July 12 - London - The British Museum and Exhibition at Courtald Museum

We have no theater tickets for today so instead we headed off to the British Museum.  We visited it the first time we visited London in 1971 or 72 so it was time for a return.  

We first headed to the section on ancient Greece and Rome.

The main objective was to see the Elgin Marbles.

A number of the Elgins had been moved to a special exhibition called Rodin and the art of Ancient Greece.  Rodin was a great admirer of the Greek sculptors and spent much time at the British Museum studying the Elgin Marbles.  So we headed over for the exhibition that featured many of Rodin's iconic works as well as the Elgin Marbles.  It was a very good exhibition.

Rodin's The Thinker

Elgin Marble

Rodin's Athena with the Parthenon 

Rodin's The Kiss

Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles

Interesting display in the book store at the British Museum.

We had a full tea for lunch.

Then we headed over out for a walk along the Thames...

to Somerset House and the Courtauld museum to see their exhibition of impressionist works…a wonderful exhibition with a few works by the old masters...

Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Landscape by Moonlight by John Paul Rubens

but mostly works by impressionist.

A Bar at the Folies-Bergere by Eduoard Manet

The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil by Eduoard Manet

The Can Can by Georges Seurat

Two Dancers on a Stage by Edgar Degas

Vase of Flowers by Claude Monet

Woman Tying her Shoe by Auguste Renoir

There was also an early Picasso...

Yellow Irises by Pablo Picasso

and works by Expressionists Leon Kossoff...

Head of Seedo by Leon Kossoff

Christ Church, Spitalfields by Leon Kossoff

and Heinrich Campendonk...

The Dream by Heinrich Campendonk

as well as works by Kees Van Dongen

Portrait of a Dolly by Kees Van Dongen

The museum itself was a work of art.

Ceiling

Ceiling

Stair Well looking up

We had dinner near the hotel and then sat in the hotel lobby for a while just visiting.  Great day.