Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: London

  • London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Horizontal Stripe Painting by Patrick Heron)

    London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Horizontal Stripe Painting by Patrick Heron)

    I don’t understand great swathes of modern art, but there’s becoming an easy way to see if the art gallery that the artwork is located in has a clue either. Sometimes, the gallery can produce detailed information about the thought processes behind a painting, and that can give me an understanding of what is happening.

    It’s clear that the Tate Britain has absolutely no idea here with this artwork by Patrick Heron (1920-1999). They haven’t even bothered to fill in the artwork summary, as I’m not sure that they have anything to say. Their entire comment on this (bearing in mind a lot of their paintings get paragraphs of text) is:

    “Heron resisted the total abandoning of subject matter and even such works as this have been seen in relation to landscape, the horizontal bands and colours perhaps suggesting the horizon at sunset.”

    The gallery acquired this artwork in 1972, so after nearly fifty years, they’ve found nearly nothing to say on it. It was designed for an office (Lund Humphries), where they needed to change it for another of Heron’s works, and Heron himself noted:

    “I believe that the actual spatial sequences of the room which has been designed at Lund Humphries are in a sort of contrapuntal relationship with the illusions of space which my canvas creates from its floating position on one of the walls in that room. Actual space is chopped up, marshalled, articulated and as it were modelled by the screens and counter and the hanging slatted ceiling, and this is done in such a way that this actual space marries with the illusionistic space in the stratified spatial bars which ascend in chords of different reds, lemon-yellow, violet and white up the length of my vertical canvas. As your eye climbs the “steps” of differentiated colour in my canvas, so you yourself may step back into the actual spatial areas of the room. Seen from straight in front, the bars of colour in the canvas ascend directly into the parallel bars of the slats overhead, which advance not only towards the bars of the painting, but into them—or so it seems, since the slats are brought right up against the surface of the canvas at a point 3 ft. below the top of it. The top yard of the canvas is thus designed to be read through the slats of the hanging ceiling. There is, therefore, a continuous progression of horizontal parallels right from the foot of the painting in front of you, up the canvas, and then backwards, right over your head, along the hanging grid of slats under which you are standing or sitting. And not one of these parallel horizontals is equal to another, either in colour, breadth, or in the interval of its placing. The colour bands on the canvas are obviously dissimilar in every respect; but that the double row of slats overhead should also be uneven in appearance is due partly to perspective and partly to the different spacing of the upper and lower rows of slats.”

    Crystal clear. Anyway, I don’t like it, I think it looks ridiculous. I don’t expect the art world will be too bothered by this announcement of mine…. What I have started to establish here is when galleries don’t seem to have a clue what an artwork is about either.

  • London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Lady Anne Pope by Robert Peake)

    London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Lady Anne Pope by Robert Peake)

    This artwork is of Lady Anne Pope (?-1629), the daughter of Sir William Pope and Anne Pope, and is likely to have been painted in an attempt to find a suitor for her. It didn’t work as she remained unmarried, with the pearls, long hair and cherries all indicating a pure and virtuous woman. The painter was Robert Peake (1551?-1619) who worked in the Royal Court under Queen Elizabeth I, before later becoming the Serjeant Painter to King James I.

    It is really just an early version of Tinder and it must have been quite a nuisance to have to find a date by having a painting drawn by an expensive artist (although by all accounts, Sir William Pope could afford it). But such were the responsibilities no doubt of the upper classes at this time, they had to find someone appropriate. Peake also painted the portrait of Elizabeth Pope, who was Anne’s sister-in-law, at the same time, and in this case, the artwork might have perhaps been more of a status symbol.

    The Tate acquired this painting, which was presented anonymously to them, in 1955. At that time, the artwork was in Wroxton Abbey in Oxfordshire, although the lease had been taken over by Trinity College, Oxford University. It’s not likely that the artwork ever left Wroxton Abbey, as this was the family estate rebuilt by Sir William Pope. And so here in Tate Britain it now permanently resides.

  • London – Westminster – Tate Britain (An Allegory of Man)

    London – Westminster – Tate Britain (An Allegory of Man)

    I’m quite interested in medieval religious imagery (yes, I know, it’s not exactly a drunken weekend in Ibiza with friends), but I found this a moderately unsettling artwork. It’s later, from after 1596, and it’s not known who painted it, but it’s unusual as it’s a painting of a religious subject which has survived from a time when Protestant values wouldn’t have wanted this to be displayed. It would have been displayed as a devotional piece, but it’s quite dark and moralistic, I prefer the more gentle interpretations of Jesus or Mary.

