When people sit at home planning their itinerary they usually pencil in an hour or two for a gallery (they have to squeeze in a bit of culture), but it tends to be the National or the Tate Modern. That’s where all the guidebooks tell them to go. But if you’re seriously into art then take a tip from me: the best places to visit are the National, Courtauld and Tate Britain (and Buckingham Palace if it’s open). The Victoria & Albert Museum and Wallace Collection are worth a look as well, but chiefly because of their museum exhibits.
Somerset House
The great thing about the Courtauld is that you can have a cup of tea on the forecourt of Somerset House beforehand. When you walk in from the Strand they usually have some metal tables laid out by the dancing fountains, but they must have switched them off today… oh, wait a minute… they’ve decided to switch them on now (just as I spoke). The water has shot straight up like a rocket and collapsed over the top and all the kids have made a beeline for it. They’re slapping their feet in the puddles and their mums have gone into panic mode: Don’t get wet or you’ll die! Too late, they’re wet, and no amount of washing will get that water off.
Medieval and Renaissance art
The ground floor of the gallery has some religious pieces from the 14th and 15th-centuries. Lots of Mary. Lots of Jesus. Lots of altarpieces and scenes of the crucifixion. All very delicate and beautiful. When you head upstairs you can see some more Bible scenes by Botticelli, Caravaggio and Rubens. They’re almost like stills from a movie: here’s the day Jesus did this and here’s him doing that. I wonder if anybody has ever tried to string together a complete set of pictures showing every scene in the Bible? That might make a good exhibition: the entire Bible portrayed in famous paintings.
French Impressionists
The Courtauld is famous for its French Impressionists and they’ve got pieces by Pissarro, Gauguin, Monet, Manet and Cézanne. The only pictures that I actually recognise (bearing in mind that I am no lover of art) are the straight-on shot of a barmaid in a Parisian pub and that one of Van Gogh with his head all bandaged up.
But the most impressive thing about the Courtauld is not the number of famous names on display, but how many pieces they have of each. I mean, how much money does a single Rubens cost? Or a Gainsborough? And the Courtauld has a roomful of both! Then you wander into a room with Michelangelo, Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci. For a relatively small gallery they sure do pack a punch.
Modern art collection
Upstairs is where they hide all of the contemporary art. The Tate can get away with showing this stuff, but when you’ve just been strolling through three floors of Rubens, Renoir and Vincent Van Gogh then a room full of blotches and spots and lines and triangles just doesn’t compare, so they have to hide it upstairs.
If you enjoy this then try National Gallery (walk it in 12 mins or catch a tube from Temple to Charing Cross); Royal Academy of Arts (walk it in 20 mins or travel from Temple to Piccadilly Circus by underground); Tate Britain (walk it in 30 mins or travel from Temple to Pimlico by underground); Victoria & Albert Museum (take a tube journey from Temple to South Kensington) and Wallace Collection (travel from Temple to Bond Street by tube)
The author Craig Cross owns londondrum.com and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon
Your comments and questions
PeterH I've been to all the big galleries like the Tate and National but I've never really thought about going to the other ones around London. How wrong was I! The Courtauld is quite small but the quality of art - especially the Impressionist art - is on a par with the National Gallery.
Patricia Hi, can I bring a bag into the gallery? do they have somewhere where i can leave a big rucksack?
Craig Hi Patricia. They did have a cloakroom before the renovation, but at the time of writing the gallery is closed for a big re-fit until late 2021. So maybe that will change when they reopen
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