The word

Yesterday, Mr Cee and I decided to brave the heavy rain showers and visit a couple of free exhibitions in London. We started by going to the Saatchi Gallery to catch Perspicere: States of Transition before it closes at the weekend.

Perspicere is a street artist who uses sewing thread wound around nails to form pictures. These aren't the nail and thread pictures you might remember from the 1960s and 1970s - these are stunning works of art produced with thousands of threads like this:


More amazing thread art under the cut (including a link to a short video on how he does it).
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We also popped into the small Inflorescence exhibition in a next-door room to check out this fun wall of smilie flowers by RYCA (aka Ryan Callanan)


From there, we jumped on the tube to head for The Goldsmith Centre in Islington to see their small free exhibition The Culture of Cutlery.  The display covers European cutlery from 1425 to the present day.  It's easy to forget that cutlery was not always provided by the host, and back in the medieval or Renaissance era, guests would bring their own knife, even if the spoon was provided by the host.  Knives would be used to spear meat and take salt from the saltcellar. More under the cut about the history (including when forks started to be used) with photos (which get bigger with a click) under the cut.

Knife and fork with their travelling case from 1577, with figures carved on the handles. (from Germany or the Netherlands).

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It was a fun outing, and we managed to completely miss the downpour of heavy rain while we were inside looking at things (which was a bonus).

Under the cut for the July questions! All question sets for each month can be found in my sticky post, which can be found here.
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On Thursday, I went to three exhibitions in London as they were all very close to each other, and I had nothing better to do.

My first trip was to the National Gallery, where they have an exhibition of the Spanish painter Zubarán's amazing work.  Francisco de Zurbarán was born in 1598 and was sent to Seville by his father to study art in 1614.  His father was a haberdasher, and this must have influenced the young Zurbarán, as his attention to detail when painting fabric is really wonderful.  His focus was mostly on religious paintings, but the exhibitions also included some still-life paintings created by himself and his son.

Under this cut for my favourites (with a few close-ups just because).
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From there, I went to a very small exhibition at the National Gallery about the painter George Stubbs and his work studying the anatomy of horses.  He produced engravings of his drawings, which formed a treatise (with a very long title!), The Anatomy of the Horse. Including a particular description of the bones, muscles, fascias, ligaments, nerves, arteries, veins and glands. In eighteen tables, all done from nature (1766). It was recognised as the most accurate study of a horse's anatomy.  His work allowed him to paint incredibly anatomically accurate horses.

Just a couple of horse-related photos under this cut.
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Finally, I walked to the Courtauld Gallery to see their exhibition: A View of One's Own: Landscapes by British Women Artists (1760-1860) as it was about to close.  Women artists of this time were very limited in where they could train, but despite this, many still worked and exhibited their paintings and drawings.  Many were supported by their families, but others struggled against the obstacles imposed by fathers and husbands.

A few of the landscapes under this cut.
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After all that, I headed home. Apologies for the very long post and many photos - feel free to scroll on past :D

Today I braved the cold winds and possible rain to visit the Michaelina Wautier exhibition. Probably born 'Michelle' in the Spanish Netherlands around 1614, very little is known about her life, as many of the relevant documents we know existed (such as her will) have been destroyed. She was a trailblazer for women artists as she not only painted beautiful flower paintings, but also portraits, scenes from everyday life and history paintings showing religious and mythological subjects.

Women artists at the time were very restricted in what they could do, as they were prevented from attending formal art training. Fortunately, Michaelina's older brother was a painter, and it is likely he taught her, and they may have had a studio together for some years. During her lifetime, it is thought she was as famous as her contemporary Artemisia Gentileschi, but she has been forgotten for nearly three centuries, with many of her works being attributed to others (and in some instances, her name was painted over on her paintings!).

