Day out in the National Gallery, London

Last fall when the lockdown was lifted for some time, and some of the museums in London had started opening up, I visited the National Gallery. It must have been my 20th or 30th visit to the museum (I don't even remember). But it is definitely my most memorable and impactful one. In the last one year, I have started painting and that has completely changed my outlook towards art. Now I realise how difficult painting some things could be, how critical getting the right colours and light is, and so I am able to appreciate and immerse myself in the paintings a lot more than before.

Also I have slowly formed my own opinions and likes in art, so it is a lot more enjoyable appreciating and staring at the pieces I like. Which are generally landscapes, flowers, bright colours and realistic scenes. During these museum visits, I am also figuring out which artists and styles I like, and why. And it doesn't bother me if it doesn't match popular opinion - Art, I've realised is personal. In fact, my list of favourite paintings below doesn't match any of the lists online 😜. But its ok...


During lockdown the number of visitors allowed in the museum were limited. Also there were less sections open to visit, as the museum had fixed one way routes to avoid two way movement of visitors. There were 3 sections, of which I had time to explore only two, I didn't even get the time to see the third well. The paintings also weren't very well ordered by artists, dates or styles, there are loads of overlaps. And it was not even the full collection, as lots of the paintings are always in storage.

I was still mind-blown (this has been the usual trend over the last year, during my visits to museums). There were so many pieces I recognised from all my art reading over the last year, that when I saw them, I felt I knew them. I had read about them. I could recognise them. Sometimes I didn't recall from where, but I still felt I knew them. I loved that feeling. And there were so many other pieces that I was drawn to. I came out of the tour totally overwhelmed with what I saw, on a high. This visit started a new phase in my life when I visit museums (As otherwise I rarely did). And I have been enjoying the journey since then.


RENAISSANCE PERIOD - ITALIAN AND DUTCH PAINTERS

The paintings in the first sections were all from pre-Renaissance and Renaissance period. And Dutch and Italian painters dominated this period with Netherlands and Italy being the nerve centers of art at that time. Of the paintings of this era, generally there aren't a lot I like as most of them are around religious themes. And I prefer landscapes and more realistic ones. But surprisingly, there were a few that I loved. Most of them were grand paintings with a good play with light, which I appreciate a lot more now given I know how tough it is to create that effect 😊.

Burlington House cartoon by Da Vinci, 1500

I had recently read Leonardo da Vinci's biography, and learnt about his life, his research as well as about some of his paintings. So when I saw the Burlington House 'cartoon' of his, I immediately felt like I knew it. And I loved it, even though it is not a painting by itself, nor is it finished even. The softness and love on Mary's face is ethereal. In fact, next to this cartoon, was a painting of his, 'Virgin of the rocks ' but I didn't like it as much as this cartoon. The painting didn't feel as real to me as this 'cartoon'. In fact, I chatted with the attendant who was there and she said she felt the same. This is also apparently his only large scale surviving drawing, which I did not know before. I also find it quite inspiring to know that even genius artists prepare for their paintings so much. Making a full scale drawing with all the details, before starting the main painting shows so much patience and dedication such artists have towards their art. In the same room, I also finally saw some paintings of Verrocchio, Da Vinci's teacher about whom I had read in the biography. And it was clear, that the student outshone the teacher by a mile.

Vestal Virgin Tuccia with a sieve; A woman
drinking, by Andrea Mantegna, 1495

There were a few Mantegnas which I liked too. He had Greek influence written all over his paintings. He mostly did relief work and the paintings of his which I like all looked more like sculptures rather than paintings. The Cult of Cybele looks like it was carved from stone. And the same goes for the two women paintings he made. He used monochrome colour and just with the use of one colour, created such intricate works. When I was standing far from them, I wasn't sure if I was looking at a painting or a sculpture. I almost expected the women to turn and look at me...

The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome by Andrea Mantegna, 1500

Christ crowned with Thorns,
by Pietro Perugino, 1500

The Christ painting by Perugino is not the typical kind of painting I like but there was something about this one, the simplicity, the lighting, the intensity and the emotions on Christ's face that drew me to him. It is a small painting in a large room, still when I looked around, I had to come and stare at it for some time. I can't explain why.

Family of Darius before Alexander by Paolo Veronese, 1565

I loved a few of Paolo Veronese's paintings, because of their grand scale and bright colour (apparently he is well known for his large paintings of historical and mythological events). My favourite was Darius and Alexander, where some of the figures are so minutely painted and look so real, especially Alexander. And the colours of the painting almost glow. The other favourite for me was the Conversion of Mary Magdalena, where again the light falling on the characters was just perfect. Each and every character was so well formed and painted, especially Magdalena. I liked them.

