I was going to title this “Sorry, it took me a while to find a phone. Perhaps it was Fulham’s tragic loss to at the weekend to Brentford and the concurrent loss of their star goal scorer Aleksander Mitrovitch to the Saudi league, but I have had a form of writer’s block. I have been writing and rewriting this blog entry, but all that has come out have been rants about pet peeves of mine. Today, I’ve come to the British Library and am sitting in the Humanities Reading Room determined to get a blog posted. Let’s see. Before I leave Fulham, it was a beautiful day for football and the team was looking physically ready for the season. Here’s hoping they can replace Mitro soon.
I have spoken, over the years, of my love for the Victoria and Albert (the V&A) Museum. A recent visit was quite interesting. Let me share some of what I saw. In the Cast Courts, my favorite place, there is a very unusual set of sculpted figures that surround the base of a sarcophagus of Marchese Spineta Malespina who died in 1407. Look at the faces of each one. There are such specific expressions captured in the faces
of these figures that were originally painted and gilded, it is thought.
Not far from these figures, I noticed some other rather compelling casts that I thought were worth sharing. The first depicts Christ’s descent from the cross, the main other figures are “the three Marys (Mary, his mother, Mary the mother of James and Salome; and Mary Magdaline). The gospel attributed to Mark, the earliest of the synoptic gospels, places only female followers of Jesus at the crucifixion with the soldiers. Mary, the mother of James and Salome and Mary Magdeline are said to have been the first two to have been at the tomb on Easter morning and “proclaim the Good News” of the empty tomb that Christians believe signifies the Resurrection of Jesus.
The second is an interesting depiction of the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus’ good friend. His sisters Mary and Martha are important figures in another of the synoptic gospels, the Gospel attributed to Luke. And in the Gospel attributed to John, the last of the 4 gospels written.
This was done around 1125-1150 but was hidden for many centuries and only rediscovered at Chichester Cathedral in the 19th century. Clearly, something about this family must have struck a chord to have been mentioned in both of these gospels but as you can see, neither of the women appear in this important foreshadowing of the Resurrection. I found it interesting.
As I was making my way out of the museum, I came across these Rodin sculptures. I had been discussing with my London gang, who among us had been to Paris’s Rodin Museum. This was a funny coincidence.
Finally, somewhere along the line, we had a very humid day, and I needed a bit of shade a few moments of quiet to sit and meditate and regaine my sense of peace. As I was just a block or so away from Brunswick Garden, the smaller garden that is just a block or so away from Russell Square but is less busy and almost a hidden gem. I sat down and soon did cool off in the shade. i was able to meditate and regain my equanimity. Then I noticed all the blooms and I heard someone mention the tree that was over 200 years old. So, I took some pictures to share with you.
Britain’s National Portrait Gallery (BNG) is a fine institution that I have enjoyed visiting for lo these many years. It has been closed for a major facelift for the last several years and today was the first time that I visited the newly refreshed location. It is as interesting and provocative as ever. But somebody is still missing. Somebody important and somebody whose omission I have pointed out to them for many times since April of 2005.
As I toured the galleries that covered the 20th and 21st centuries, I saw many familiar faces from the arts, science, politics, British sports, and, of course, the British Royal Family. There were several portraits of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. One particularly touching one was the last portrait of her with the late Prince Philip. There were several portraits of the newly named Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Catherine. There was even a picture of King Charles III’s late first wife Diana, Princes of Wales. Amid all the portraits of people who have had a significant role in the United Kingdom in the last 18 years, however, let alone, the last year, I had to go to the exhibit titled “Works In Progress to find a recent portrait of King Charles, (by himself). “Hmm,” I said to myself, “where’s the Queen, where is Queen Camilla? Don’t tell me they still don’t have a portrait of her on display. She’s the Queen of the UK for goodness sake!” But, after checking with the staff available, it was true. No Queen Camilla. So, I’m not sure if it’s just me beefing with the BNG or if the BNG is beefing with the Queen.
Anyway, here are the portraits of the former monarch and her consort and current monarch, all by his lonesome. The final one is a portrait of TS Elliot by one of my favorite artists, Patrick Heron, who only did a few portraits of close friends. They are not always on display, so I am thrilled when I get a chance to see one of Heron’s works.
The other big news is that Fulham FC won their season opener against Everton, the “other” team in Liverpool. The home opener at Craven Cottage will be this Saturday and I will be there!
