Cathy's Art Diary

Fabulous reopening of the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery after a two year closure. I think this has long been my favourite bit of the gallery and it’s felt horrible having it closed for so long. It’s also made the rest of the gallery feel cramped. However it’s been well worth the wait. The foyer has been opened up with sections taken out of the floor above to create curved, double storey views and to let it light. More light is also coming from having taken the darkened glass out of the huge windows which run up the stairs. In the foyer is an upmarket coffee bar, which was coping well on members’ day when I went but it might struggle when the crowds arrive as it’s the first coffee stop they’ll see. However the £4.80 price of a coffee might put them off. On the first floor is a posh new restaurant and the book shop which I was worried had disappeared. It’s almost purely about books and has a great selection of old and new titles. I then popped up the picture galleries...

Interesting exhibition at the British Museum introducing five possible redesigns of their west wing. The show was held in the Reading Room, which it is always magical to enter, and consisted of architects’ models of the five ideas. The space under review represents over a third of their displays, and currently includes the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures and the Assyrian Lion Hunt. I’m not convinced that some of the designs would give more and better space for display they seemed to concentrate more on providing prestige public space which seems a common theme of museum refurbishment. It’s great to get more people to come but surely you want to entice them to look at the objects and research. I think I would have found it useful to have a model of what the space is like now to make more direct comparisons. There was a plan but I found it hard to visualise how that related to the new ideas. Closed 2 March 2025    

My first visit to the refurbished Young V&A previously the Museum of Childhood. Apologies that it’s taken me a while to get to see this refurbishment which has been open about a year and has since won the Art Fund Museum of the Year award. I had been before the changes and it was looking more spruce and cared for. A fun spiral staircase with a mirror feature has been added with the café nestled underneath it. There were much improved toilets and an additional lift. However the galleries were somewhat hidden and despite fun, big signage it was unclear what they offered from the main space, almost like it didn’t matter. It has given the curators a chance to rethink the displays and they are now aimed at children not just about them. It certainly seemed to be working when I was there in the summer holidays as it was buzzing with children enjoying the space. Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard    

Interesting lecture at the National Portrait Gallery explaining some of the thinking behind the rehang of the collection following the gallery’s refurbishment. Lucy Peltz, Head of Collection Displays (Tudor to Regency) gave us an insight into the principles behind the rehang. I was stunned at how long the planning took and the number of people and departments involved. I was interested to hear how every piece hung had to fit two criteria out of a theme list of UK and the world; power and resistance; innovation, science and industry; culture and creativity; society and identity and portraits and portrait making. She also explained how they wanted the galley to represent a history of Britain without being a dictionary of national biography. I was also fascinated to hear about how the labels were written to a template which were then edited by one person after input from a number of departments. I must admit as I go round the gallery I slightly feel like it’s been over engineered...

Enlightening public conversation at the National Portrait Gallery between the director of the gallery and the architecture of the recent refurbishment. If you follow my blog you might remember that I was a bit sniffy about the reopening of the gallery so it was really helpful to hear this conversation between the director, Nicholas Cullinan, and the architect, Jamie Forbert. They highlighted some changes which I hadn’t noticed but which might have added to by feeling of confusion, such as the removal of the mezzanine level which used to have a bookshop on it, as well as mentioning some areas I had missed on my first couple of visits and I have subsequently been back to look at. They talked about how helpful it was to have the original drawings for the design of the building and the thinking behind the new entrance and why it wasn’t on that aspect originally, basically because it would have looked out onto slum housing. They also highlighted some things I’d not realise about th...

Lovely revamp of the café at Sotheby’s in homage to the current exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of work by the photographer Yevonde. Photographed by Luc Braquet and styled by Hannah Teare for the Tatler this show features today's society ladies as a reference to an exhibition done by Yevonde in 1935. Having seen the Yevonde exhibition the day before this pit stop was very timely. No closing date given

Exciting reopening of the National Portrait Gallery after a major refurbishment and rehang. I have really missed the Gallery and was excited to get back! There is a new entrance with doors designed by Tracey Emin. I’m not sure they’ve gained much useable space behind it. There is room for a new shop but other than that it feels under used. I got very grumpy early on. There is a new mural I wanted to see but, at the moment, it’s basically in a corridor with the most current pictures in the other side so it’s very popular and you can’t really see the mural. There is an extra cafe but both are table service which wasn’t clear as one is also a thoroughfare! There is no way of getting a quick coffee! I will say though that the coffee and cake I had was delicious if a bit dear.   I found old friends and made some new ones. There is a heavy emphasis on women which is fine and interesting but feel it does lead to some men going missing eg John Donne. I wasn’t convinced by a couple...

