We’re off to see…
July 30th, 2005…John Singer Sargeant’s luscious painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose at the Tate Britain. I’ve always wanted to see this painting up close, and even more so after reading Deborah Davis’ Strapless (a history of Sargeant’s iconic Madame X that is also a mini-biography of Sargeant and his work) earlier this summer.
I can’t believe this is pretty much my last full weekend in London. So now I’m making up for weeks of procrastination in visiting London museums. On Thursday I went to the National Portrait Gallery off Trafalgar Square, which was ok, but a bit crowded and a bit rushed, and overall I guess portraits can get a bit tedious to look at after a while, especially photographs. There were many works I really liked though (like the large, informally-composed royal family portrait of 2000), and reading the information plaques always fascinates me, almost more than the images.
Ok, must leave now if I don’t want to have to hurry through the Tate as well.