Great Britain was once (and arguably still is) one of the most powerful countries in the world. They’ve been able to collect priceless artefacts, purchase art pieces by Masters and build insanely beautiful buildings to house it all in. The National Gallery is one of these places and contains a vast collection of over 2,000 paintings from well-known artists such as Vermeer, Titian, da Vinci, Monet, Rembrandt and many more. The main museum collection is completely free and contains priceless art pieces like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers to JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. You’ll definitely need a full day to explore them all. Photography is also welcome in the museum, take a look at some of my favourites below.
I love this painting because it’s one of the first pieces where fashion and modelling, for me, seem to work hand in hand. Klimt designed the dress she is wearing himself and then painted her in it. The photograph does not do the gossamer flowing over the cloth justice. The model, herself, reminds me of the modern day industry. Everything about this painting shows me a very future-first mind process of the creator.
This painting is special to me as it reminds me of my first trip to Paris with my mother. It looked exactly like this with the street lights, shops and cafes strung along either side of the street. More than that, though, the painting is simply incredible with such attention to detail in the smallest and rough brush strokes. It’s a detailed impressionist piece and I love every piece of it. Definitely in the top three of my favourite paintings to ever exist.
This painting is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I don’t so much as love it but feel nostalgic to it. When I was a kid in art class, around age 6, I remember the art teacher showing us this painting and me thinking to myself, “yeah, I definitely can paint to if this guy can.” I found out it’s a lot harder than it looks but with enough practice, people can do anything.
This painting is a series of peasant women Van Gogh did. I love this as it is so different to his landscapes and it really shows him practicing and perfecting his skill. I think he painted about 20 different peasant women in a study he did. He could have chosen different classes of women but chose peasants which strikes me as symbolic for whatever reason was going through that creative and intelligent brain of his.
You know what? I just love the colours. He did this painting most likely to perfect his craft. Most people believe the two crabs are the same crab show face down and face up.
I love being able to look at a painting and feel like I’m there and this is one that did it. The picture does not do this painting justice with Pissarro’s use of brushstrokes in creating a detailed yet dreamy feel.
Take what you want from this painting, it’s beautiful and emotional.
Monet painted this as if he were standing on the beach and looking at the boat paddling forward and the wind flowing through the grass on the hill strand. I love Monet and I love this painting because it is so different to his other paintings in that the detail has straight lines, crisp edges and distinct different in colours between the grass, rocks, sea and sky. It’s a very personal painting to him I feel.
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