Beautiful refurbishment of the Photography Centre at the Victoria and Albert Museum. At first look I felt that not a lot had changed as the first galleries, although rehung, don’t look that different but you then go through the door at the end and find four new rooms.   The first is a digital space which is currently showing a work by Jake Elwes analysing the effect of AI online on images of trans people. This then leads into a beautiful space for the Royal Photographic Society Library which has been donated to the museum and to highlight the role of books in photography. It includes a temporary display space which is currently showing books on photographing dogs so of course I loved it. The last two rooms are showing new acquisitions which contrast nicely with the refurbished 19th century rooms. Reviews Guardian Evening Standard  

Fascinating online lecture from Shoe Lane Library on the architecture and planned refurbishment of the North Wing of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Will Palin, CEO of Bart’s Heritage, talked us though the history of the hospital and the various building phases. He then went on to describe the interior of the North Wing including the two massive paintings on the grand staircase by Hogarth and to explain their iconography. He then looked at the great hall. He went on to talk about the planned refurbishment to mark the 900th anniversary of the hospital both how it will be undertaken and how the building will be used following the work. I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t known about this fabulous building but I’ll definitely be following the progress and visiting once the work is competed in 2025.

Useful display at the National Gallery presenting their plans for remodelling sections of the building to mark the 200th anniversary of the gallery in 1824.  There were good display boards outlining the plans which included a reworking of the Sainsbury wing entrance to make it lighter and more welcoming, to provide a link at basement level between the two buildings and opening up some of the space in the Research Centre, possibly the introduction of a members’ area and rethinking the space outside the gallery linking it to Trafalgar Square.  The display may still be there but I went there was an information desk there and I had a good conversation with a friendly lady who is working on the project and who talked me through the changes.  I went along sceptically as I felt the Sainsbury Wing is still quite new so why does is need changing. I was shocked to realise it’s 30 years old! I’d also not realised that it had become the main entrance in 2018. I thought its use as th...

Fabulous reopening of the refurbished Courtauld Gallery. Goodness I had missed it. T he galleries had gained some useful new spaces including a lovely new Bloomsbury Room shown here which brings together paintings, Omega workshop furniture and African masks collected by Roger Fry. It was painted in Charleston Farmhouse colours. There is also a new space which was currently showing photographs and a new shop in the basement which now feels more spacious and airy. They have also taken the opportunity to do a rehang of the collection, moving the oldest works upstairs and showing pieces in a better chronological order. They have also opened up the top gallery which had been the Great Room of the Royal Academy where the annual show used to be held. You get a much better sense of how the room would have looked. I liked the touch that all the room labels told you what the room had been used for in previous incarnations. Two other highlights include the newly commissioned work by Cecily...

Excellent refurbishment of two sets of galleries at the Imperial War Museum, the Second World War galleries and the Holocaust Galleries . Both galleries were beautifully designed leading you chronically through the period with sections on themes such as The Home Front. The narrative was told simply but was not dumbed down and used objects to help tell the story. The objects were often linked to people and there were no object labels as the narrative described them. I thought a change in the Second World War galleries was that they were now aimed at people born since the war. I think the previous version was as much a stimulator of memories and conversations and I remember going around with my own parents who were children of the Liverpool Blitz. The ARP uniform shown here is in honour of my grandfather who was a member. The Holocaust galleries were sympathetically described. They didn’t shy away from the horrors but did broaden the topic to look at its origins and effects. I lov...

Beautifully refurbished gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum for displaying and explaining the Raphael Sistine Chapel cartoons. I have always been fond of this room and the cartoons and the refurbishment makes them look even better. There is new brighter but subtle lighting and the walls are a lovely dark blue colour makes the cartoons pop off the walls. For the first time the light makes it more obvious that the works are on paper and up close you can see the texture and the old fold marks. They are shown with a few contemporary works by artists Raphael knew and worked with, as well as the huge earlier Legend of St George altarpiece from Valencia which is a good reminder of the development in art over the previous 100 years. All of this helps to give atmosphere without detracting from the cartoons themselves. While the refurbishment was being done the opportunity was taken to do lots of research work on the cartoons which is well presented online. It is a shame that, in th...

Interesting online talk from the National Portrait Gallery outlining how they have moved over 400,000 objects out of the building for its refurbishment as part of their Inspiring People Project. I have done smaller scale but similar projects and realise the planning needed before you even start so was fascinated to hear Ed Purvis, Head of Collection Services, talk about the stages of the project. The depth of the planning was impressive including making sure that all the pieces were in a condition to be moved back and hung so any conservation work was done at the time of moving them. They did 330 hours of conservation checks. He spoke about how Covid-19 meant they had to work out new ways of doing thing to minimise handling but he said he felt in many cases they had found better ways of doing things. He went on the speak about the delivery stage and how the pictures were taken down, checked and then packed by room. I loved a photo of the 18th century room with the pictures off the ...

