Tate Modern and Tate Britain, London

Well, interestingly, I'd expected Tate Modern to be the highlight of my informal, individual, and completely subjective London museum tour...instead, it turned out to be Tate Britain.

Yesterday I went to Tate Modern for a couple of hours. The single Rothko they have, a primarily green-gold color, looked so lonely all by itself on a huuuuge wall. Not the greatest presentation for it, as Rothkos (at least for me) seem to have an amazing expansiveness, and this setting dwarfed it and thereby diminished it.

I recently discovered Nicolas de Stael's work and love it, so was thrilled to be able to see the only de Stael on display anywhere, as far as I know. I had been really curious to see just how thick and textured the paint was. It was even way more than I'd expected. It was like mortar troweled on! Here's an illegal photo closeup (we honestly didn't know we weren't supposed to take photos...until the angry uniformed lady came bustling over).

Another very fun thing at the Tate Modern was a room filled with an enormous table and four chairs. Sorry, I don't remember the artist. They looked like regular wooden dining room furniture, except that the size of them was such that a person became Lilliputian next to them. It was cool to find out what it feels like to be a cat wondering what might be up on top of that table...

Today I went to the Tate Britain. One whole subway line was shut down for repairs, so I did insane amounts of walking again...gonna have to put my feet up again (see photo on previous post). First gem was Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Beautiful, of course. There's a quite hard dark (painted) line along the top of the center girl's head--perhaps to help separate her from the background? It seemed kind of awkward, though. Anyone know anything about that?

There was a medium-sized acrylic monochrome Rothko on paper, and a gorgeous red-and-black large Rothko (oil). And I was in heaven when I discovered that the Seagram Murals were there! I'd thought they were gone, because The Husband had actually seen them months ago and told me they wouldn't be around any more when I came to London. (The Husband is doing an executive MBA wherein he's traveling monthly to either New York or London.) So to just stumble across them was so cool. I think the artwork that you don't know is there, and which suprises the hell out of you when you see it, is a lot more fun than what you know is there and you're specifically going to see. It wasn't very crowded today at the Tate Britain, so I sat down in the Rothko Seagram Murals room and waited a while...until finally I had a minute or so completely alone with the murals. Well, just me and the security cameras. Aaaah...it was really lovely. It felt like some kind of cathedral. Yes, I do worship Rothko. Something about the expansiveness of Rothkos, especially those, since they're so huge...I feel as if they breathe, somehow. (I haven't yet been to the actual Rothko Cathedral in Houston, but I'd love to see it one day...even though it means I'd have to actually go to Houston...ugh.) P.S. What do they use to hang something that size on a wall?!

I think I could happily live with some Rothkos on my walls at home. Anyone who wants to get me some for my birthday in April, well, I'd write you a very nice thank-you note.

And, wow!! the Turners. Apparently there are some 300 Turners at Tate Britain, part of a special bequest. Some of them are wonderfully simple, small watercolors or pencil + gouache, that look purely abstract. Of all the Turner oils, it's the totally abstract sea ones that just kill me. No boats, or barely a hint, no people--just ocean and those amaaaazing skies.

I didn't get to the whole museum today. Going back tomorrow.

To keep you entertained in the meantime, here is a little video of Lynx wrestling with Miss Lemon:

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com