Pass the Pepper Spray

Another record breaking crush at the National Gallery

The news that the National Gallery is going to give up on the Sainsbury Wing, opened in a blaze of publicity just 15 years ago, and stage its next blockbuster exhibition, in the larger space of the main gallery will come as no surprise to anyone who experienced last autumn’s Raphael: from Urbino to Rome.

Arriving at the time shown on your ticket, and shuffling around the gallery in a cow-like crowd is no way to experience art. Apart from anything else, moving that slowly is, for some reason, incredibly painful on the feet. Anyway, you have to be able to skip the ones that don’t appeal, return to the ones you liked, step back from the biggest paintings without crushing a group of Japanese art students, and generally relax. Art, I’ve always felt, does not stand up well in the face of any discomfort. It is something that is to be enjoyed purely at leisure. And I’m not prepared to suffer for it.

So every time a big show comes round, I investigate London’s other major galleries. And what a miraculous resource they are. While 350,000 or so Londoners were mooing their way around Turner, Whistler, Monet at the Tate Britain – to date this country’s most popular exhibition – I went and checked out the Estorick Collection, a fantastic selection of vibrant Italian art housed in a glorious building, and more importantly almost totally empty. While you were chewing your cud at the Caravaggio, I was blissfully contemplating the Courtauld collection. And so on. They’re all either free or dirt cheap, they’re housed in stunning galleries, and most of the pictures you see in the big shows come from their collections.

The rise of the blockbuster exhibition is, of course, a good thing, and I for one would never really have learned to enjoy art if it hadn’t been for these massively publicised, must-see shows. But when you’re next passing through Central London, skip Stubbs and his horses, and head down to Somerset House instead, for some of the world’s greatest old masters. And no crowds at all.

Canvassing the Nation

The National Gallery today launched a poll to choose Britain’s favourite painting. Are we still a nation of boring landscape fans and portrait fetishists? Or will a foreign artist steal the show? Only time will tell but the national poll is sure to open up a lively debate, and it’s good to see the competition open to non-British artists.

Wheel of Fortune

Nearly 2000 tickets to ride will go on sale soon for a unique fund-raising event on the London Eye. Every capsule will feature a live performance by an artist, musician or dancer and paying customers will not know when they pay their £20 whether they’ll be sharing a pod with Damon Albarn, Beth Orton or some boring ballet dancer. This pot-luck fundraiser is being organised by Café Direct as part of their efforts to publicise fair trade policy and Make Poverty History.

Taking Civil Liberties

Bluewater Shopping Centre has become the first mall in the world to impose a dress-code on visitors, banning hooded tops after complaints about intimidating groups of youths. As if exposing their pimply faces to the elements is going to make anyone feel better.

Previouse article

 

Next article