Just in

A cultural break in London

I have spent the last couple of days in cultural activities in London.

On Tuesday I visited the opening of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in the Mall Gallery.

Much of the work is mediocre but it’s a useful platform for aspiring young oil artists.

In the evening I saw a performance of Rigoletto at Covent Garden.

Though a popular opera by Verdi I found the themes of oppression of daughter Gilda by Rigoletto and the mocking of his deformed state unappealing.

Though Sir Simon Keenlyside was an excellent Rigoletto I found Gilda less melodious.

At £220 for a stalls ticket the opera is expensive and in this case unenjoyable

Finally, on Wednesday, I visited Impressionists on Paper.  

I was expecting colourless littler sketches but far from it.

These were big paintings by big artists like Dégas, Cezanne, van Gogh, Redon and Toulouse-Lautrec.

One picture by Lautrec featured a lesbian couple in bed.

I reflected that were this a film the “Me too” movement would be up in arms.

Yet the in the rooms of the Royal Academy it was just one more work to be appreciated.

Avatar photo
About Tim Holford-Smith

Despite running his architectural practice full-time, Tim is a frequent theatre-goer and occasional am-dram producer. More Posts