Some 46 years ago, I stumbled upon two precursors of Impressionism, Puvis de Chavanne, while looking for the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and JM Turner at the then Tate Galleries while seeking refuge from intense rains. Nor surprisingly, our first order of business while on free time was to set off for Tate/Britain where more than four galleries are devoted to the largest collection of Turners anywheres.
We arrived at Gallery 9 only to be told that the Turner galleries were closed while paintings were being re-hung. Assuaging our disappointment the compassionate guard told of us three Turners on the second floor and an annex, outside the main Tate/Britain building, devoted to Turner. The suggestion led to revelation, of a truly educational facility for scholars and amateurs alike, where we explored transformations in colors (especially water colors and exemplified by how shadows can be expressed as colors). We tried to duplicate some of Turner's drawings, learn about his refutation of Goethe's color wheel, and begin to appreciate all the more what this giant, some 50 years before Impressionism swept European art, anticipated most of its precepts and, in fact, produced a
greater range of experiments with changing color and light in landscapes.While at Tate/Britain we explored an installation celebrating the demonstrations of David Haws in the shade of Parliament against the combined war against Iraq, beginning with our trade embargo. Haws' protest is commemorated thanks to a statutory accident. Parliament decreed it illegal to conduct 24 hour protests within 1 mile of Parliament. The one mile line bisects Tate/Britain, so, naturally, a black taped indicator of the one mile limit purposely bisects the installation of Haws signs, sleeping accommodations, and related paraphernalia.
Our other notable discovery at Tate/Britain was a quote from the 19th century English artist, Stickert, who proclaimed that real art is not for the drawing room but the kitchen. DISCUSS!
In the still new and exciting National Theater we met with Tom Morris, a delightful and unpretentious theatre type who co-adapted A Matter of Life and Death for which we have tickets later in the week.
He talked about the development of the Knee High theatre group in Cornwall in which cast members intensely discuss scripts which, in the process with the result that they rewrite the plays they perform. In addition to describing the creative process in which he and Emma Rice were able to produce A Matter of ..., Tom also discussed the financial realities of both privately-financed theatre, that must appeal to broad tastes and subsidized theatre whose vitality has been revived by the introduction of 10 pound plays, i.e. plays where a substantial number of seats are reserved for those who can afford only 10 pounds for their seats.
- Bill Brisk
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