A National Gallery treasure @ your feet
As a teenager, I hated museum. You had to pay for the ticket, walk through white cold corridors covered with works of arts and tiny lables, spend a reasonable time given the price the had paid and felt you had to lear something in the process. Boring! I compensated with exhibitions for which I could at least choose a theme I liked.
England changed all this for me. In London, the main big museums are free. I started by going there before meeting friends if I was too early, strolling through them happily. Take the pressure off and it is immediately more enjoyable. You spend a few minutes there or a few hours. Great for kids too as they are welcomed and encouraged - games, art trolleys, even workshop. And of course, if your toddlers decides it’s not a museum day, no guilt in leaving the place after 10mn only. My daughter learnt to walk in the large corridors of the V&A museum: she was delighted with so much space, we caught a glimpse of culture on the way.
One of my favourite treasures is in the entrance of the National Gallery. Look down, it is at your feet!
Mosaics, yes, from the Russian artist Boris Anrep. Too classical? Look again…
Anrep was lucky to lay down four works along the stairs:
- Labours of life in 1928, reminding us of the constructive and creative nature of man, he said. Engineering, exporing (look for the zebra), farming (in which a pig is being washed), studying (meet the Natural History Museum diploocus!)…
- Pleasures of life in 1929, among which football, cricket, hunting, girls on motorbike, dancing charleston, a Xmas pudding and a mud pie…
- The awakening of the muses in 1933 – the artist used his friends as models. Being part of the fanous Bloomsbury Group, he used Virginia Woolf as the History Muse and Greta Garbo for Melpomene…
- Modern Virtues in 1952 or the intellectual life of 1930ies and 4oies. Again, you’ll find famous people of the time depicted there. Such as Winston Churchill defying a Svastica shaped monster…
You’ll find new details at each visit. Ideal with kids too - give them a list of objects and actions to find for a few minutes of peace!
And why not learn more about the buildings arounf Trafalgar Square (here and there) and discover this strange tower-lampost…
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London WC2N 5DN
Free
4 Responses to “A National Gallery treasure @ your feet ”
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J’adore ces mosaïques, c’est vraiment superbe. Merci de partager et de nous faire découvrir ces merveilles.
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Chocoralie says:
Nath: mmmh, pas vraiment. On boit plutot son vin pur, comme du petit lait. Mais note qu’elle porte… un bonnet phrygien, frenchie style!
Sylvie: les touristes passent souvent a cote de celles-ci, tellement presses de monter jusqu’aux “grandes oeuvres”…
Elisa: et en tres bon etat, sachant qu’elles sont pietinees en permanence… Certaines ont ete renovees en 2005. Bises!
J’aime bien celle intitulée “compromis”. En Angleterre, on dit donc aussi mettre de l’eau dans son vin” ?