Art marathon
Desperate to catch all the shows before they end I organised a tight schedule and stuck to it this weekend.
On Friday night I saw Ed Ruscha at the Hayward Gallery which was good but not mind blowing. Definitely few very good paintings. Afterward my friends and I went to BFI for some drinks, the new bar on the riverfront is so much nicer than the old setup and the chips are excellent too!
On Saturday I met another friend of mine at RA and saw Wild Thing: Epstein, Gaudier-Brzeska and Gill. A truly wonderful collection of sculptures and sketches. The most impressive being Bird Swallowing a Fish by Gaudier-Brzeska and Epstein’s Portrait of Iris Beerbohm Tree and the spectacular Rock Drill. Amazing show, really worth a visit.
We had a quick lunch in Soho and headed down to Somerset House to see Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour. Another great exhibition, a lot of pictures of Parkinson’s wife and iconic shots of Jerry Hall from the 70s. Well worth a visit, especially if you enjoyed Golden Age of Couture at V&A a couple of years ago.
Warmed up by the museum hopping we decided to end the trip at The National Picture Gallery to see the very entertaining Beatles to Bowie: the 60s exposed.
I watched very moving Wajda’s Katyn – a film about an incident from WWII and its aftermath that not many people know of.
And I almost finished watching Mad Men season 3, a thought of only 2 episodes left to watch is making me depressed. Drooling over Betty Draper’s outfits.
Tags: Ed Ruscha, Eric Gill, Hayward Gallery, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Jacob Epstein, Katyn, Mad Men, National Portrait Gallery, Norman Parkinson, Royal Academy, Somerset House
January 11th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Oh, I am going to the RA this weekend so will have to check out the Wild Thing exhibition! I really loved the Golden Age of Couture exhibition so must drop by the Parkinson one as well.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:57 am
skirmishofwit: definitely do, there are so many beautiful pictures, a lot of them I never seen before. And last Saturday it was so quiet there, it was only my friend and I most of the time.
January 12th, 2010 at 4:46 am
I haven’t seen any of the Mad Men series and I just bought the box set of season one. So excited!!
January 12th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Louise, if you haven’t seen it yet, I am so jealous! I wish I had new episodes to watch. It’s pretty slow but it really grips you. And the set design and wardrobe are meticulous!
January 12th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
so great that you got to attend so many shows!
(i am completely in the dark re: mad men…and am know you are totally smitten by the show…;))
January 13th, 2010 at 4:45 am
I think we are quite spoiled here in London. And you MUST see Mad Men if jane! if only for the design, it’s so beautiful and clever.
January 14th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Oh my goodness Sneaky, you have me completely hooked! I’ve just watched the first three episodes in a row. It’s amazing. The third one has really got me. How much fun this is going to be…Hooray!!! If Jane, you have got to get it!
January 15th, 2010 at 3:44 am
ha ha ha Louise, I knew this would happen! This is the best thing that happened on tv since Six Feet Under and Sopranos (for me anyway). Isn’t the art direction the most amazing thing you’ve seen? I also hear Tom Ford’s film Single Man has got the same set designer which is worth seeing for this very reason. Series 3 will start in March on BBC so you have plenty of time to do your homework. Oh, I have to wait till autumn for the next season.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:26 am
I love Mad Men!
Donald Draper is my man. Except the cheating part.
Season 3 is great, better then season 2 in my opinion.
January 19th, 2010 at 9:19 am
I loved season 3, the final episode was brilliant.