Things to do in London when you're cold
I heard that Historic Royal Palaces were really struggling in lockdown, and even the Tower ravens are getting bored. So I thought I might go - I've avoided the Tower because it's so crowded, but I could... oh, wait, it's £27 a visit?
Ahahaha nope.
I went to Kensington Palace though, a snip at £10 less.
I've never been before, because I care not a fig for the royals, but this is quite an interesting building in some ways, and much overlooked for its Dutch links. I forgot the Orangery is even more architecturally intriguing, which was an omission. There's some decent art, too. But oof, there's a lot of crap - in the labelling, the framing, the general approach. I just despair a bit of why anyone would actually visit - there's nothing specific to the quite intriguing and shabby way Kensington developed as a palace, with Whitehall burning down, and the out of town palaces becoming more popular (Windsor, Kew, Hampton Court), the post-Restoration ropeyness of the monarchy and its limited budgets, the continental links of William III especially, and the contrast with Blenheim, which is far more of a palace but not for a royal. There are good stories, not just posh myth. So much more could be done. A few pics under here though - if the tourism market does collapse permanently, this will be the first HRP site to close, so it's worth remembering:
The best bits are the small Queen's Apartments, with all the earlier Stuart stuff. I liked this portrait, about which there's bugger all even on the Royal Collection Trust website, alas:
The Georgian updates are often staggeringly tacky - this rip off of the Pantheon ceiling made me laugh. Putting the Order of the Garter in the oculus where the shy should be... Oof.
But this was fascinating - maps often are, and this has a strong hint of the naval about it, not just the decorative. Some major towns marked, but also ports rather more specifically. Again, nothing I could scare up from the RCT website, but it's a reminder that these kings (William III and George II) were actually generals too - George was the last British monarch to fight in battle, in fact. They weren't just about china and job lots of medium-good Venetian paintings
And I do adore a Kent staircase, though they are utterly overblown too.
Not a total waste, and it got me out of the house for this unseasonably cold bank holiday. I'll have to get used to this trend in curation, cutting to the most basic basics (and getting some of them wrong, for the sake of simplicity), but lord it makes me long for German and Italian museology. Old fashioned at times, but at least they know what they're looking at.
29 If you could witness any event of the past, present, or future, what would it be?
It's really, really hard to answer this. I've never wanted to "go back in time", for real, but there are so many things that would be fascinating to observe (safely, out of the way of disease, smells and contemporary attitudes to women). I would absolutely love to see a performance of Shakespeare by his company, but whether at court, in the Blackfriars or the Globe I can't decide. And there are other performances I wish I could see (Nell Gwyn, anyone? Come to that, the Restoration entry into London would be fun.) I think the Fire of London would be staggering to see - I never quite believe Old St Paul's was real, so seeing it burn would be fascinating.
But then it doesn't have to be London, of course. Or the UK. I don't really want to see battles and such, but the Duchess of Richmond's ball, in Belgium on the eve of Waterloo, with the officers stealing away to their posts? Would be amazing for a single moment of emotion and feeling the way the world was poised. Or, leaping back a long way, the assassination of Julius Caesar - that moment when Senate business becomes a bloodbath. I don't want to see the fall of Byzantium, but I'd love to walk the streets of the city when it's still the Eastern Roman Empire - but is that an event enough for this? All I can think of is the iconoclast fury, and that's a terrible time to visit.
Oh, and I realise I haven't talked about the present or future. I really don't want to see the future. And the present? Right now, the present doesn't feel so friendly.
30 Do you have a favorite painting? (Post a picture?)
This is impossible too! So many I could pick. I am allowing myself a few.
For the art memory that I probably still treasure most, it's the Medici chapel by Benozzo Gozzoli, which I had no knowledge of at all and walked into as a most staggering beauty:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi_Chapel
For the one I keep coming back to, where art made me see something afresh, it's Henry Ossawa Tanner's Annunciation, which I saw during the most staggering exhibition I've ever seen: the Royal Academy's 1900 exhibition, which lord help us is 20 years ago now. I've seen so many annunciations, but this one, with Mary a scared, resigned child, and the angel as a pillar of flame, is one I believe.
For the one that still makes me smile, La Blanchisseuse by Toulouse-Lautrec, which is in a private collection but I saw exhibited at Marmottan a while back (you'll need to scroll for it: https://parisdiarybylaure.com/private-collections-at-musee-marmottan-what-a-dream/). The boyf, most absolutely an ass man, fixed it with a very particular look, and my associations with it are all good.
And the one whose creation I would most like to see? I think the Veronica in the Flemalle panels - she's so beautiful, and this whole artform development is such a contested area, I'd love to know who painted it, and when, and for where. And then I'd like to take it home, please.