More of her works are being discovered all the time, including this set of five paintings: The Five Senses:Painted in 1650, these were only rediscovered in 2019 at an auction and are shown for the first time.  More about these (and close-ups), and other lovely paintings, under the cut.
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It was a really interesting exhibition, and well worth a visit to see an artist who is still having new works discovered and attributed to her skill as a painter.

Under the cut for the daily questions for June for those playing along. Links to the questions can be found in my sticky post.
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On Friday, Mr Cee and I travelled to Bermondsey in London to visit the Young V&A Museum to see their exhibition all about Aardman Animations. There had been issues with the tube trains all week (a series of strikes), but fortunately, we could easily get to the museum by train to London Bridge and a bus from there took us almost to the door.

The museum is aimed at families and young children with lots of hands-on activities, but it was interesting to see that most of the people who were visiting the exhibition were nearer to our age *g*.  Founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, Aardman Animations has been around since the early 1970s. They began with stop-motion animations on a children's TV programme created for deaf children, called Vision On, and the birth of their first cute Plasticine (modelling clay) animated character, Morph. Their work has extended into commercials, short films, music videos (including the famous Sledgehammer video with Peter Gabriel), and into full-length animated (and extremely successful) films with memorable characters such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

Under the cut for examples of the processes involved in producing clay-based characters, animation and lots of models!
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There was so much more than I've included here, including the chance to make your own stop-motion clip, film yourself as an animation guide and play around with lighting a scene (and more).  It was well worth a visit. The exhibition will finish in November this year, and if you buy a ticket, you get free access if you want to go back to see it again. 

It has been a gloriously sunny day today with clear skies and a temperature of 20ºC/68ºF, which was perfect for an outing to a tulip festival about an hour's drive away.

Tulley's Tulip Fest runs for about three weeks each year and is a celebration of beautiful tulips. This week is the peak time to see them, and they have 1.5 million tulips with over 120 different varieties on show. It was lovely to enjoy them in the sunshine today.

This is one of two fields covered in rows and rows of gorgeous colour. Under the cut for giant tulips, floating tulips, windmills, butterflies and unicorns...

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There were lots of opportunities to buy from vendors selling food, including Dutch specialities such as bitterballen, pancakes and stroopwaffles, but also lots of street food. We ended up having a delicious, freshly cooked wood-fired pizza for lunch before heading home.

Yesterday, Mr Cee and I went to London with our U3A 'London Explorers' group to visit the Peek Frean's museum.

The museum is in a room in the old factory site (the factory finally closed in 1989), which now houses lots of companies, including the 'Actor's Exchange' (Mr Cee suggested if you weren't happy with your actor, you could bring them in to exchange them *eyeroll*).  The museum is run by two volunteers and former employees of Peek Freans, and our guide was very knowledgeable.

Peek Frean's began production of sweet biscuits (which our US friends would call cookies) in 1857. Up until then, a biscuit would have been a twice-baked hard tack biscuit taken on long sea voyages to supplement the lack of bread for sailors. Jack Peek came up with the idea of incorporating sugar into a delicate, sweet biscuit, and the company grew from there, producing favourites such as the sweet custard cream, garibaldi, bourbon biscuits and savoury snacks such as twiglets.

Photos of fun memorabilia under the cut.
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It was a tiny but very interesting museum (and free to visit). They had original handwritten books detailing complaints, which made fascinating reading. So many customers reported finding hair in their chocolate biscuits! LOL!

I can also report that we got to eat some biscuits! I had a chocolate bourbon biscuit, which was delicious!

Yesterday I met up with kathyh at the Dulwich Picture Gallery for their Konrad Mägi exhibition.  The trains slightly misbehaved, but I managed to get there OK, and the exhibition was very interesting.

Konrad Mägi (1878-1925) was an Estonian artist who produced over 400 paintings and drawings in the short time he produced art (barely 13 years). Until fairly recently, he was relatively unknown outside Estonia. His main source of income from art (once he was established) was portrait painting, but the exhibition also had examples of his landscapes.  Many of his works are either lost or have been destroyed, and as he didn't keep records of his work, experts have had to guess at when he painted them.  It was a real privilege to see so many on display in the UK for the first time.

