At The Picture Galleries

On Thursday, Chris had to return to King's hospital for some pre-operation tests and form-filing. We were out of there about midday and took a bus into central London north of the river. We alighted after Waterloo Bridge and walked along The Strand to the Courtauld Gallery for luncheon.

We looked over our favourite impressionist and post impressionist paintings such as the Cézanne above. We like this because in the middle ground it shows the site of a rather good ASCI campsite. We intend to travel down there in April.

In fact we actually went to see the Picasso exhibition which covers his 1901 Vollard exhibition in Paris and the ensuing 'blue period'. We are not allowed to photograph at that exhibition.
However, I noticed this portrait of two royalist gentlemen made by Dobson in Oxford around 1642. We had watched a TV programme that attempted a revival of Dobson's reputation as Britain's first foremost portrait painter, and I was very impressed. All his work is from that brief civil war period and show rather world-weary royalist supporters in contrast to their later triumphalism. Magnanimity in victory they did not have.

Today Friday 8 March we voyaged to Dulwich with Kathy and David. Dulwich Picture Gallery was designed by Soane. It has a particularly fine collection of Murillo's work.

 Kathy explains the importance of Murillo in the development of European baroque art and consequent influence on the late-flowering of the English baroque.

 After a copious luncheon we had to return through the rain of south London, very slowly.