NATIONAL GALLERY
England's great age and rather acquisitive character means that the collections we have built here are often staggeringly large and extremely good. And also hard to get your head around. Galleries are places one tend to go with a sense of guilt and obligation - you know that one SHOULD go to galleries, but the actual details are baffling, boring or something you do in order to tick it off your list, then get to the cafe and the gift shop as soon as possible. Of course if you are an art connoisseur then that is a different story entirely, but for 99% of people galleries like this one are just a bit much...and that is where I come in.
Artists we are likely to encounter include da Vinci, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, van Eyck, van Dyck, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Bronzino, Cranach, Holbein, Vermeer, Canaletto, Velazquez, Goya, Hogarth, Fragonard, Turner, Constable, Reynolds, Stubbs, Joseph Wright, Monet, Manet, Degas, Matisse, Picasso, van Gogh, Rousseau, Renoir, Cezanne, van Rysselberghe, Gauguin, Seurat and any other painter we happen to wander by. We will have a coffee break halfway round if you like, to fortify you for the rather busy 1750-1900 half of the tour. Art is for everyone. Really! This is the best place to find that out!
TATE MODERN
A hundred and fifty years ago a painting was a painting and a sculpture was a sculpture. Yes, there were different styles, but for the most part a good knowledge of the Bible, history, mythology and maybe a few legends would see you through. Somewhere along the way, however, something changed really quite markedly. The art world today must accept pickled sharks, tins of human excrement and unmade beds as serious works of art, and sell them alongside Monets and Picassos, da Vincis and Gainsboroughs. Don't be scared! Modern art is only an elitist 'thing' to our minds because those who own it ensure that it stays that way. The mystery is not as mysterious as it first appears to be! This walk takes us through the rash of 'isms that has characterized the late 19th to early 21st centuries, looks at the changing role of art and the artist, defines how art and society have played with each other, and examines hundreds of world-class works from all over the globe that chart (and define) a changing world.
This walk suits the beginner although it can be presented at every level, including children.
TATE BRITAIN
The British are generally known for their writing rather than their art - you've probably heard of Shakespeare but I doubt that you could describe a Gainsborough in detail. Or would want to, come to that. Other countries snort rather derisively at our artists, and its certainly true that we haven't had a Picasso, a Michelangelo, a da Vinci. But it's not a desert up here in the North - the narrative of how we saw the world through time as we went from marginalised rock to global empire is a fascinating and socially relevant one. This is a run through the evolution of art in Britain, and how it was influenced by the inside and outside world over 500 years. The latter end of the tour takes in the spectacular internationalism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the proliferation of 'isms that continue to bedevil us today.
This tour can also be turned to appeal to children, although the National Gallery is better suited to a child-friendly narrative.