I’m hoping to make this museum week, with a special Wednesday visit with a good friend more to come.
If you follow me on Facebook, you will know that Wednesday, August 9th, 2023, was a special day. It was the 100th anniversary of my mother, Jacqueline Margaret Nehls Delligatti’s birth. Coincidentally, it was the day that I had booked a ticket to see a revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma.’ The connection of these two events is that a previous revival of ‘Oklahoma’ was the first professional theater production that I ever saw in New York City in the mid-1960s.
This production was bold and very different from the one I saw in the 1960s or from the Technicolor movie many may remember. But those songs! Oh those songs. I had forgotten how many were part of the American Song Book. Melodies and and lyrics so familiar that they came rushing back. The staging was quite stark, a few long tables and many chairs, some picnic accessories and (anachronistically) some six-packs of “Bud Lite” Beer. Since these were on the stage before the production began, I asked one of the ushers if this was a salute to Budweiser’s commercial that caused so much controversy in the U.S. While he said he did not know, he assured me that the production had some controversial elements.
While the production did include some minor changes that enhanced it (a lessening of the more racist elements in the portrayal of the trader with roots in the Middle East) and a Second Act opening scene that seemed like a portrayal of an LSD trip, it did stick to the original script and was true to Rogers and Hammerstein’s original vision for the production. It was lyrically beautiful, and shocking, everything one should expect from a classic musical. The actor playing Laurie, Anoushka Lucas has a beautiful voice. She also had the ability to act with tenderness, toughness, warmth, and all the emotions that make Laurie a complex character. The other actor playing an important female character that I found fascinating was Page Peddie as Ado Annie. Ms. Peddie seemed to channel the great American comedic actress Judy Canova, whose short films can sometimes be found on YouTube, when she sang and performed “I’m just a girl who can’t say no.” The song requires an actress who can show both the comedic side of the song and the wartmth of the woman singing it. She knows how to use her facial expressions as well as her entire body and voice to bring home the song.
The second matinee that I saw the day after “Oklahoma” was Doctor Semelman about a Hungarian doctor who recognizes that doctors and nurses washing their hands before touching patients cuts down on post operative (and post natal deaths (in the latter case of both mothers and children). He made his ‘discovery while a junior doctor at the most prestigious hospital in Europe at the time in Imperial Vienna. As an unknown young practitioner from Pest (a decade or more from joining its sister city of Buda across the Danube and eventually becoming the capital of an independent Hungary when the Hapsburg empire ended), he was not taken seriously. He was arrogant and, as we would say today, had anger issues that led to his return to Pest for many years before a disastrous return to Vienna. This show was remarkable for the many techniques it used. A rather heavy drama, it included four violins that accompanied the action at many points, a ‘greek chorus’ was present above the action and sometimes on the stage, an almost vaudevilain comedy scene was woven into the firstthird of the first act. An oddity was the fact the Mark Rylance, who plays the title character spoke with a connincing Hungarian accent other actors, (e.g., the nurse and one of the Austrian doctors spoke with Irish and African accents) while this was a bit jarring, it did not take away from the overall impact of this remarkable performance.
A couple of random photos that I have taken this week. Ironically, I saw this Budweiser ad in the Tube on my way home from “Oklahoma.”
This second one is a Blue Plaque I don’t think I had noticed before on the President Hotel near Russell Square. Richard D’Oyly Carte, of course, was responsible for the theater company that bears his name. and that Gilbert and Sullivan created their light operas for.
Yes, those are the Cartwrights from Bonanza in the very first picture of the August 2023 edition of “Mark In London and the World.” For those too young to remember the TV classic. The line above is from the seldom heard vocal version of the show’s opening theme. Keep reading to get the context.
As you can see, this second picture “ties the room together nicely” with this statue of John Cartwright that stands in the square in the middle of Cartwright Gardens a semicircular street on which the flat I have rented for this year’s London adventure is located. It’s not Clare Court, my beloved London home of the last several years but it is suitable for the purpose. It is actually a bit closer to “the Blessed Pancreas,” as my friend Sally and I call Saint Pancras International Train Station and very close to the home of my friends Tom and Jaquie.
These first few days have been filled with all the small things that need doing like food shopping, picking up essentials for the flat that even the best landlords don’t provide enough of (enough hangers, the kitchen gadget you can’t live without, the one thing you forgot from your home toiletry collection). Luckily, the Brunswick Centre, our local shopping precinct has all the stores one needs.
