Apologies to the National Gallery or rather Nicholas Penny, its outgoing director, and its Trustees for singling them out in my earlier post. It seems that the Victoria and Albert Museum AND the British Museum, too, are shut on the 24, 25 and 26th of December. The three most important art museums in the city--in the country-- are in the hands of philistines who appear to believe that no one would want to be in a museum when they could go shopping or watching Downton Abbey.
Oh to be in Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum is OPEN EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. Yup Christmas Day included. Paris or New York wouldn't be bad: The Louvre is closed for three days IN THE ENTIRE YEAR. (December 25, January 1 and May 1.) The Metropolitan closes for four: January 1, May 1, Thanksgiving Day and December 25.
All the hot air about London being a culture capital and the town can't even keep open its great museums when people have the most time to visit them. As for the people in charge of tourism; they spend millions luring tourists to the city and then shut the door to one of its biggest attractions.
In my eyes there is only one art—not high or low; not fine or decorative. Paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, embroideries, glass—I look at and care about much of this; the people who make or made it and those who collect and sell it--those are my targets. [AS FOR POSTS: MY TARGET FOR THAT IS WEEKLY FROM FRIDAY TO MONDAY.]
Thursday 25 December 2014
Wednesday 24 December 2014
Not so ho ho: London's National Gallery is a holiday NO GO .
On this chilly, sunny Christmas Eve, I reckoned that what with last minute shopping and the exodus of locals this would be a great moment to spend more time with that grandest old man, Rembrandt.
I checked that the underground and buses would still be running when I left the museum to come home. I reckoned that the NG would probably close early--say 4 or 5 pm. It was only fair to give staff time to get wherever they were going to spend the night before Christmas. All looked good and off I went.
I got out of the Underground, crossed Trafalgar Square, climbed the steps and headed for the Sainsbury Wing. And then I saw it: All gates shut. The place looked like a fortress not a house of revelations, never mind a refuge.
Back at my desk (each to her own Christmas treats or tortures), I Googled. The National Gallery chose to close all day, every day, from Christmas Eve until December 27. Take that all of you who would rather spend time with Rembrandt or Piero or Holbein or.... than do last minute shopping or join the stampede at the sales.
Nick Penny has marked his last Christmas as Director of the National Gallery with a big Bah Humbug, shutting its doors for a preposterous three days straight. He and those other Scrooges, the Trustees should be ashamed. My Christmas wish to one and all of them is coal filled stockings on the morning of the 25th.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)