The Sneaky Magpie

I have spent a lot of time at V&A lately. As the museum has got a lovely indoor cafe and even better outdoor space it’s the perfect place for meetings and fun.

I have visited the Grace Kelly show which was really really lovely. Grace had an incredible class and style which, among other things, was reflected in her wardrobe. Apart from beautiful ‘movie siren’ dresses and classic suits she loved fabulous Madame Gres’ gowns, floating, kaftan-like things of beauty. I was surprised how tall she was and I couldn’t help but think of Betty Draper throughout the exhibition.

I have also visited Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill which made me really want to visit the real thing. Unfortunately it is closed for refurbishment till autumn so I will have to wait.

And last but not least I have attended Osman Yousefzada’s fashion show which was a lot of fun. It’s my first fashion show and I loved it. The pictures came out rather badly, here are a couple of acceptable ones.

So the post Easter cold took over this week and I was in bed for a couple of days. When I got on my bike on Thursday I was loving the weather and the lack of traffic, I guess kids are off for two weeks and there are less buses and cars on the roads. The daffs are already on their way out giving room to the most amazing blossoms and other spring beauties. Loving it!

I did manage to do a couple of things that are really worth mentioning.

I went to see Arshile Gorky at Tate Modern. It was my first proper encounter with Gorky’s work, I only ever saw a couple of paintings here and there.

The exhibition is great, it takes you right from the start when he was an apprentice in Boston and New York, his early works show a huge influence by Picasso, Cézanne and especially Matisse.

There are some graphic prints and drawings as well as sketches of murals, sadly the only remainder of these works as most of the murals were destroyed in the 1940s.

In the 30s he started to move away from Cubism, he experimented with Surrealism, Avant-Garde and later on with Abstract Expressionism for which he is most famous.

The most touching paintings for me are the pale colored portraits of his mother who died of hunger and all the Eastern European folklore, Baba Jaga is a regular figure in his paintings.

Some of the most striking works are the Betrothal series, very powerful yet delicate, they are peaceful but somehow there is a certain lack of ease in these paintings.

A great retrospective of a troubled soul.

Last night I met a friend at the National Gallery to see a small Christen Købke show, I never heard of this Danish artist before and it was a real treat to explore something new.

Købke is amazing with light and an extreme attention to detail making some paintings look like pictures. The pastoral themed works and landscapes are my absolute favorites with the beautiful pink skies, folk in their everyday life, buildings surrounded by nature which takes over the canvas, it was magical.

Yesterday was a very exciting day, I got to meet Miranda from Skirmishofwit. We met in Hamspstead and headed to Ginger and White cafe for a blissful afternoon of tea, cakes and wonderful conversation. It was great to meet you Miranda and I am really looking forward to see you again soon!

Ginger and White serve everything on Poole two tone crockery which I absolutely adore.

Later on I met hubby in China Town and went to see A Single Man. I didn’t love it so I will try to dissect it a little. The acting was very good, especially Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult, Colin Firth was not bad either. The story is very interesting, exploring a day in life of George Falconer who decides to kill himself after loosing his partner in a car accident. I thought Tom Ford didn’t show enough of George’s pain, the film is edited with way too much focus on beauty shots which make it look like a perfume commercial, and not much on George’s feelings, there are nice touches where the colors change as Falconer is happy or sad but I could not see his real suffering. It is definitely worth seeing but it left me a bit disappointed.  What didn’t disappoint is the set designing which was absolutely amazing as well as Hoult’s mohair jumper. I’d like to read the book as I really believe the story is too good to be judged by Ford’s film.

Time for dinner, we found a real gem in Lisle Street, a cottage – like Taiwanese place which had steaming dumplings in the window and a queue outside, always a good sign, it is called Leong’s Legend. After waiting for 5 minutes we were lead up a very narrow staircase to our table. The atmosphere was lovely with dim lights and wooden interior.

The food was delicious: steamed bao with pork, crab and ginger with a tiny bit of roe on the top, Beijing dumplings, duck pancakes with plum sauce and squid with ginger, chillies and garlic. A real feast for very little and they serve beer in bowls!

I have finished Gaskell’s North and South which I enjoyed enormously. She is so good with describing characters and places. The South was all warm, sunny and described with yellows and reds while the North had depressing grey and blue-ish feel to it. The story is beautifully written with a lot of detail making a precise picture of a Victorian industrial town. There is a bit of humor in the novel as well, the author calls the northern county Darkshire. I cannot wait to reach for Wives and Daughters next.

Today we cycled to Tate Britain, mainly to see Henry Moore exhibition. We meandered through the main gallery rooms and discovered a Francis Bacon room. I really believe if you get lost you can always learn something interesting. What we learned today was that in the 1920s and 30s Francis Bacon was a very talented interior decorator, inspired by the Cubists he designed a screen and few very attractive rugs.

