I can never resist the British National Portrait Gallery.  For those following my obsession, there is still no sign of a portrait of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and future Queen Consort.  The late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the retired Philip, Duke of Edinburgh remain prominent in the gallery of most recent British persons of importance, along with such cultural icons as

Amy Winehouse (a portrait I really find touching).  The gallery had brought out a different selection of 20th Century portraits.  These included two by Patrick Herring, this self portrait

and this portrait of T.S. Elliot.

Patrick Heron is one of my favorite artists and it was a real treat to spend some time with these two works.

Also on display was this portrait of a lady I like to think of as one of my neighbors in Bloomsbury, Emmeline Pankhurst, one of England Suffragists who lived for a time in a house that sat just across from Russell Square. I love the way the portrait shows her strength and dignity.

The second of the Cultural Interludes was a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) with my “Greatest British Friends” Nigel and Gwynne.  We started in one of my “happy places,” the Cast Courts, described on the V&A website this way “Opened in 1873, the Cast Courts display copies of some of the world’s most significant works of art reproduced in plaster, electrotype, photography, and digital media. The cast collection is famous for including reproductions of Michelangelo’s David, Trajan’s Column, and Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, amongst many others.”  I don’t know exactly why the Cast Courts are so important to me.  Perhaps its the fact that many of the pieces are cast from churches and cathedrals, but being placed in the bright and well planned courts allows me to appreciate their form separately from their function in a way that is sometimes difficult with some architectural features.

We had a nice break in the V&A Cafeteria.  We were supposed to have had breakfast together, but a communication breakdown had us eating in cafes about 50 yards apart on Judd Street.

We also enjoyed a visit to the furniture collection.  Including these beauties that Nigel briefly helped fabricate in the pre-computer days.  The day ended much to quickly and I had to see the Grants off at Saint Pancras Train Station for their return to Kent.

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