Thanks for all the kind words about my Blyton collection everyone, even if it isn't a patch on Tony or Robert's massive hoards! [
See the thread 'My Enid Blyton Bookcase!']
When I was up in London recently I too went to the National Gallery (for the first time, incredibly). "Bathers at Asnières" is one of my favourite paintings and I had no idea they had it in their collection. It was absolutely thrilling to walk round a corner and see it looming up in the distance. It's massive! (I got the same pleasure at seeing Stubbs' "Whistlejacket" too). They also had some of Seurat's sketches and studies for "La Grande Jatte" as well, and I didn't realise until then, that they were painted to complement each other either.
The National Gallery really has a fantastic collection, including some extremely famous paintings that I didn't know they had. Constable's "Hay Wain", Van Gogh's "Sunflowers", "The Arnolfini Marriage", Holbein's "Ambassadors". The one painter who really impressed me though was Canaletto. There were a couple of pictures of Venice that were absolutely stunning.
My absolute favourite painting though was Renoir's The Skiff (La Yole):
I couldn't get over the fact that when you stood close up to it, it was just a blur of colour, but from a distance it looks almost photographic. Incredible technique.
"Stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence like poor Julian in the Famous Five!"
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