The Henry Moore show was truly amazing, from early sculptures of primitive masks and bodies through reclining women, mother and child series to war time sketches of miners and people in underground shelters. By walking around the works you can discover the real angle and see the shapes of human bodies. He was very respectful of his materials, he carefully carved shapes out of stones till the real shape got revealed. This is a must see show, the curators did an excellent job by bringing all those wonderful works together.

As we were at Tate we decided to see Chris Ofili’s show too but this turned to be so underwhelming after seeing Moore’s and Bacon’s works that we left promptly.

Last week I went to the opening night of Ole Hagen’s exhibition called Holography for Beginners at The Horse Hospital.

It is such a great venue and the art was stimulating, innovative and fun. Have a sneak peek at the 3D comic:

The show end on the 27th of March, be sure to catch it.

I really wish for warmer weather, this morning my fingers and toes got frozen and I almost skidded on ice on Oxford Street and went against the traffic cause I was not able to take a turn. On top of this the heating in my office is broken again and I am sitting under two layers of jumpers plus a water bottle. Brrr.

But it is sunny so I should not complain too much!

This weekend was very nice.

More bread making. Sourdough rye, a much lighter rye than last week, superb crust. I am using Richard Bertinet’s book called Crust, very easy to follow and all the bread comes out amazingly well.

A quick look at Carnaby Street exhibition followed by a delicious lunch of Italian tapas at Polpo.

Afterward I was off to National Portrait Gallery to see a wonderful selection of Irving Penn’s portraits. The photographs are very striking with a fair dose of humour.

More baking was done: caramelised apple, hazelnut and almond cake accompanied by a hot beverage in my new Portmeirion cup, thank you Lisa!

The baby plants are doing very well.

I got three Elizabeth Gaskell books, it was very hard to decide which one I should read first. I recently watched BBC’s North and South so decided to start with this one. Absolutely smitten with Richard Armitage BTW. Gaskell’s writing is very engaging, realism with a bit of humour, I feel we are going to be very good friends. I am enjoying it so much I actually get up early to do a little bit of reading before work.

I also watched few films:

Up in the Air – all I can say, thank God the DVD broke half way in, it was dreadful

Where the Wild Things Are – very charming and beautiful

Paris je t’aime – a great selection of 18 shorts about Paris, each by different director and star studded. Some nicer then others but lovely to watch. Ps We booked another weekend in Paris in June, cannot wait!

I was supposed to go out of town on Sunday but the weather was so dreadful I decided to stay and see what London has got to offer.

First stop was The British Library to see Points of View exhibition. The exhibition covered 19 century photography from William Fox Talbot’s beginnings through documenting the first hippopotamus in Britain, practical and spiritual use of photography to Eadweard Muybridge’s motion pictures and the birth of Kodak.

Talbot’s early picture and the famous hippo.

Everyday life.

Exotic travels.

Portraits.

Science, medicine, criminology and progress.

Journalism.

Every area of life got examined, new animals and lands were seen by all, people became travelers from the comfort of their own sofas, ‘ghost pictures’ were all the rage along with séances, catching criminals got easier, world became a smaller place.

A very good and broad exhibition, well worth a visit.

Next stop was Wellcome Collection, the current exhibition is about identity however it failed to engage me, I was much more into Medicine Man which is a bit like a smaller and tidier version of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. It had a selection of various medical objects as well as curiosities like Darwin’s walking stick, Napoleon’s toothbrush and King George III’s lock of hair. I had a lot of fun and highly recommend it.

I really must mention the cafe at Wellcome Collection, it’s run by Peyton and Byrne and the cakes were amazing. They also have the nicest crockery and glasses with embossed bees.

Both exhibitions are free.

I also read The Diary of a Nobody. Mr Pooter, the protagonist, is the Victorian version of one of my favorite literary characters – Adrian Mole. He leads a happy life, doesn’t like changes, makes a lot of jokes and finds them hilarious, offends his friends and makes up, gets into uncomfortable situations and struggles to understand his son, he is a middle class city clerk desperate to be recognised by the upper class.

The tone of this book is very light and funny, it’s a satire on all the Victorian diaries that became so easy to publish everyone did it, it is also a satire on people who take themselves too seriously. I enjoyed it tremendously.

My weekend started at Osteria Antica Bologna in Northcote Road, a nice family run Italian restaurant where I enjoyed delicious scallops with lentil, apple and parsley salad accompanied by good wine and fabulous company. I actually tried to recreate the lentil salad but it wasn’t as good, truth be told I used the wrong kind of apple. If you are ever in Clapham Junction area do go, it’s a fantastic place for lunch, dinner or drink. Beware of a slow service but the wait will be worth it!

