london: art and architecture

On the one miraculously sunny Sunday last weekend, we went for a lovely day out in the centre of the city. Our main destination was the Tate Modern, as we had tickets to the Paul Klee exhibition.

The past few weeks (months?) of rain and wind has had me walking around with my head down, trying to avoid getting gusts of dirt from getting into my eyes. So it was something of an awakening to look up for once in the beautiful sunshine, and see all the incredible architecture and impressive views that London has to offer - all too often hiding behind mother nature's moodiness.

The exhibition was fascinating - I've always been a fan of Klee's work, but hadn't known much about his life. It was a big one - you need plenty of time to get through just under 20 rooms - but it was absolutely worth it (catch it before 9th March!). To think that his art was displayed in an exhibition by the Nazis titled "Degenerate Art" due to their hostility towards modernism (along with artists like Chagall and Kandinsky, two of my all time favourites)… I can only feel glad that we live in different times now. 

As always, I picked up a couple of my favourite works in postcard form. 

We soaked up as much vitamin D as we could, walking along the river from the museum to Waterloo. The Southbank is always so full of life, an ideal place for people watching and not feeling silly taking photos all the time, surrounded by tourists with monster cameras around their necks.

When will we see another full day of sunshine again? I have no idea, but I guess the wait is worth it.

Facing The Modern: Exhibition @ The National Gallery

Yesterday, E and I went to see the "Facing The Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900" exhibition at the National Gallery.

We booked a late afternoon time, so it was dusk by the time we arrived and the gallery was lit up in all its glory.

The exhibition was in the building they are usually held in, right next door.

Photos are not allowed inside, but there were 6 rooms full of portraits and death masks from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It was interesting to see the progression of the paintings in reaction to the social and political movements at the time, and to see the variation of paintings done by the iconic artists.

Both of us being big Klimt fans, we were left unsatisfied by the small handful of paintings on display by him, and I wanted to transport myself back to Vienna on that cold, November day 3 years ago when I went to see all the Klimt at The Belvedere.

I like to grab a couple of postcards of my favourite paintings at exhibitions, and this time was no exception.

As for Trafalgar Square, it looked very pretty at night.

And there were also some interesting characters around....

London never ceases to amuse me.

BP Portrait Award @ The National Portrait Gallery

Last weekend, it was a sunny Saturday and we had plans to go to an exhibition outside of London that I've been dying to visit (and hopefully still will in the next month!). Sadly, we had some work and flat hunting things to take care of for some of the day, so we decided to go for a short & sweet afternoon outing to the National Portrait Gallery, for the BP Portrait Award Exhibition.

This was the third (not consecutive) year that I had been to this exhibition, and it's a very interesting experience each time. It showcases 55 top portraits from the competition, including the prizewinners. E and I both had different opinions on which portraits stood out to us, which were also different to the chosen prizewinners. Art, in any shape or form, is so personal and subjective, it's always fascinating to learn from the viewpoint of others and to discover your own. 

The great thing about this exhibition is that a) entrance is free, and b) it's compact, so you could just as easily pop in for a quick look around as you could dedicate a day to exploring the entire gallery. 

We left the rest of the gallery for another day, and went for a stroll in Trafalgar Square. E got me a scoop of salted caramel Häagen-Dazs which is now one of my all time favourite flavours (seriously, try it), and we soaked up a little sunshine in Leicester Square.

If you're interested in an inexpensive (free), interesting and inspiring activity this weekend, you should give this exhibition a go before it ends on September 15th!