Conversion of Mary Magdalena by Paolo Veronese, 1548

The Four Elements: Earth, by Joachim Bueckelaer, 1569

Joachim Bueckelaer, a Dutch painter had four large paintings in one room, where food was used to depict water, air, earth and fire. Even though it had Christian scenes in the background, the foreground showed normal people leading everyday lives. There was so much minuteness in his painting, so much symbolism that it definitely makes you stop and look. I don't think I would ever buy such a painting for my home, but I can definitely stand and stare at it for some time to just uncover its layers.

There were many other paintings from that era in this section, which I studied for a while as I had heard of the painters or the paintings before. To figure out whether I liked them or not 😜. There were a few Michelangelo ones which I didn't like as much. His style is supposedly less realistic than say Da Vinci, so maybe that was the reason. I had read about him in Da Vinci's autobiography too and somehow wasn't drawn to him as a person.

There were a few Jan Van Eycks too, and even though he is appreciated a lot, somehow he didn't feel my style. From Raphael's paintings, I liked the ones which had a lot of colour. I was drawn to those. But not to the overall content he painted. And last of all, there were a few Botticellis there too, like Venus and Mars which was covered in so much detail in the Netflix show, Medici. But when I saw it in real life, I did not like it all. It was not realistic of the human form in my opinion and so wasn't my favourite. Overall, I was happy that I found off the ordinary paintings from this era of history which I liked.


DUTCH PAINTERS

In the 1600s, Dutch painters started painting landscape and still life paintings which got increasingly realistic. And started an era of different themes in painting. There were a few rooms dedicated to this era. (It also makes me very excited about my impending move to the country later in the year 😊)

Minerva protects Pax from Mars ('Peace
and War'), by Peter Paul Rubens, 1629

Rubens is an artist whose life I would like to read about. He was Flemish and worked as a successful diplomat across Europe. In addition to that, he was a famous and very successful artist. He led such am impressive life, I would love to know more about him. Most of his paintings seem to draw me, whether here in the National Galley or the Prado in Madrid. And both these museums have a lot of them. They were generally huge canvases, depicting Christian themes or portraits. When he painted, he added a softness to the women which I loved. And am drawn to the grandness of his themes too. In fact, there were some characters in his canvas which I would zoom in on and love their detailing. Like in this one, where the expressions and light on the girl in the blue dress are so captivating. As if in the whole huge canvas, she was the only one who knew I was there...

The Watering place, by Peter Paul Rubens, 1615

And then this such a different painting of his goes on to show the genius of Rubens, he painted landscapes as well as Christian themes. All so beautifully. This scene of a few herders around a pond has so much reality, so much detailing around it, its mind-blowing. It is like each leaf of the trees in about to move in the wind. This is one of those paintings which is a pleasure to watch for long.

There were a few paintings where I did not note the names of the artists or the pieces but just snapped details from the paintings, which looked very well painted. Surprisingly, they were all children. I loved all these parts of the paintings, and especially the innocence and light depicted in these. It was outstanding. Like this unknown one, where the grapes painted are so real, wow! If I could only learn how to paint the grapes like this, I would feel on top of the world!

The Holy Family and Saint John
 the Baptist by Jacob Jordaens, 1620

And this was another such painting, where the whole painting was ok in my view, but the twinkle in Saint John's eyes drew me. I think its brilliant.

Christ before the High Priest by Gerrit van Honthorst, 1617

The light in this painting by Gerrit van Honthorst is brilliant. There weren't a lot of details in this scene, just a candle and a few people around. And your eye goes just where the artist wants it to. You can almost feel you were there at that night when Christ was being sentenced, you can feel the air and the intensity in the scene all around you. You can feel all this if you look at this painting for a bit. And this all is all due to how light has been handled by the artist. (And when I read about it, it turned out that what he was known for was indeed his lighting!)

The concert by Hendrick ter
Brugghen, 1626

The light in the painting by Hendrick ter Brugghen again was brilliant, similar to the previous one. You can almost hear the music, feel you are there. And that you have interrupted their private moments, while playing their music. And all this because of the light. He was also apparently a follower of Caravaggio, just like Gerrit vH and learnt the art of adding light to paintings from him. It's interesting to see how students of the same teacher can have a similar style of painting.

Still Life: Pewter and Silver Vessels and a Crab by
Willem Claesz. Heda, 1633

This still life by William Heda is brilliant, the only one I photographed in National Gallery that day. You can see the shine on each piece of cutlery, the knife pointing at you and the things about to fall off the table. And all this effect was created with almost monochrome colours. Brilliant!

There were a few other notable paintings which I had liked, worth a mention. One was the 'White Stone Vase' by Dirck de Bray which were some well painted flowers in a vase and 'Amsterdam' by Jan van der Heyden.

