At the end of November, Tim and I had a great day out in London to visit the Poussin and the Dance exhibition at the National Gallery which runs until 3 January. We were lucky that the day was bright and sparkling, Trafalgar Square giving the perfect backdrop for egg sandwiches and crisps before going into the National Gallery.
What a magnificent place Trafalgar Square is, I like the photograph above of the fountain, but below the image of the statue in the background of George IV adds to the view in the foreground of one of the water features in the fountains designed by Sir Edward Lutyens in the 1930s of dolphins, mermaids and tritons.
Tritons could take up a whole post of their own, worth clicking on the link!
Here's another view of the water feature above.
And so into the National Gallery where I was particularly drawn to two paintings on the way to the Poussin exhibition. Both of horses, the first is the unforgettable
'Whistlejacket' by George Stubbs
This is the other painting I find it hard to walk past without looking at it in detail, it's '
The Horse Fair' by Rosa Bonheur, it's fabulous. And so onto the Poussin exhibition, there's a lovely introduction on the National Gallery website:
'Tambourines shake, wine spills, and half-naked figures whirl across
the canvas in these paintings of revelry, dance and drama that are
brought together in this first exhibition dedicated to Poussin and
dance.
Poussin’s paintings of dance are unique. He brings to life the
classical world of gods and mortals with wild and riotous movement but,
the chaos on the canvas does not reflect the meticulous and inventive
process that allowed him to capture bodies in motion.
In this exhibition, Poussin’s paintings and drawings of dance will be
shown alongside the antique sculpture he studied, inviting you to trace
the evolution of his ideas from marble to paper to paint.
Poussin’s working methods will be fully revealed with a
reconstruction of his wax figurines, which the artist manipulated into
different compositions, underscoring his role not only as painter of
dance, but as choreographer in his own right.'
Above is a krater from the first century BCE executed in Parian marble decorated with Hermes confiding the infant Dionysos to the nymphs of Nysa, and with dancing satyrs and maenads
These close ups are from the painting 'The Realm of Flora' In the painting from 1630, all sorts of figures from Ovid's
Metamorphoses gather together. The deities shown here lived on after
their death as plants. In the center of the picture Flora, the cheerful
goddess of spring, is walking through a garden scattering flowers. Here's the whole picture
This relief seen below with five dancers is from the second century CE, it's now in the Louvre when not in this exhibition; it clearly inspired Poussin's work
Below is 'T
he Adoration of the Golden Calf''
Below is a photo of a monumental vase with a Procession of Dionysus (The Borghese Vase') from the first century BCE, it was famous in Poussin's day and was among the antiquities he most admired. Beneath trailing vines, a procession winds its way around the vase. Dionysus presides over the revels, as dancers whirl in an endless parade of inebriation and ecstasy.
It's a fabulous vase with amazing scenes around it
This painting below, displayed at the end of the exhibition was my favourite, 'A Dance to the Music of Time' . Four figures join hands and dance to the music of Time's lyre.
It's such a beautiful idea, with the cycle of life circling from one state to the next, Poverty in green with his back to us, leads Labour in an orange gown. She in turn brings Wealth, with pearls in her hair. Following Wealth comes Pleasure who smiles beguilingly beneath her floral crown, but poverty is just round the corner!!
This painting above Poussin’s Triumph of Bacchus shows the victory of Bacchus, the God of
Wine. Here, the god is depicted on the left side of the picture, and is
seated on a magnificent chariot. A number of satyrs, centaurs, putti and
nymphs lead the chariot. Among these creatures is the famous Pan, who
is carrying his pipes. It's a fabulous exhibition and well worth a visit.
I also discovered there are flamingos in St James' s Park, here's one
and a view across the lake
An eventful day out, hoping to go again soon.
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