    The gallery has kindly provided the text which is on the artwork:

    “‘O MAN THOW WRETCED CREA ¦ TVRE HOW MAIEST THOVE DEL ¦ ITE IN RICHES BEWTY STRENGTH ¦ OR OTHER WORDLY THINGE. RE ¦ MEMBRINGE THINE ENEMYES WHICH CONTINVALLY ¦ SEEKE THEE TO DESTROYE & BRINGE THEE TO NOTHING ¦ BVT SINE SHAME AND FYER EVERLASTINGE. THEREFORE ¦ FAST WATCH & PRAYE CONTINVALY WT FERVENT DESIER ¦ VNTO IESVS THE MIGHTIE CAPTAYNE WHO ONLY IS ¦ HABLE TO DEFEND THEE FROM THEIR FIERIE ASSAWLTS.’ in bottom cartouche; ‘COVETVSNES’ on the miser’s arrow, lower left; ‘GLOTONY’, ‘SLOWTH’ and ‘LECHERY’ on the lady’s three arrows, centre left; ‘GRATIA ME SVFICIT TIBIE, 2 COR[.] 12.’ on scroll by Christ, top; ‘BE SOBER THEREFORE & WATCH FOR ¦ THOW KNOWEST NEITHER THE DAY NOR ¦ THE HOWRE.’ on scroll, centre right, above Death the skeleton; ‘BEHIND THEE Y STEALE ¦ LIKE A THEIF THE TEM / PORAL LIFE TO DEVOWER’ on shield (oval target) of Death; ‘PRYDE’, ‘WRATH’ and ‘ENVYE’ on three arrows of devil, bottom right; ‘TEMPORANS’, ‘GOOD REISINES’, ‘CHASTITY’, ‘ALMES DEEDS’, ‘AND COMPASSION’, ‘MEEKENES’, ‘CHARITY’, ‘PACIENS’ on scroll encircling central figure of Man.”

    For a long time, the artwork was thought to be a little earlier, from the mid sixteenth century, but then the wood went through a dendrochronological analysis and the earliest that it could be was from 1596. Which goes to show that sometimes even the collective wisdom of numerous art experts can still be wrong at dating an artwork. The painting was given to the museum in 1990 as a gift from the Patrons of British Art.

    As an aside, Tate Britain is one of the most excellent galleries which makes an attempt to establish the provenance of all of its artworks and presents that information on-line. Until 1913, this painting was owned by John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), who was married to Elizabeth Newton who was the daughter of a Norwich alderman. Between 1880 and 1901, Robinson held the role of the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, a role later held by Anthony Blunt.

  • London – Ibis Styles – Kensington

    London – Ibis Styles – Kensington

    This is my first stay in an Accor hotel since March, with an offer rate of just over £25 per night including a basic breakfast. I’m not sure that I’ve seen that rate in a relatively central London hotel operated by Accor, so it seemed appropriate to take advantage of it.

    The bar area, located next to reception. I think I encountered four staff members during my stay and I’d say that they were all friendly, welcoming and engaging, so that was rather lovely. Check-in was swift, informative and polite.

    The sign at reception explaining what’s changed. Cleaning is now only offered on the third day and breakfast has been switched to a bag offered at reception. I had guessed this, but it’s perhaps inadequate that Accor don’t make this clear. Accor’s press office says that every hotel offers the same breakfast (I had wanted to ask numerous hotels what breakfasts they were doing, something they’re communicating badly), but this is a complete nonsense and their PR agency does no-one any good by suggesting it is. They didn’t offer the same breakfast before, so why they should be now, I have no idea. Anyway, I digress.

    The wall decoration in the reception area, a really quite nice and decorative map of the local area.

    There’s a Japanese theme to the hotel. I’m not sure why and it seems a bit of a half-effort, but I do like Ibis Styles themes.

    This is the single and small room, a feature of many hotels in the Kensington area of London (and many other areas of the city as well). In terms of cleanliness, it met my expectations, but I saw no evidence of a deep clean for a few reasons, such as the staff hadn’t realised there was nearly no soap left which I’d suspect would be obvious if everything was spotlessly cleaned and checked. But, expectations have to be a little measured given the room price and how many staff they have to clean the rooms. I thought the cleanliness was fine, just not perfect.

    That floating ‘l’ annoyed me. Not in a big way, but just a little bit.

    The breakfast, which remained the same every day other than on my final day when they mixed it all up by swapping the Coco Pops for a Frosties bar. It’s a nice effort, I thought the hotel did fine on this.

    The drinks voucher was offered, the welcome gift wasn’t. In normal times, that is rare for an Ibis Styles, but my expectations were more measured given everything going on.

    There was a choice of what I would considered to be three bloody awful beers and this was the best of a bad lot. It’s fair to say though that most people aren’t as bloody awkward about beer choices as I am (although I can name one). But, having said that, Ibis Styles is meant to be an on-trend brand, it’s time it moved on from rubbish beer like other hotel chains have done. Well, some hotel chains.

    In normal times, this was the breakfast area.

    The coffee machine, alongside spare coffee sachets and tea bags, was kept in action for those who wanted to venture down to the basement.

    So, all told, I thought that the hotel was doing really well. The staff seemed happy, they were engaging and friendly, the hotel public areas were kept clean and there were no noise disturbances. The air conditioning was better than in some hotels, but it never really chilled the room to the temperature that I like (frozen). There’s nothing essential that I thought that needed changing (a better beer selection would please me, but it’s hardly critical), so the value for money was excellent given what I paid.

