London The Wallace Collection

London The Wallace Collection
February 14, 2010

Today Greg took Zoe to the Wallace Collection, a museum just at the end of Marlybone Street. I walked over with them, and then stayed until it closed at 5 and I am home at 5:10. That makes it a ten minute walk from here to a place that houses many of the treasures sold by the French to the English when Versailles was ravaged.

I remembered standing at Versailles in empty rooms and having the guide say that the furniture that belonged in these rooms was abroad and that they were trying to buy it back. Today I stood at the tour of the Wallace Collection and was told that when it was made a gift to the British people, part of the will of Mrs. Richard Wallace was that the collection was not to be separated – was always to stay there at Hertford Place.

How much fun was that, to have seen the room that the furniture sat in over there in France, and now, twenty years later, to have seen the world`s largest collection of Marie Antoinette`s furniture! She had four writing desks, and now they are all in one room. And beautiful chairs,reupholstered and sitting in a room with forest green silk wallpaper and magnificent window hangings. I was even looking at the details on the tassels that hold back the curtains.

Before the 3 pm tour of the collection began, I had worn myself out, picking up a Guide to the Paintings Hanging in the South Gallery. I was going from one master to the next, reading the text and searching through the paintings to find what the curator was alluding to in the painting. Rembrandt`s ``Titus``, and Fragonard`s ``The Swing`` just rooms away from each other and full of so much interesting detail.

I learned last week at the National Gallery that if I am tired, I can just find a chair and sit for a moment – rest my eyes and when I open them again, I am rested. Yes, it is fifteen minutes later but I feel a lot better. When I heard an announcement saying that a public tour was about to begin in the State Room, I joined about fifty other people to get an hour`s overview of the masters in the collection.

After the tour, I spent time look at paintings by Boucher, a master with the brush when it comes to the human flesh. Off the clothes of the model would come, for any reason, and Greek mythological figures are thrown in, mainly to give some message about the painting. Extra-ordinary light streams onto the human figures. The main focus of the paintings is on the beauty of the female form at that time – pert breasts and large bottoms.

When the tour finished I went back to explore the room where there are painting of Madam Pompadour. I wanted to cement again what I should be looking at in the painting. A couple stood in front of me for a while. I heard her say to him, when he asked her to come and look at Madam Pompadour and pointed out to her how small the foot on the model was, ``Yes, out of proportion.``

When he looked quizzical she said, ``Well, look at her hands.`` When he did, he had to nod in agreement to her that the hands were larger than the feet.

``And look at the dog, ... why is there a dog in the painting.`` They stood there in silence and I thought to myself, ``The dog represents fidelity – her fidelity to the king, even though he has now gone on to have many more mistresses``.

They looked back at me. I thought I was only thinking those word but I am sure now that I actually spoke them.

When I came home, Greg told me that the Wallace Collection is probably one of his favourite places in London. It is possible to explore 25 galleries in less than an hour. Wyona told me the same thing – just a small taste of so many different items are on display there.

I am going back to look at the cabinets full of Sèvres porcelain. The Wallace Collection contains one of the richest and most distinguished collections of eighteenth-century Sèvres porcelain in the world: vases, tea wares, useful wares, biscuit figures – I only have to walk down the street.

On Feb. 20th, there is going to be a celebration of Louis XV`s 300th birthday party – an opportunity to have a tour led by Madame de Pompadour, herself and a chance to dance in the Great Gallery. Odd to find all of this celebration about the French 18th and 19th century just a few blocks away from us in English Marlybone.

I know how lucky I am to be here for a longer time on this trip – a chance to look in depth at collections, when before I had to limit each visit everywhere.

I only slipped into the National Gallery last week for an hour – just looking for a rest between my exploration of London`s Chinatown and picking up tickets at the Coliseum. The Ed and Nancy Kienholz re-creation of a street in the red light district of Amsterdam is on display right now. I had time to look in the windows of the diorama and tried to skim some of the text in the catalogue that goes along with the installation. It is so hard not to buy the catalogue. I try to talk myself into the purchase thinking that I will have time to look at it later, ... which I know is not true. I spent my time instead looking at the brothel scenes of the 17th century Dutch masters held by the National Gallery and exhibited side by side with the Keinholz work.

Back to the Wallace collection -- they own the finest group of paintings of Delaroche held outside of France. But the National Gallery holds the famed Delaroche painting of The Execution of Lady Jane Grey and it is the subject of a paid exhibit right now at the National Gallery. I am going to go early tomorrow and get the audio tape and spend the day there – the whole day. I will probably listen to the tape over and over tomorrow ... between naps, sitting perpendicular, on chairs in the Gallery.

A lovely new talent I have.

Love,

Arta