Under the cut for my favourites (click to embiggen).
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We spent quite a lot of time enjoying the paintings, and followed it with a very pleasant lunch in our favourite Greek restaurant (which seems to have new staff who are lovely!).  It's always a pleasure to meet up with Lj friends and see some gorgeous artwork!

Yesterday, Mr Cee and I went to West London to visit The Museum of Brands, as they had an exhibition celebrating Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 - a celebration of Sci-fi Toys and Collectables.

We've visited the museum a couple of times in the past, and it's always worth going to see their 'time tunnel', which contains thousands of examples of social and manufacturing history from the Victorian age right up to the present day. Items include food packaging, toys and games, household appliances, posters and advertising items and more!  Collected over 50 years by Robert Opie, the museum now runs as a charity and is one of the most fascinating places to visit in London.

Under the cut for far too many photos. Some have unavoidable reflections, but I couldn't resist still trying to take them, so it's worth clicking to enlarge.

We started with the Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 exhibition, which also featured Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and UFO. There was a LOT to look at and we were there for over two and half hours...

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Then we moved on to the 'Time Tunnel' of brands. A taster - Bisto and Marmite packaging over the years




Lots more under the cut with minimal explanations as most items are obvious. Enlarge with a click for detail.
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Sorry (not sorry) about the amount of photos *g*

Yesterday was lovely and sunny and very warm for March (18ºC/64ºF). In the afternoon, Mr Cee and I jumped on a train and headed for the National Portrait Gallery for a U3A art history tour, "Women of the NPG".

The National Portrait Gallery has subtly changed over the last ten years, and more and more portraits of women and better explanations about their lives have appeared on the walls. Our guide pointed out quite a few, but there are others that I think deserve mention in Women's History Month, so I've added my favourites to this post as we took the 90-minute tour.

Photos under the cut (as usual) with explanations of pioneering women who were very famous and influential in their day, but were quietly ignored for years until fairly recently.

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The tour was very interesting, and I'm glad I could also see the extra important women's portraits (although, of course, there are many, many more in the art gallery!).

Yesterday, Mr Cee and I joined the U3A 'London Explorers' group on a trip to see the Hogarth stairs and the magnificent Great Hall of Barts Hospital in London.   St Bartholemew's Hospital (known as Bart's) is the oldest teaching hospital in London, and the modern part of the hospital specialises in cardiac and cancer care. It is an NHS hospital, meaning it provides comprehensive, generally free-at-the-point-of-use secondary care to patients (including overseas visitors).

A hospital has stood on the site since 1123, and the original four blocks of buildings surrounding a square were built in the 1730s by the architect James Gibbs. Four buildings were designed not only to help prevent the spread of disease and fire, but they also meant that they could be built consecutively as funds were raised.

The North block was the first to be built and contains the King Henry VIII Gatehouse and the only statue of the King in London. Henry was instrumental in re-founding the hospital in 1547.

Once inside the courtyard, you can see the lovely North wing built in the Palladian style.  More photos under the cut.
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Our group had booked a guide, but the entrance hall and Great Hall are free to view by the public (you don't need to book ahead).  It's well worth a visit as there is a lot of information and a short film which explains the history and the recent restoration.

As we walked back to the train station we passed St Paul's - so I had to take a photo of one of my favourite London places with a particularly dramatic sky.

Yesterday I went with a friend to the Courtauld art gallery to see their exhibition Seurat and the Sea.

Georges Seurat (1859-1891) was a French artist best known for developing the technique of painting with small dots of colour to create an image (pointillism) as part of the neo-impressionist art movement.  It's easy to forget that at the time, this was considered bold and innovative, and was not accepted by the majority of contemporary art critics.  In his short life (he died aged 31) he only sold three of his paintings.