There were a few other famous Dutch paintings here, like Van Dyck - he was primarily a portraitist and a pupil of Rubens - and of course Rembrandt - he also primarily did portraits. I didn't like their paintings much. Rembrandt's had too much brooding in his paintings, which isn't my style. I like his expertise with the lighting though, I wish I could inculcate some part of it in my paintings.


IMPRESSIONISM

There are loads of impressionist paintings at the National Gallery, painted by the usual greats- Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat, Pissarro, Sisley, Boudin and so on. As I walked through these, a few made me walk across to them and stare at them more than the others. Since it was my first foray in observing impressionism, it was more what was painted rather than how it was painted which attracted me. I also realised that these paintings need more time and patience to get to the underlying layers of impressionism as compared to the simpler styles.

Late afternoon in our meadows
by Pissarro, 1887

There are two paintings in this section which I photographed. One was this by Pissarro, of his meadow. This was based on Seurat's style of putting a lot of colour in single strong strokes. One has to look at the painting up close to understand what this really looks like. Complete chaos. And this is where the art of the artist shines, as you start stepping back, more and more things come into view. It is just pure magic!

Van Gogh's chair, 1888

 The second painting was Van Gogh's chair. It is such an iconic painting, I had to put it up here. I feel Van Gogh's paintings bring out his pain a lot easily than other artist's. Other than these paintings, there weren't a lot that I remember. There were many of Monet's lilies. Some I loved, some I didn't, depending on the colours and lights in the painting. I wasn't as impressed by Renoir or Cezanne pieces too. I think I only like the one of Renoir's I had (tried to) paint, 'In the meadow'. I found Seurat's style new and interesting too, as it was about all about strong brush strokes used across the painting. And Boudin had a few beach scenes which I liked. But overall, I think I liked the impressionist's collection in Thyssen in Madrid a lot more than the National Gallery.


OTHER PAINTERS

The Cornfield by John Constable, 1826

English painters: I think I have found my favourite English landscape artist, it's John Constable. I think every piece of his is a masterpiece in my eyes. There were a few that I especially liked. And they are all brilliant, also showcasing his love for the Suffolk countryside. Apparently, the Cornfield did not sell when he had showcased it in an exhibition. That's surprising, I would have bought it in a second 😊. I also remember his paintings from some time before, I don't remember when. But I remembered his name. And his paintings. All the three of his paintings are brilliant - in their detail, in their vibrancy and their canvas. I had heard a lot about William Turner, but wasn't impressed by his paintings. They were too abstract for me to like them so soon.

Stratford Mill by John Constable, 1820

The Hay Wain by John Constable, 1821

Italian painters (again): In later years, Italian painters again came to the forefront of the art world, with Caravaggio being a popular one in that age. He has many paintings displayed in many museums in the world. And each of them is beautiful, deriving this beauty from the play with light. In the same room, there were a few by Guernico, as well as Reni who had some gorgeous scenes. But not enough for me to photograph them.

Self Portrait in a Straw Hat
by Le Brun, 1782

French painters: One random painting that I liked a lot was by Le Brun, a self-portrait which I really liked. It was surprising as I generally don't like portraits, but I guess I do of normal people. The colours, the lightness and the expression I think drew me to it.

Landscape with a watermill
by Francois Boucher, 1755

I like this one other painting of a landscape, by Francois Boucher which may have been of a scene on the Reine. Its style and use of colours was different. There was something surreal about it which I find difficult to put my finger on.

The Necromancer by
Jean Baptiste Le Prince, 1775

The Necromancer by Le Prince was also a different painting that I liked. I think it was the lighting in this scene which impressed me. 

One of the most impressive room in the Gallery was Room 32. It is apparently more than 100 years old and is being renovated now. It looked quite grand and had the names of the painters painted on the roof. How impressive all this would have looked 100 years ago!












Anyways, by this time I was so tired and overwhelmed with all the art that I cut short my tour and left the gallery as my mind was bursting with all the brilliance I had seen during the day. I wanted to take it all in and savour the moment. Interestingly, during the day, I also chatted with a few of the attendants who told me more about the museum and the pieces. It was a lot easier as there were much less visitors that day. And I think I learnt a lot more than previous visits. Like the fact that the best art collection in the world is owned by the British queen. I think that's the next stop for me to explore (whenever the world opens up, that is!).


Paintings by: Andrea Mantegna, Francois Boucher, Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrick ter Brugghen, Joachim Bueckelaer, Jacob Jordaens, Jean Baptiste Le Prince, John Constable, Leornardo da Vinci, Le Brun, Pietro Perugino, Pissarro, Peter Paul Rubens, Willem Claesz. Heda, Paolo Veronese, Van Gogh