  • London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub

    London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub

    This one was Nathan’s recommendation (he’ll be here next week to buy an expensive bottle, more on which later on in this post) which was the Goose Island Brewpub, located a short walk from London Liverpool Street railway station.

    All on-trend and modern, there was a relaxed atmosphere and the staff member at the bar was friendly and helpful. Actually, the staff were always engaging and welcoming, the service style was all quite American.

    The beer selection is chalked up on the board and it’s also printed out and available on-line. Goose is an American company and they have a few brewpubs there, so that’s somewhere else that I have to go when I return to the United States. Their main operation is in Chicago, which I visit most years (well, those when there’s not a pandemic on), so I shall make sure I go there for the real deal (that sounds a dreadful phrase, but let’s live with it). They also have international outlets in Seoul, Shanghai, San Paulo and Toronto, as well as this one in London.

    There were no shortage of tables when I went, and it remained relatively quiet during the entire time that I was in there.

    The downstairs brewing area.

    On the left is the Eire of the Dog, a rather luxurious little beer which has caramel and chocolate flavours, very decadent after my meal. On the left, which was my starter before the food (and during it) is the Ruby which is a rhubarb sour. There was a suitable sharpness from the rhubarb, but it remained drinkable and I liked the flavour, although the aftertaste wasn’t particularly rich.

    As it was a Wednesday when I went, the food was half price as part of the Government’s ‘eat out to help out’ campaign. So, this pizza was around £6 and was larger than I had expected, even though they said it was 12 inches on the menu. All filling and the Italian sausage was excellent, very sausagey. I liked the serving style as well which wasn’t on a plate, it made it easy to plough on with work whilst sitting in a bar. I say this, I spend most of my time doing work in bars, restaurants and pubs, but I must admit a little bit of that time is used faffing around on WhatsApp. Perhaps I need to get out more….

    The payment process was swift and I was pleased to see that, unexpectedly, the Amex Shop Small kicked in, which meant that I got £5 off the bill. So, all of this meant that I was able to get two drinks and a pizza for £7.50. How very lovely. I await to hear how much Nathan spends next week when he cracks open the bottle of Bourbon County Brand Stout, which I must admit sounds rather delicious.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Still Smiling After Air Raid)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Still Smiling After Air Raid)

    I’m still rummaging through the Imperial War Museum’s on-line collection of photos (© IWM HU 36206) and this is very much smiling in the face of adversity. Perhaps it’s a little stage-managed, but maybe the home-owner is pleased to be at least able to save their plant and clock. The exact location was never noted, but the photograph was taken in London in 1940.

  • London – Kensington – Natural History Museum (Snake…..)

    London – Kensington – Natural History Museum (Snake…..)

    I’m sure I saw a snake just like this last year when walking near to Hoveton….. They’re everywhere….

  • London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Captain Thomas Lee by Marcus Gheeraerts)

    London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Captain Thomas Lee by Marcus Gheeraerts)

    I like the sign to the left of this painting by Marcus Gheeraerts (1561/2-1636) which reads “what would you wear in a photo if you really wanted to impress someone?” as this certainly looks like some sort of dare. But, it’s not, it’s very serious and it was the uniform of an Irish soldier, who kept their legs bare for reasons that I’m not sure that I can understand (but is probably related to the need to fight in Irish bogs). The embroidered top isn’t quite part of the uniform, that’s just an indication of how wealthy Captain Thomas Lee (1551-1601) was. The painting is also seen as an attempt by Lee to impress Queen Elizabeth I, although his life plan didn’t quite work out as he was executed at Tyburn in 1601 and the Queen didn’t stop it.

    The artwork was painted in 1594, which was the prime of the artist’s career as he fell a little out of favour after this. The museum holds a few paintings by Gheeraerts, but I’d say that this one is the most spectacular looking and the gallery was able to acquire this painting in 1980.

  • London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Lady Kytson by George Gower)

    London – Westminster – Tate Britain (Lady Kytson by George Gower)

    This artwork doesn’t make Lady Kytson (1547-1628) look the most glamorous, but it wasn’t the done thing at this time to smile for portraits. She was a brave lady and remained a Catholic at a time when this wasn’t perhaps entirely wise under the Protestant rule of Queen Elizabeth I, meaning that Kytson was arrested and her activities were monitored.

    The artist was George Gower (1540-1596) who was a popular portrait painter of the period (there were more P’s there than I initially intended). This artwork was acquired by the Tate in 1952 and is the oldest surviving work by Gower, along with the portrait of her husband, Sir Thomas Kytson. By 1581, Gower had become the Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth, meaning that he had become something of a court favourite. As an aside, the gallery only worked out what the hat she was wearing was meant to look like when the painting was thoroughly cleaned in 1995.

  • London – Kensington – Natural History Museum (South Shields Sunday Stone)

    London – Kensington – Natural History Museum (South Shields Sunday Stone)

    Not all rocks are old…. This exhibit at the Natural History Museum was formed in a coal mine in the 1800s, when the white mineral barium sulphate met coal dust. This only happened when miners were at work, so there’s a wider gap on Sundays, or “a calendar in rock” as the museum calls it.