I am not an art person.
I will admit that I can appreciate fine music, theatre, dance, and performances of the like, however art has never been my thing. Sure, Picasso, Da Vinci, Monet, and other famous painters can hold their own in the art world – but all I see is a painting. Yet I still couldn’t pass up the opportunity to explore a few art galleries while in London (and it just so happened that these galleries were also required for our classes) and I finally found some art that I can fully appreciate.
“My Bed” at the Tate Britain by Tracey Emin
I never expected to view a person’s unmade, messy bed as art, however Emin’s bed does just that at the Tate Britain. According to our guide, Emin was in a deep depression at the time and had just won an award for her previous works. When asked to compile her best work she presented her bed, viewing it as a self-portrait. Though it may be hard to believe that this is art, Emin shows just how limitless art, especially modern art, can be.
Antony Gormley’s “Breaking Bread” at the Tate Britain
Another modern art piece that may not seem like true “art;” I was purely amazed when I first saw this piece. Notice the dark spots on the bread? Real mold. Apparently there’s so much sugar in this bread that it naturally preserves itself (although it is still kept in an airtight glass case). If you look closely, you can see that Gormley ATE the bread to outline the shape of his body.
“Young Woman Powdering Herself” by Georges Seurat at the Courtauld Gallery
Georges Seurat has officially become my favourite painter. One day of looking at his paintings and I was sold. It’s hard to tell in the above picture, but Seurat does his work using a technique called “pointillism” where he creates each part of the painting using one dot of paint. The coolest part is that when you look closely at a specific part of the painting you can see something like five different colors, but when you step back it appears as one complete shade of paint.
Close up of pointillism
The above picture is a closeup of the Seurat painting and the detailed pointillism.
“Vase of Flowers” by Claude Monet at the Courtauld Gallery
This post wouldn’t be complete without one Monet. The flowers in this painting are absolutely beautiful and Monet’s combination of colours to create this piece is phenomenal.
Thanks for reading and continue to look out for more posts about my adventures in London! Cheers, love!