{"id":7414,"date":"2015-01-25T07:05:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-25T07:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/?p=7414"},"modified":"2015-01-23T18:47:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T18:47:23","slug":"25-january-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/2015\/01\/25\/25-january-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"25 January 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whew! What a busy, busy week we\u2019ve had! Freezing temperatures early in the week followed by a light dusting of snow on Tuesday evening. And then more mud. And then more freezing temperatures. And then a bit more mud followed by some more freezing \u2013 you get the picture.<\/p>\n

\"nicks_birthday\"Tuesday was Nick\u2019s 40th birthday and Ms Playchute and I were kindly invited to join them for lunch at Restaurant 23<\/a> in Leamington which was outstanding. I had no idea there was such a fabulous dining establishment in such close proximity.<\/p>\n

Following a stunningly delicious meal we collected Annabelle from pre-school and retired to their place for a Spiderman-themed birthday party which Bubble had been keen to help organise. There was a Spiderman cake and jelly and a couple of renditions of Pass the Parcel. A lovely day and a lovely birthday celebration all round. How did I reach the point where I have not one, but two sons in their 40s?<\/p>\n

On Thursday Ms Playchute and I enjoyed a day of leisure and culture \u2013 we spent the day up in town visiting a variety of museums and exhibitions \u2013 no particular reason, just because we could!<\/p>\n

\"balke\"<\/a>We started with the Peder Balke exhibition at the National Gallery<\/a>, which had been recommended by a friend. Balke was a 19th century Scandinavian painter who was one of the first to visit the vast, untrodden plains of the North Cape where he was overwhelmed, apparently, by \u201copulent beauties of nature and locations delivered to the eye and the mind.\u201d There were a number of stormy seas and cold, cold landscapes with wonderful use of light but, on the whole, I have to say it left me a little bit \u201ccold\u201d if you will.<\/p>\n

From there we made our way to the Natural History Museum for this year\u2019s Wildlife Photographer of the Year<\/a> competition. This is an exhibition I\u2019ve been to for the last five or six years, often in the company of our favourite former UN diplomat, Jordan Ryan. This year, though, it was just Ms Playchute and I and it was every bit as enjoyable as always even if I didn\u2019t feel there were as many jaw-droppingly sensational photographs as in some previous years. I felt there was a lot more digital manipulation in the winning photographs this year demonstrating, I suppose, the evolution of photography into a legitimate art form in its own right (not that it wasn\u2019t an art form before). Some of my favourites . . .<\/p>\n

\"wildlife_photography_01\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_02\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_03\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_04\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_05\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_06\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_07\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_08\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_09\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_10\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"wildlife_photography_11\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

After lunch we made our way to the Sir John Soane museum<\/a> in Lincoln\u2019s Field which was an absolute little gem. From Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

Sir John Soane RA (10 September 1753 \u2013 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and an official architect to the Office of Works. He received a knighthood in 1831.<\/em><\/p>\n

His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources. The influence of his work, coming at the end of the Georgian era, was swamped by the revival styles of the 19th century. It was not until the late 19th century that the influence of Sir John’s architecture was widely felt.<\/em><\/p>\n

His best-known work was the Bank of England (his work there is largely destroyed), a building which had a widespread effect on commercial architecture. He also designed Dulwich Picture Gallery, which, with its top-lit galleries, was a major influence on the planning of subsequent art galleries and museums. His main legacy is Sir John Soane’s Museum, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. The museum comprises his former home and office, designed to display the art works and architectural artefacts that he collected during his lifetime, and described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as ‘one of the most complex, intricate, and ingenious series of interiors ever conceived’.<\/em><\/p>\n

I knew nothing about him before we went and was utterly unprepared for the collection of art and artefacts displayed in what was his former home and office. There were a lot of plaster casts and a variety of antiquities cluttered all over the place which I probably could have done without but in the Picture Room there were some paintings which were simply stunning, including the original eight paintings by Hogarth of the Rake\u2019s Progress<\/a> as well as the four paintings in the Election series<\/a>, not to mention three stunning Caneletto\u2019s depicting various views of Venice.<\/p>\n