Saturday was all about food shopping and a very early spring cleaning of the flat, we have thrown out a bagful of old papers and organised a lot of cupboards. We also visited the local charity shop to offload some stuff where I couldn’t resist buying F.Scott Fitzgerald collection of short stories for 50p.

After last two weeks of ebay madness I hardly have things to get rid of which feels so good.

Sunday was spent on cooking and playing with my little niece. I baked Allegra McEvedy’s Swedish apple cake which is more of a pudding than a cake, especially when served with good vanilla ice cream. Very easy recipe, it takes about 10-15 minutes to put everything together and 50 min to bake.

Got to read a little too, Vogue and ELLE arrived, The Sunday Times had a good article on Mad Men which btw won the best drama at Golden Globes for the 3rd year in a row, well deserved!

I am reading Chekhov’s stories and this weekend I enjoyed Ward no6. I also got D.V. by Diana Vreeland which I am very much looking forward to. Following the Norman Parkinson show at Somerset House I decided to re-read The Golden Age of Couture – the book accompaniment to one of my favorite exhibitions.

I watched the rather bad Breaking and Entering (a total waste of time) and the very graphic yet beautifully shot Antichrist.

Few things I am looking forward to:

a visual feast of A Single Man thanks to Dan Bishop

visiting V&A to see Quilts, Grace Kelly and Horace Walpole shows, and might even pop in to see a rather intriguing sounding The Metropolitan Police Service’s Investigation of Fakes and Forgeries

Foal and Tuffin at Fashion and Textile Museum should be fun, along with a stroll down Bermondsey Street

William Eggleston at Victoria Miro Gallery

Irving Penn Portraits at NPG

whole lot of good stuff at the Tate Galleries

buying some plants – I quite like the idea of mother-in-law’s tongue in nice mid-century pots, at the moment I own no plants whatsoever, even my basil died so this will be a challenge.

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.

So this is my last sum-up of the year…

As usual, London delivered some amazing exhibitions this year  however not as many as the couple of previous years, here is a brief list of my favorite ones:

Funny and smart works of John Baldessari at Tate Modern.

Amazing paintings by Elizabeth Payton at Whitechapel Gallery.

A great introduction to Futurism at Tate Modern.

My favorite photography exhibition – André Kertész On Reading at The Photographer’s Gallery.

Sunning works at Turner and the Masters at Tate Britain.

And I still must catch Ed Ruscha at Hayward, Norman Parkinson at Somerset House and RA’s Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Eric Gill. Let alone all the upcoming shows, my new year’s resolutions should be: don’t leave too many shows till the last minute!

I had a great day today and yesterday, I have posted near to 30 items on ebay and they caused a stir! Fingers crossed all will sell which will give my wardrobe much needed breathing space. I have decided that if I haven’t worn something for a year or longer I will never wear it again and it must go. I have also revisited the boxes of designer treasures that are not such treasures now I look at them, no classics, time to go. My fashion investments will remain in the bag and shoe stock.

I have loaded a bag for charity shop and will deliver it to Oxfam with all the ebay failures.

You know all the tasks that get put away like mending your clothing, polishing shoes and sewing missing buttons on? They have been staring at me from the depths of my wardrobe for some time and yesterday I finally faced them all at the same time. Such a relief.

I have invested into a small catering business in Philippines on Kiva. I really hope these ladies do well.

I have purchased two nice belts from All Saints, in brown and black leather. They are my only sales hunts so far, unfortunately the other belt sold out so I don’t have a picture.

I have really cracked on with my book pile, I have managed to read:

High Raise the Roof Beam, Carpenters by J.D. Salinger

Seymour an Introduction by J.D. Salinger

Nine Stories by J.D.Salinger

I know it is a lot of Salinger but he is such a good writer, I also found out that he is still alive, 100 years old!

The Most Beautiful Woman in Town by Charles Bukowski

The Faithful River by Stefan Zeromski

I have decided to put away Ulysses and The Corporation, at least for now.

So the only remaining books left are Tropic of Capricorn and some Chekhov stories and plays. This means I will be able to move onto some brand new books very soon. Really looking forward to it.

I have watched the 2 new episodes of Cranford and am awaiting the DVD of the first series, I might even start reading the books. I am quite glad I have not discovered it earlier because I am in real need of a costume drama fix.

I have made it to Tate Britain today to see the wonderful Turner and the Masters show, they had some amazing Rembrandts and Canalettos. I also checked out the Turner Prize which is definitely better than last year’s and glimpsed at some beautiful sculptures in the hall. This reminds me of few more exhibitions I must see and the time is running out. Especially for Ed Ruscha at The Hayward (Friday 6.00-10.00pm two for one deal) on till the 10th of January, Maharaja at V&A till 17th January and Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Eric Gill at The Royal Academy till 24th January. I knew I left it too late and now will have to rush.

The Mill by Rembrandt

And tomorrow I will have to take it easy….