Last question for the month
31 Do you swear a lot?*
Ahahaha nope.
I went to Kensington Palace though, a snip at £10 less.
I've never been before, because I care not a fig for the royals, but this is quite an interesting building in some ways, and much overlooked for its Dutch links. I forgot the Orangery is even more architecturally intriguing, which was an omission. There's some decent art, too. But oof, there's a lot of crap - in the labelling, the framing, the general approach. I just despair a bit of why anyone would actually visit - there's nothing specific to the quite intriguing and shabby way Kensington developed as a palace, with Whitehall burning down, and the out of town palaces becoming more popular (Windsor, Kew, Hampton Court), the post-Restoration ropeyness of the monarchy and its limited budgets, the continental links of William III especially, and the contrast with Blenheim, which is far more of a palace but not for a royal. There are good stories, not just posh myth. So much more could be done. A few pics under here though - if the tourism market does collapse permanently, this will be the first HRP site to close, so it's worth remembering:
The best bits are the small Queen's Apartments, with all the earlier Stuart stuff. I liked this portrait, about which there's bugger all even on the Royal Collection Trust website, alas:
The Georgian updates are often staggeringly tacky - this rip off of the Pantheon ceiling made me laugh. Putting the Order of the Garter in the oculus where the shy should be... Oof.
But this was fascinating - maps often are, and this has a strong hint of the naval about it, not just the decorative. Some major towns marked, but also ports rather more specifically. Again, nothing I could scare up from the RCT website, but it's a reminder that these kings (William III and George II) were actually generals too - George was the last British monarch to fight in battle, in fact. They weren't just about china and job lots of medium-good Venetian paintings
And I do adore a Kent staircase, though they are utterly overblown too.
Not a total waste, and it got me out of the house for this unseasonably cold bank holiday. I'll have to get used to this trend in curation, cutting to the most basic basics (and getting some of them wrong, for the sake of simplicity), but lord it makes me long for German and Italian museology. Old fashioned at times, but at least they know what they're looking at.
29 If you could witness any event of the past, present, or future, what would it be?
It's really, really hard to answer this. I've never wanted to "go back in time", for real, but there are so many things that would be fascinating to observe (safely, out of the way of disease, smells and contemporary attitudes to women). I would absolutely love to see a performance of Shakespeare by his company, but whether at court, in the Blackfriars or the Globe I can't decide. And there are other performances I wish I could see (Nell Gwyn, anyone? Come to that, the Restoration entry into London would be fun.) I think the Fire of London would be staggering to see - I never quite believe Old St Paul's was real, so seeing it burn would be fascinating.
But then it doesn't have to be London, of course. Or the UK. I don't really want to see battles and such, but the Duchess of Richmond's ball, in Belgium on the eve of Waterloo, with the officers stealing away to their posts? Would be amazing for a single moment of emotion and feeling the way the world was poised. Or, leaping back a long way, the assassination of Julius Caesar - that moment when Senate business becomes a bloodbath. I don't want to see the fall of Byzantium, but I'd love to walk the streets of the city when it's still the Eastern Roman Empire - but is that an event enough for this? All I can think of is the iconoclast fury, and that's a terrible time to visit.
Oh, and I realise I haven't talked about the present or future. I really don't want to see the future. And the present? Right now, the present doesn't feel so friendly.
30 Do you have a favorite painting? (Post a picture?)
This is impossible too! So many I could pick. I am allowing myself a few.
For the art memory that I probably still treasure most, it's the Medici chapel by Benozzo Gozzoli, which I had no knowledge of at all and walked into as a most staggering beauty:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi_Chapel
For the one I keep coming back to, where art made me see something afresh, it's Henry Ossawa Tanner's Annunciation, which I saw during the most staggering exhibition I've ever seen: the Royal Academy's 1900 exhibition, which lord help us is 20 years ago now. I've seen so many annunciations, but this one, with Mary a scared, resigned child, and the angel as a pillar of flame, is one I believe.
For the one that still makes me smile, La Blanchisseuse by Toulouse-Lautrec, which is in a private collection but I saw exhibited at Marmottan a while back (you'll need to scroll for it: https://parisdiarybylaure.com/private-collections-at-musee-marmottan-what-a-dream/). The boyf, most absolutely an ass man, fixed it with a very particular look, and my associations with it are all good.
And the one whose creation I would most like to see? I think the Veronica in the Flemalle panels - she's so beautiful, and this whole artform development is such a contested area, I'd love to know who painted it, and when, and for where. And then I'd like to take it home, please.
Last question for the month
31 Do you swear a lot?*