The exhibition brings together 26 of his lesser-known seascape paintings, preparatory sketches and drawings. Under the cut for my favourites.
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Having seen all that, we went into an adjoining room where they have a new temporary exhibition from the Berber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham. The exhibit has some highlights from the Berber Collection, which was a nice surprise. Under the cut for more lovelies!

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It's always nice to discover something new in a place I've visited so often before. We really enjoyed the outing, and after a quick lunch, we headed home.

Under the cut for May's questions
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On Wednesday, Mr Cee and I went to the Tate Britain art gallery to see their exhibition Turner & Constable Rivals and Originals.   We were really lucky to get tickets! I'd completely forgotten about the exhibition until this week, but fortunately, we managed to get an afternoon slot.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (known as William) was born in 1775 in the centre of London to a working-class family (his father was a barber) and never lost his London accent. He travelled across the country and into Europe to find subjects to paint. He showed exceptional talent at a young age and was invited to enrol at the Royal Academy of Arts to study at just 14. He supported himself during his studies by working as an architectural draughtsman's assistant and watercolour copyist. He had a very long and successful career and died, aged 76, in 1851.

JMW Turner Self Portrait (1799)

John Constable was born in 1776 in a village in Suffolk in South-East England. He spent most of his career painting within this area, and during his lifetime, it became known as 'Constable Country'.  His family was wealthy, and even though they were nervous about their son becoming an artist, they supported him financially.  He began his studies at the Royal Academy when he was 24. He took longer to establish his career, but was also very successful and died, aged 60, in 1837.

John Constable by Ramsay Richard Reinagle (1799).  Reinagle and Constable were housemates when Constable moved to London.

Rivals in their lifetime, their approaches to landscape painting (which was becoming very fashionable) were very different, and critics described Constable's work as 'the truth' and Turner's as 'poetry'.  Their originality and innovation still resonate 250 years later, and seeing their works hung together was fascinating, highlighting their differing approaches.

Under the cut for far too many photographs of lovely things.
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It was a huge exhibition - and I'm glad we got tickets as they are in very short supply now, as it closes on the 12th April.

Under the cut for April's questions.

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Previous months can't be found in my sticky post here.

Yesterday was a chilly day here in the South East of the UK, but we braved the freezing cold wind and lower temperatures (4ºC/39ºF, although it felt colder) and headed out to the train station. We walked up to the British Museum from Charing Cross station. It's about a mile, so it took about 20 minutes, as we had to stop frequently to wait for the traffic lights to change on all the roads.

The exhibition charted the history of the Samurai from its beginnings as a fierce warrior class known as 'bushi' in the medieval period, which moved on to gain political standing by the 1100s. This then moved on to become an elite social class from the early 1600s.  By the late 19th century, the hereditary status of the Samurai was abolished, and the 'way of the warrior' (bushido) became the driving force behind their military exploits. By the 20th century, the myth of the Samurai had become idealised and crossed over into the West, where it was incorporated into film and graphic novels, and even influenced fashion.

There were a lot of exhibits ranging from armour, weapons, art, everyday items, woodblock prints, and examples of how the Samurai lived and governed during the height of their power, right up to the way the myths still influence present-day Japan and beyond.( Collapse )

I've hardly touched on what was in the exhibition - it's a fascinating and very detailed history of the samurai, and well worth visiting. It closes on 4th May.

Yesterday afternoon, we went on a walk to see some of the many statues in the City of London. The theme of the walk was 'Diverse London - City Public Art by Refugees and Immigrants' and focused on the stories behind the art produced by first-generation refugees and immigrants to the UK.  London has always been a home to immigrant communities, and whole areas of the city were built by those finding their homes here, so it's not surprising that we also have wonderful artists who have left their mark.

The day was drizzly and wet, but I took photos of the examples we saw, along with some of the other sculptures we passed, which form the Sculpture in the City trail. Under the cut for the photos and some history of the City of London area.

