By request, I thought I would mention some of the other very cultural things I did in London. Among the many museums we visited (including the National Gallery twice…) the highlights were the Velazquez exhibit at the National Gallery and the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum. I was fortunate to have my visit coincide with the opening of the Velazquez exhibit, which was an excellent chronological portrayal of the artist’s development, bringing together many paintings that had not yet been displayed together. I was surprised that an artist painting in the 1600’s would have the painterly style of Velazquez–rather than focusing on depicting absolute reality, he would let a few well-placed brush strokes indicate changes in light or texture.
While at the National Gallery I also enjoyed checking out the room with the Rubens paintings, especially ‘Samson and Delilah’ for which the National Gallery paid the second-highest price for a painting to that date. While studying at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece, I attended a lecture that went through the dubious provenance of that painting. At first glance I thought that perhaps the naysayers were wrong–the painting is beautiful, and has many similarities in painting style to the ones around it. However, on closer inspection, and upon stepping back and looking at the four largest paintings together, Samson and Delilah did seem out of place. For one, the colors are much brighter than the typical Rubens. Also, the painting last the fine cracking of the other old Rubens paintings. And some of the painting style did not seem to match quite right. There are additional incongruities that you can read about at http://afterrubens.org
The British Museum houses expansive collections in an incredible building. We had time to see only a few exhibits, and the one that the British Museum is perhaps best known for is the Parthenon Marbles– friezes and pediment statues taken from the Parthenon in Athens generations ago. Though debate is ongoing as to whether these marbles should be returned to Greece, I must say that the British Museum does an excellent job displaying the art and does its awesome origin justice, placing the marbles somewhat as they would appear in the Parthenon, so that visitors can get a sense of the size of the building and the structures in relation to one another. Furthermore, the pieces are at a good height for viewing–no need to crane one’s neck– and the museum is free so the marbles are highly accessible. You can read more and see pictures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Marbles
London has unlimited cultural activities, from museums to markets, and my wonderful hosts made sure I was able to see many.