Excellent online lecture form the Victoria and Albert Museum on the Raphael cartoons and the refurbishment of the gallery. Ana Debenedetti, Curtator of Paintings and V&A and lead curator for the renovation, took us through the history of the cartoons and their creation. I hadn’t realised that three had been lost, one very soon after they were made but two others were rumoured to be owned by a Medici in the 16th century. What a find that would be! She also talked about the new gallery display and the av resources which will be available both there and online. In the gallery you will be able to look at high res images, a 3D scan and the infra-red images in layers. The walls have been painted a darker colour and there is new furniture and lighting. Such as shame that it was due to open the day of the lecture but Lockdown 2.0 hit. She also hinted that when they do open there will be some research results and new discoveries published for the press. I can’t wait to see and hear the...

First post lockdown trip to the National Gallery including a look at the refurbished Room 32. Goodness it was good to be back! One of the last things I’d done in London pre-lockdown was to rush round the gallery and take a look at the Titian exhibition. It was therefore important to me, exactly four calendar months later, for the gallery to be the first central London thing I returned to. OK it does feel different but in some ways it felt better. There is lots of space and it Is all really well organised. There are arrows on the floor to guide you round three different routes round the gallery but no-one shouts if you go the wrong was around a room or zig zag across to make sure you don’t miss anything. You are asked to wear a mask and I did for most of it, some people didn’t but because there was lots of room you didn’t feel intimidated by that. Going round in a prescribed way makes you look at everything rather than flitting to your favourites and you see work in a new way. Toilets w...

Brilliant talk at the Courtauld for members of the Friends discussing the progress with their renovation project, Courtauld Connects. The talk was given by Stephanie Hall, the project director, who was very engaging and made the subject come alive. She grouped the talk around the materials used from stone to wood looking at how they have sourced new materials where older ones need replacing and things they have discovered by doing that replacing.   She got very excited about the different suppliers she had met. I was fascinated at the old, reused Palace stones they have found in the walls including the graffiti found on some pieces. Also the excavation work they have done when building the foundations fort a new staircase which have revealed rubbish pits from various era of the site including from whenit was a Saxon port. Most exciting to a Bloomsbury fan like me was the new Bloomsbury room planned to showcase the collection of Roger Fry of the art and Omega object...

Fantastic refurbishment of the Victoria and Albert Museum galleries housing casts of sculpture and architectural features from around Europe. I’ve always loved the cast courts and I was worried that the museum might try to do something new with the space but it has just been refreshed, cleaned and loved. The paint work has been taken back to an original colour and there are nice new information boards, not just about the work there, but also about the history of the gallery and the reason for collecting casts. The gallery was designed around the large casts of cathedral facades at either gallery and it’s nice that you can view these not only from floor level but also from the gallery from the floor above. I always manage to spot something new when I go to these galleries so I’m not sure if they’ve fitted in more items or if I’d just not noticed them before. I love the line-up of the early Plantagenet tombs shown here and feel like it was seeing old friends. I’m always ...

Good new gallery   at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the history of photography and contemporary themes. The Victoria and Albert Museum was the first to collect photographs and to commission pictures of the works in its own collection. In 2017 the Royal Photographic Society lodged their collection with the museum. This refurbishment and reinstall was very classy. It maintained the integrity of the rooms, keeping the lovely lunette around the top of the walls and painting the walls in dark sympathetic colours. There was also a board telling you about the original use of the room as a display room for student competitions. The first room gave a good narrative of the history of photography using objects as well as pictures and had features on the main pioneers while the second room looked at contemporary photography including a couple of featured displays. There was also a viewing room called The Dark Room showing films about photographers in the collection....

Preview evening for members at the National Portrait Gallery to show us the Gallery’s plans for their new project, Inspiring People. After a nice glass of wine there was a presentation by Director of the Gallery Nicholas Cullinan and the project’s architect, Jamie Fobert. At the heart of the project are plans to redevelop the building to create entrance at the north of the building next to Leicester Square and new galleries in the East Wing which is currently used as offices. They stressed it was not just about building work but also about building audiences and improving learning facilities. It was fascinating to see the ideas for the new entrance and the architect talked eloquently about the original designs and how this builds on and enhances them. All decisions seem to have gone back to these plans. It was interesting to hear plans for rehanging the whole collection and a relief to hear they would stick to a chronological approach. Cullinan outlined periods of hist...