The face of Freud

The nearest I got to the Gormley exhibition was this in the
courtyard of the RA

Yesterday I went along to the Royal Academy in the hope of getting in to see the Antony Gormley exhibition. It was sold out for the whole day. My second choice was Lucian Freud Self Portraits. No trouble getting a ticket for that and I went straight in. It was busy, and I'd not normally go to exhibitions at the weekends for that reason. However, time is short and my diary is filling!

The exhibition is quite short (in fact I went round a second time!) but interesting. Freud has always been obsessed with his face, it seems, and he began doing self portraits early on and continued throughout his life. Even when he painted portraits of others he often appears in the painting somewhere, either through a mirror reflection or a window. He even has his shadow in one! However, like photographs it shows the aging process, warts and all (he was never one to shy away from those). There is a full length nude of his son and a rather disturbing one of his wife in a hotel room with him looking down on her. The painting of two Irishmen was interesting, but it was the background that fascinated me. Through the window behind the men is a city in great detail and so well done, not something I'd normally associate with Lucian Freud (detailed backgrounds). Technique changed over time to from flatter painting to impasto and towards the end of his life his paintings became even more what I'd call rough textured. I almost wanted to touch it and feel all the bumps and dots.

An early self-portrait

And a later one

Not sure you can see the background terribly well on the photo, but its very detailed.

Hercules

The Poster Bar

Inside the RA

Having finished the exhibition earlier than I thought I had a bit of wander around the RA, realising that I'd not done that before. There were some student exhibits and a great Hercules statute in the connecting halls. I also found the Poster Bar for the first time (no, I didn't stop for quick one!).

Wondering what to do next I headed over to St James', Piccadilly and went into Cafe Nero for a hot chocolate and a look at the map (I usually carry one - I'm old school) to see what I could do. A lady sat down next to me and we got chatting. Turned out she lives in the town next door to me and goes to St James' Church. It wasn't long before we were swapping Christmas shopping tips and the perils of buying clothing for people only for them not to like it! Yes, been there, done that. No longer!

I couldn't decide what to do next so I just headed out and went my feet took me (oh I can be so wayward!). Ended up by the old Scotland Yard building and Whitehall Gardens before crossing the river at Embankment (Hungerford Bridge) and heading for the station.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar windows

Churchyard, St James', Piccadilly

The Listening Hut, St James' Church, Piccadilly

St James' Park

By Horse Guards Parade

Whitehall Gardens

Statue of William Tyndale, first person to translate
the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into English, Whitehall Gardens

River Thames from Hungerford Bridge

And yes, there is a writing point here, never fear. I was thinking about painters and their obsessions - Freud with his face, Monet with his series of paintings of the same building, Gormley with bodies and Hockney with trees. And there is mine for writing about the same subjects in my poetry! There you go, every experience can generate a piece of writing.

As for Antony Gormley, I decided to book a ticket and I'm going tomorrow afternoon. I'll let you know my thoughts then.

Meanwhile I've been marking up my words for choir with the good old pink highlighter, a job I should have done last week.

A bit of homework!