Needless to say, I also made haste to visit my favorite neighborhood haunts. Caffe Tropea in Russell Square’s beautiful park was one of my first stops. Not only was I greeted with the lovely Italian warmth of the Tropea family, but I was also reunited with a great group of local folks who have become my friends over many cups of coffee and tea at the tables you see in the picture above. In the last several days we have laughed and teased and talked about everything from politics to “the Royals” to TV and movies. It has been great to catch up with the gang.
In case you think that the unsettling state of America’s politics is not on the minds of our British “cousins” you are very mistaken. They are completely mystified by the continued support that a certain former President maintains. They don’t understand Ron DeSantis either. But, then again, who does?
I’ve also been happy to visit another local favorite, “Half Cup”, a great restaurant on Judd Street, with lovely murals on its walls.
It was a drizzly Sunday and I feared that the place would be packed, but I got there just late enough to miss the usual brunch crowd. I had an excellent meal, served by delightful staff. As I was eating, two young men sat next to me. I heard one of them say that he thought that another European country was like the UK, only nicer until he got to know the other country better. I leant over and said, I thought that Australia was like both the UK and the US, only nicer. I was wearing my Tasmania tee shirt. That led us to a chat about Australia and we ended up talking for about an hour. The first fellow was English, the other was Latvian. I told them of my long-time fascination with the Baltics because of the legations in Washington during the Soviet era. Somehow the discussion got onto environmental issues and of course, my nuclear past. There were nearly 50 years of age between us and there was something great about our connection. I am always energized and given great hope for the future when I meet intelligent young people who are engaged and well-read.
My first cultural excursion of this visit to London was to the British Museum where an exhibition called “China’s Hidden Century” is on. The museum’s webpage describes it this way:
“In a global first, the resilience and innovation of 19th-century China is revealed in a major new exhibition.
Between 1796 and 1912 Qing China endured numerous civil uprisings and foreign wars, with revolution ultimately bringing an end to some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and giving way to a modern Chinese republic. This period of violence and turmoil was also one of extraordinary creativity, driven by political, cultural and technological change. In the shadow of these events lie stories of remarkable individuals – at court, in armies, in booming cosmopolitan cities and on the global stage.“
While the exhibition contained some beautiful items (see the photos), I found it contextually disappointing. The first three photos are examples of the clothing displayed. The first is a coat of the child emperor. While they are beautifully made, I did not get a sense of the life of these people.
These Ming Vases are stunning, and their huge size did speak to the skill and craftmanship of the makers, but, once again, I wish there was more of the story about the rise and fall of the craft, how they were made, etc. Another reason that I had to include these vases goes back nearly half a century. A group of us rode home together From Oneonta State College, as it was then, for either Thanksgiving or the end of semester vacation. One of the group, Mindy, lived in Far Rockaway. We stopped briefly at her house when we dropped her off. Her parents owned two large, lovely vases that were displayed in a room just off the entry to the house. I immediately dubbed them the “Ming Vases”. We teased Mindy about them for the rest of our years together.
Above are two more examples of delicately crafted items that were presented, but without sufficient context. The second, a Mahjong Set, I also selected for my friend Gail who has in the last year or two become an avid player.
Excuse the poor quality of the photos above. The first is a lovely example of a Chinese watercolor executed to near perfection. The second is a depiction of a typical Chinese home of the period.
Throughout the exhibition there was narration from overhead speakers in Chinese. There was also limited text in English, accompanying the exhibits. It spoke in cryptic terms of the slow decline of the imperial system of governance, of the involvement of foreign nations, of military actions of other nations and of revolution. I thought that I might have heard the word Kuomintang spoken once in the Chinese narration, but there was no mention of the way that the revolution in China happened, only that there was a revolution after the emperor resigned. Similarly, one set of women’s clothing included tiny shoes that would have been worn on bound feet, no discussion of this custom was included. There was not discussion of the life of Puyi, the last Emperor, after his abdication, nor of the Eunuchs who raised him. I was left with a feeling that those who funded the exhibition controlled its content.
Finally, to end on a lighter note. I am gradually settling into Cartwright Gardens. While I do miss some of the amenities of Clare Court, I like having an oven to play with. To prove that point. Here is my first attempt at Centigrade cooking, banana bread.
