dress for my daughter in 'Forever 21'.

I always wanted to visit the great Natural History Museum, so the next day we went to see it. It was freezing cold and it was snowing (snowing in London in April!). Anyway, it was so busy - we had to wait in an enormous queue to get in. It took us a while to get in. But once inside - the queue all forgotten - we wandered around, and I loved it! I felt like a kid. It is my type of museum. We were not able to see it all as we were a bit tight with time, our coach back home was leaving that afternoon. But still it was great! I just wished it hadn't been so busy with people!

Extinct Dodo birds (4 Apr'13)

Charles Darwin (4 April'13)

The Main Hall (4 April'13)

The Main Hall (4 April'13)

When we go to London next time we would like to visit British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and Harry Potter world (being fans of Harry Potter we must go there - we simply must - we have no choice!)