A lot of the impact of the exhibition is the fact that everything there is over 10,000 years old. Which is just a little mind-boggling. Otherwise one isn't going to think anything there is so wonderful in its own right that you would want one in your house. But the glib comment one has to make is that these guys really could draw. The drawings/carvings of reindeer, bison etc are just really good. Economic of line, very realistic, they would knock the spots off mediaeval artists. (Let alone modern artists like lets say Tracey Emin, whose rather pathetic scribblings would have left her struggling in the competitive world of prehistoric artists.)
I am less impressed by the female statues of curvaceous (read obese) figures.
But actually that isn't the best exhibition in the Museum at the moment. That accolade should go to the paintings and drawings of two early 19th century artists who went on the Greek alternative of the Grand Tour and came back with a wonderful record of Greece. So this gave one the chance to see Greece through the drawings and writings of classical scholar Edward Dodwell and artist Simone Pomardi, made on their travels in 1805–1806. In some cases they show great lumps of Greek statuary which have since been carted off to museums, in some cases they show unspoilt remains which are rather better preserved in situ now than they were then. Delphi is a case in point, because it hadn't been excavated then.
Apart from just the interest value, the collection is just aesthetically very pleasing. The panoramas are astonishing, but perhaps the most appealing are not the finished watercolours but the unfinished sketches. I would definitely walk off with a few of these for the house.
After that, I just had a wander round and took a few snaps with my new camera, including its new feature - a mode for taking photos through glass. See what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment