Back again

[after a harrowing time with no Internet, this blog resumes!]
Emmanuel Radnitzky, if I remember correctly, was the real name of Man Ray. It was a marvelous day on Wednesday for us, if you enjoy art history. London appears to be rich in that
category. We first visited the Tate Modern gallery where there was a Duchamp, Man Ray, and Picabia, exhibit. Evidently, those three were buddies. The Duchamp pieces had all the images and 3D work one has studied. Fountain, Nude descending a staircase, and the image of Mona Lisa with a moustache and a goatee. Especially helpful for me was Bride stripped bare by her bachelors. Seeing it in person where I could walk around it was far better than any book might be. Man Ray had quite a variety of work there from his early/late paintings to his Rayographs to his photos of Duchamp and Picabia as well as their work. I had never heard of Picabia. However, one interesting note on him is that his grandfather had told him that photography would replace painting. All these gentlemen were in the early 20th century time period. I had heard the term Fauvism but Picabia’s work had it illustrated. While some of the three dabbled in everything from Impressionism (Picabia) and Cubism, (Duchamp and Man Ray) and rejected being in any class, most feel Dadaism was what defined them. Duchamp was interesting in his attempt to turn 2D into perceived motion. As I remember, Eadward Muybridge was an influence on him.

After lunch, we went to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. What a repository for paintings! My main goal was to see the Jan van Eyck Arnolfini wedding portrait and it was certainly there. I had given a presentation on the image in one of my Master’s classes. There was an American instructor there giving a brief talk to about 10 students. It appeared that 1 in 10 of the other paintings was either of Madonna and Child or Christ after her came down off the cross. The names you had always heard of in painting abounded there. Titian, Rembrandt, (love that lighting) and Vermeer to Pollack, Van Gogh, and Renoir. While we had to pay to see the special exhibit at the Tate, the rest of the Tate and the National Gallery were both free, otherwise.

Warren Zevon had a popular song titled “Werewolves of London.” I have it downloaded to my iTunes. In the song he talks about going to Lee Ho Fooks and having a bowl of beef chow mien. We found Lee Ho Fooks in Chinatown but I had the Szechuan beef.

As I write this we are on the Eurostar train to Paris. From there, we’ll take another train to Chalon Sur Saone. Tomorrow we’ll visit the Niepce museum.