Venere Travel Blog - It's our business where you sleep!

London is, undoubtedly a contender for the best place to see art in the world. Granted, until recently, only a small proportion of the artists that make up the great collections are actually British, but this doesn’t stop the British being very proud of their cultural heritage and the fact that London is now, and has been for ten years or more, the cultural centre of the world.Now, all this means that it is not hard to find great art as a visitor in London – a trip to the National Gallery, Tate Modern or Tate Britain (in combination or alone) will more than suffice on the average short trip. However, it little known to the fleeting visitor that the depth of London’s collections is such that real masterpieces can be found outside the state museums in galleries, big and small, contemporary and historical, that do not boast their wares and for that reason can be enjoyed without a throng of annoying tourists getting in the way!If you are interested in seeing great paintings, and are looking for alternatives to the major museums in the centre of London, why not give the National and the British Museum the flick, and head for one, or more, of three nearby gems: The Courtauld Gallery, The Wallace Collection or the Wellington museum?All three of these galleries feature outstanding significant artworks by principal artists of the last several hundred years.

• The Courtauld Gallery

First up, the Courtauld on the Strand features an impressive selection of Impressionist an Expressionist paintings, including Van Gogh’s Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear, painted by the artist shortly after he fell out with friend Gauguin over a prostitute and then cut his ear off! It’s a great piece of art history that many people just do not associate with the collections of London. Also featured on the first floor is Eduard Manet’s impressive A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. The second floor contains a number of powerful Fauvist and Expressionist pieces, including works by Vlaminck and Kokoschka, as bequeathed by prominent early 20th century critic and populariser of Modernism in Great Britain, Roger Fry. Entrance tot eh Courtauld costs around £5, with concessions for retired persons and free entry to students and unemployed persons.

• The Wallace Collection

If that has whetted you appetite, try taking a bus on up to the far end of Oxford Street (a ten to fifteen minute ride), before alighting and taking a side road to the Wallace Collection at Hertford House, Manchester Square. Entrance here is free, and what you save getting in you may wish to spend on coffee or a glass of wine at the excellent restaurant. Once in you are likely to be astonished at the sheer dept of the collection, which includes works by Velazquez, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Canaletto, Caravaggio, Eugene Delacroix, Jean-Honore Fragonard, Jean-Antoine Watteau, to name but a few.The Wallace collection is sumptuous, a testament, if there ever was one, to the relationship of artworks to human desire. Thus is in part due to the excellent selection of pre-revolution 17th and 18th Century French painters in the collection’s, ones who’s luxurious offerings fell out of favour in after the French revolution and which you will not find so easily in the collections of Paris. Look out for Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier – one of those paintings we’ve all seen in print, but which takes on a bolder and more luminous character in ‘the flesh’.The Wallace Collection also includes an impressive armoury which includes defensive armour and weaponry from across the world, some pieces beautiful, some terrifying when you consider their intended use.Once finished at the Wallace a bus ride or pleasant walk can take you to the third of our lesser known central galleries, at One Hyde Park Corner, also known simple, as ‘Number One, London’, or Apsley House, home to the Duke of Wellington. With free entry, this gallery is another star not to be missed, containing classics such as Velazquez’ The Water Seller of Seville. Also look out for an impressive nude statue of Napoleon by Antonio Canova, which greets visitors at the foot one of the main stairwells.A day, or two – the more discerning visitor may wish to take some time exploring these collections spent looking at these galleries will serve to demonstrate that London has not become a mere corporate entity, with its galleries being sideshow aimed at parting people with cash for souvenirs, whilst other elbow other visitors out of the way for a glimpse of some artworks. There are some great galleries out there, if you look a little further afield than you may usually be inclined, for the serious art lover.Photo of Apsley House originally posted by pixelthing.com