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I really enjoy walking around when there's a theme to the walk, and it was fascinating to see so many sculptures in the City of London by people who have moved here for whatever reason. It was a shame about the weather, but I'm glad we went.

Under the cut are the questions for March.  All the links to the questions can be found in my sticky post.
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Yesterday, Mr Cee and I travelled to Acton Town in West London to visit the London Transport Museum Depot.  The main London Transport Museum is located in Covent Garden in Central London, and we have visited it many times. However, like most museums, they can't display all the items they have, and their depot in Acton has 320,000 items ranging from underground train carriages, buses, taxis, signs, signals, an artwork archive, building blueprints and even tiny things such as examples of tickets.

The Acton depot has been open since 1999 and was specifically designed to allow the public to visit and see the results of cataloguing and preserving the history of transportation in London.  The public can only view the items during guided tours because the depot's contents are constantly being rearranged (many of the vehicles are taken on tour or to repair facilities outside of the depot), and it is not set up as a museum. However, with the assistance of one of the very knowledgeable volunteer guides, we embarked on a two-hour exploration of the items.

Under the cut for a little bit of history and quite a few photos...

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It was a very interesting outing, and we will consider returning for some of their other tours. We also want to visit the Covent Garden London Transport Museum, as they currently have an exhibition about Art Deco.  So that will be a future outing!

Today started chilly, with frost, but it turned out to be very sunny, so I headed out with Mr Cee to London. He had a meeting with a financial advisor to discuss what to do with his work pension pot, and while he did that, I decided to go to the Wallace Collection to see a couple of their free small exhibitions: Caravaggio's Cupid and the Lucknow Swords.

I also saw a couple of other things, so there are a few photos under the cut.

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By the time I'd seen all that, Mr Cee had finished his meeting and caught up with me at the Wallace Collection, where we had lunch.   On the way home, we spotted this interesting statue on the side of a building on Oxford Street. It was inspired by the British ballerina Darcy Bussell and was installed in 1997. It is by Michael Rizzello (1926-2004), a London artist of Italian descent. Behind her are two ceramic plaques with B & H, which show the previous incarnation of the building as the Bourne and Hollingsworth retailer.


It was a fun way to spend some time!

Below the cut are the questions for February for those following along with the daily meme.  I'm working on March!

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Yesterday I braved the colder weather and travelled to the V&A in London to see their exhibition Marie Antoinette Style.

Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) was born an Archduchess in Austria and became the Queen of France in 1774 when her husband, King Louis XVI, ascended the throne (having married him four years earlier when she was 14). She was a patron of the arts and a style icon, and the exhibition examines her style and influence on fashion right up until the present day.

One of the first things you see when you enter the exhibition is the wonderful portrait by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (one of my favourite artists). Marie Antoinette is only 23 in this portrait.



The artist described the queen's appearance: "Her features were not regular; she inherited the long and narrow oval face peculiar to her Austrian nationality. Her eyes were rather small, their colour was nearly blue; her expression was intelligent and gentle. Her nose was small and pretty, and her mouth was not too big. But the most remarkable thing about her face was the brilliance of her complexion."

Many of the items owned by Marie Antoinette were sold, stolen or went missing following the French Revolution, which ended her life at 37. Even so, the exhibition was huge, with dresses, jewels, personal items, fabrics, furniture and artwork, and there are many photos under the cut of things she owned, styles she influenced and modern interpretations...
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Apologies for the picpam - but it was a wonderful exhibition and I had so many favourite things. It closes in March this year and it well worth visiting.  When I came out of the V&A it was snowing again, but it was worth the trip.

I decided to write a new meme for daily questions as I couldn't find one. I've only written January so far, but here it is under the cut.  Links to the various months will be added to my sticky post as they are written.

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Yesterday we went to The National Gallery in London to see their exhibition Wright of Derby: From the Shadows.  It's a small exhibition, but included some lovely paintings.

Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797) specialised in paintings focusing on light and shadow, and included many which showed the scientific discoveries of the day.

