Museums

September 29th

Art, Museums

Blah day. Blah day. Blah everything.

Went to class and had a review. Went to V&A and saw some Turner/Constable/Hogarth. Went to the library to work on my paper. Went to my apartment to read and take a nap. Going to make a measly dinner in about an hour. Going to go to bed earlier than usual.

Class at the National Gallery

Art, Class, Fashion, Museums

Today, more AH388 class at the National Gallery. We looked at van Dyck, Hogarth, Gainsborough, Rubens. After class, I ate some lunch at Harrington Gardens, did a little bit of work at the library, then headed off to Portobello Road where I bought a bag, necklace, and new headband. None were very smart buys 😦 Came home, read a little, took a nap, made some dinner and worked on my paper. Then at 9:30 I went out with the boys and girls to Sports Café, which turned out to be cheap drink-wise but was far too hot, smelly, and American. Pictures are on everyone else’s cameras.

This is pretty much the week of homework. Next week: last series of classes. Week after: exams. The first half of this semester flew. Really scary.

V&A Museum

London, Museums, Photography

For class today we went to the National Portrait Gallery (Leicester Square) to see some Henry VIII and Elizabeth I portraits.
henryportrait

And it off-and-on POURED rain 🙂 Which means I got to wear my rain boots and amazing raincoat out. After class, Melissa and I browsed the Victoria and Albert Museum, which houses an odd arrangement of things, from ironworks to plaster castings to Rodin sculptures to Turner paintings to jewelry, costumes, persian rugs, silverware, etc. A selection:
rug

raphael

foyer

Nice way to spend the afternoon. Did I mention Prince William visited the Natural History Museum yesterday and Melissa saw him? YEAH. WE LIVE ACROSS THE STREET.

Anyways, we did that for a while before coming back to chill. Then I went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater at 19:30 to see As You Like It. Under an open roof, in the pouring rain, without an umbrella.
stage

And it was brilliant. Absolutely lovely. The thing I love most about Shakespeare is that on stage, it is the easiest literature to understand. And the actors were funny, and having fun in the rain, and everything about it was just so delightful. It was the first time I actually went out into London alone and navigated the streets and stood by myself–it felt so exhilarating!
globe