Classic Art Memes
- Russell Shanks
- Dec 11, 2018
- 6 min read
Disclaimer: *This blog is purely text, as you’re discouraged from taking photos inside the galleries. Many visitors still do, but as an individual I’m a bit of a stickler for respecting the rules of the museum….but do feel free to go visit the galleries and see for yourself, the art work is amazing.*
The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are located next to each other at the top end of Trafalgar Square and make for a great way to spend a few hours with a friend on a rainy day in London. Perhaps the more art-inclined reader can spend hours in here alone absorbing and critiquing the classics. Personally I get the most out of art and spend more time in galleries with company to appreciate, discuss and make memes out of the works – as always I compel you to visit these places and find your own ways to enjoy them.
The National Gallery
The entrance to the National Gallery is located on the North West corner of Trafalgar square, facing Canada House. As the gallery is Free to enter there are several members of museum staff posted by the door to talk to you about Donations, Gift Aid, Guidebooks and Membership (not necessarily in that order).
It is worth bearing in mind that the building admission may be free, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need public support to maintain such a high quality place of culture. I won’t preach to you about Government spending cuts to the Arts and Heritage (partially why English Heritage is now an independent charity) but even if you do feel that this is a hard-sell tactic by the National Gallery to get money from you from the front door, even just buying a coffee or postcard helps to preserve our culture. (Rant over).
Tickets for the temporary exhibitions can also be purchased at the central desk alongside finding the £1 (donation) maps to guide you around the galleries. A large shop is also located in the entrance with many attractive books on art for all accessibilities. I.e. expect academic studies of artists to be mingling with books of cats as famous paintings!
The basic layout of the National Gallery is chronological. The oldest paintings are in the West Wing, the most recent (even they are still pretty old) are in the Eastern side. To spice things up you can always venture in without a map and wander aimlessly between rooms, guarantee it won’t take long until you feel completely lost. In some ways this works as a way to appreciate the art – to enter a room not knowing what you’re going to find next, to view from different perspectives and to head to the paintings that immediately catch your eye; you may even stumble upon something you recognise. One such painting we found was “Two Followers of Cadmus devoured by a Dragon” by Cornelis van Haarlem, painted in 1588. The painting itself is horrifically graphic. The fact the dragon is biting down on the man’s face as he struggles is the stuff of nightmares. The darkness of the paint – the deep and bleak colours, use of shadows over light – amplify the darkness of the subject matter. You don’t even have to be a fan of dark art to notice it, the painting is fairly sizable and is unavoidable to clock eyes on in the room. By contrast the painting of “Bacchus and Ariande” by Titan, painted 1520-23, is large, bold, powerful and colourful.
Admittedly, what draws us to these paintings, among the others, are that we have seen them through platforms including ‘Classic Art Memes’ and the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise of video games. It is not overly patronising to argue that this is how a lot of young people are exposed to art. Intertwined with exposure from other angles (I wonder how many people visit the National Portrait Gallery and wonder if the subjects ever talk to each other like in Harry Potter?) hopefully they can be inspired by it. This way may remain unconventional to traditional ideas of classic art as high-brow culture for those who understand it - having been taught the classical & biblical stories, the artistic techniques employed that can fully flesh out the meaning and purpose of the art - but any appreciation of art is surely a positive. Beyond making up hilarious captions you can’t help but talk about the paintings. My friend and I discuss, critique, analyse and contextualise in order to better understand what we’re looking at. Very fulfilling. Which is why I recommend dragging a willing buddy along to see art.
In The National Gallery expect a lot of paintings of Jesus. Though I am by no means an art historian, it is obvious to see that the primary subject matter for classical artists are biblical scenes with a smattering of Greek & Roman legends. The top art was a matter to celebrate the gods and tell the stories and fables of classical and ancient culture.
Then the Renaissance happened.
Somewhere along with the development of industry and science, artists starting painting scenes of ordinary people and landscapes. The layout of the gallery in a chronological fashion highlights this shift over the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries as you head from the central rooms into the eastern side. Here you will find scenes by Canaletto, Constable and Turner.
These artists are my favourites. As (an amateur) photographer these artists inspire me in the way they capture landscapes with accuracy, mood and beauty. How they translate natural scenes onto canvas is the true genius of art. In the works of their contemporaries and understudies it can seem as if you are looking through a window – all be it one with an ornate frame. In Turner’s 1803 painting of “Calais Pier” you can almost feel and hear the howling wind, heavy with sea-spray from the waves crashing onto the pier, boat and shore.
Astonishing.
Towards the far end of the Gallery could be found a few rooms dedicated to an exhibit on Impressionists, featuring “Sunflowers” by Vincent Van Gogh, “The Water-Lily Pond” by Claude Monet and Cézanne’s “Bathers”. These rooms required a little bit of elbowing to view the paintings, as people were all trying to oogle/draw/take pictures of the works.
Calling it quits on trying to appreciate all the impressionists, we head around the corner (very literally) and enter the National Portrait Gallery.
The National Portrait Gallery
In the Portrait Gallery there is a great game you can play of guessing who the portrait is of. Some appreciation of British Culture helps and the difficulty increases with the introduction of surrealist artists and their portraits on 20th & 21st Century personalities.
Must be said that some icons of British culture are easier to identify, from the Monarchs to the likes of Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare and Paul McCartney. However most of the rich and famous personnel that shaped Britain are in here - as well as plenty of infamous faces too.
Thankfully there is a growing number of portraits and sculpture highlighting the importance and influence of women and ethnic minorities on British culture. In my opinion it works best in its subtlety. While many galleries of inclusive history have been brought in temporarily to highlight a particular crucial moment of history – such as the centenary of female emancipation – the National Portrait Gallery appears to be almost subversively swapping in more portraits and sculptures of prominent figures of this period without a great deal of fanfare. You may not even notice the sculptures of Florence Nightingale and portrait of Dame Christabel Pankhurst immediately as you wander through the 19th & 20th Century galleries, but they are there in prominence to be seen among the rest of their notable contemporaries. Hopefully this trend will continue.
The galleries follow a chronological timeline a bit stricter than the National Gallery. The escalator from the entrance takes you straight up to the top of the building and start off with the Tudors, through the Stuarts into the long 18th Century and beyond.
While the Portrait Gallery is smaller than the National Gallery, there are a considerable number of portraits on display. Helpfully many are grouped together in a professional order with their contemporaries – scientists, artists, mathematicians, poets, engineers ect…
It’s nice to see the faces of distinguished names as John Watt, George Bradshaw, John Constable, Robert Cecil and Virginia Woolf, it's about as close as you'll get to meeting them face to face. Although the vast majority of faces have long past significance, names faded into history. A stark example are the huge portraits of First World War military and political leaders – in the three portraits of Naval Commanders, Army Top Brass and Political Leaders, you would need to be an expert to name more than 3 figures in each of the paintings.
It doesn’t take a great deal of time to explore the Portrait Gallery. The interpretation panels will give you a brief description of the subject and as long as you don’t read everyone you’ll be out in just over an hour. At the bottom of the gallery is a decent shop with a surprising variety of books as well as all the usual souvenirs. You can always choose for favourite historical person as a postcard to take home!
Top Tip: Consider the audio guide or chat with the gallery staff if you're going to be spending a few hours here.
Best Avoid: Trying to sneak your coffee in.
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