Here he is: Self-portrait in a Black Feathered Hat (c. 1770). A beautiful pastel drawing on blue paper.


 More photos under the cut.
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It was a small, but very interesting exhibition.

On the way back to Charing Cross we saw the 25m (82') Christmas tree donated by Norway in Trafalgar Square:



And we went on a slight detour into Covent garden where we passed this Lego display *g*

On Tuesday, I went to The Dulwich Picture Gallery to see their exhibition Anna Ancher: Painting Light.

Anna Ancher (1859–1935) was a Danish painter, and although she's well known in Denmark, there has never been an exhibition devoted to her work in the UK, so it felt like a real privilege to go.  She was influenced by French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and many of her paintings focus on local people she knew in the coastal town of Skagen, where she was born, which became an artist's community in the 1870s.  She had the most amazing skill at capturing light in her work, and I really enjoyed seeing the examples that have been loaned.  There were over 40, and I've highlighted my favourites under the cut.

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It was a fascinating exhibition, and it continues until 8th March 2026.

On Thursday, we went to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to see their Pirates exhibition.


The exhibition covered the myths, legends and reality of pirates from the 'golden age' of piracy in the late 17th and early 18th century, right up to piracy in the present day. It looked at the images and the modern interpretations of pirates as well as how they have been portrayed on stage, screen, in novels and have even influenced fashion.

It was a large exhibition, and I took a LOT of photos, but I've tried to pare it down to the most interesting things that caught my eye under the cut (FYI - it was all very interesting!).

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We learned a lot of pirate language on our way through the exhibition
Maroon - abandon a victim on a deserted island
The black spot - A piece of paper with a black mark used as a death threat
Jolly Roger - a pirate flag
Fire in the hole - a warning that a shot is going to be fired
Barking Iron - a large pistol
Give no quarter - show no mercy in a fight
A spyglass - a telescope
Sail ho! - a ship has been spotted
Prize - a captured ship
Freebooter - Dutch word for a pirate
Filibuster - Spanish word for a pirate
Corsair - French word for a pirate, especially one from North Africa

There is a lot of extra information on the website for the exhibition, including the pirate myths here.

It was a really in-depth exhibition and we learned a lot. Well worth a visit - it's on until 4th January next year.

On Thursday, we went to the King's Gallery to see The Edwardians: Age of Elegance.  The exhibition covered two Edwardian couples to highlight the change in the fashion, style and taste between 1863 and the end of the First World War in 1918. The period covers the reign of Edward VII, the son of Queen Victoria, who ascended the throne in 1901 with his consort, Queen Alexandra. The period extends to cover the reign of their son George V, and his consort Queen Mary, who inherited the throne in 1910.

There were some lovely things from the Royal Collections on show (it's a big exhibition), and so there are quite a few photos under the cut.
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It was a fascinating exhibition and well worth a visit.

Yesterday Mr Cee and I travelled to London to join a history walk all about toilets and sewers. The walk was organised by a 'Walking Post', a group set up by Lucy and Emily who organise group walks across London and the South East.  They are not professional guides, so they ask for donations to a bowel cancer charity in lieu of payment. Yesterday, we were joined by a couple of their volunteers, and there were 26 of us on the very interesting four-hour walk.

It was another dull day, but not cold (15ºC/59ºF) and dry, which was perfect for the five-and-three-quarter-mile (9km) walk. We travelled to London Bridge and walked across the river to Tower Hill to meet up with the group, entering the City of London on the way as marked by the dragon on London Bridge:


More photos and more about the history of London sewers and public loos under the cut (sometimes out of chronological order, as we passed by various structures)..
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It was a very interesting walk, and we really enjoyed it. We were home by mid-afternoon and were surprised to find we'd walked nearly 10 miles (16km) as we'd walked to the station as well as the meeting and ending places of the walk!  We will look out for more walks by Walking Post as it was fun.