Tate

A cold misty Sunday in London today so I opted for an indoor pursuit...the Tate Modern.  There are four Tate museums in England: St Ives, Liverpool, British and Modern.  The Modern takes on everything art from 1900 onward.  So, you never really know what you might be walking into.  Which is the appeal.  You might see something iconic or you might see something completely bewildering. 

Today had a bit of both.  A very nice couple in Brooklyn have made a feature length film about the trash that blows around the street in their neighbourhood.  Literally close up footage of exciting things like rolls of toilet paper, empty coke cans, and a thrown out receipt from an Italian restaurant being blown around the gutters.  Maybe things really got exciting after the receipt but I will never know because I felt an intense need to move along. On the iconic side, a great exhibit of cubism featuring some great canvases by Braque and Picasso and a lovely foursome of Lipchitz machetes.  And then tucked into a corner all by themselves were these lovely paintings by Kandinsky & Mondrian.  I don't think I've ever seen anything by Mondrian except his line drawings before...so what a nice little discovery.

Kandinsky - Lake Starnberg 1908

Mondrian - Sun, Church in Zeeland 1909-10

Money saving art tip of the day: you don't need to fly all the way to England and go to the Tate to see a sculpture by Lipchitz.  If you are reading this Blog from Saskatchewan, there is one on the front lawn of the Mackenzie and you drive by it every day.  It is from later in his career so it is not part of his cubist works but it is no less lovely.  It's called Mother and Child II.  Impress all your friends by mentioning that he is from Lithuania but trained in Paris and was a contemporary of Picasso.  Boys, this is guaranteed date material.  You can thank me later.

Lipchitz - Mother and Child II 1946

I also overheard some people on the escalator discussing their "Pram Rage" which I thought was hilarious.  I can understand their issues with the people who insist on pushing around GIGANTIC prams in very busy, and rather small, art gallery spaces.  From my observation, the pram is normally empty because their little charmer would rather be running around under their own power. I have to check my backpack but they can bring in a small bus. I think my Aunt Cindy suffers from the North American equivalent which is "Stroller Rage" and normally occurs in shopping mall settings.

So, that is Sunday in London.  Not bad.

Plus, the milk I bought is from the Royal herd at Highgrove.  A shout out to Prince Charles as I'm sure he's out there every day twice a day for milking.  He looks like a hands on farmer.