August 26th – 31st, 2016

STRANGE SHORE: Bath and London, England.

SUNDRY LAND: United Kingdom

WANDERING WAY: The Holburne Museum, The Roman Baths, Victoria Art Gallery, and The National Portrait Gallery.

Apologies dear readers of “Strange and Sundry”! The sore throat that I developed in damp Bath exploded in a full-blown cold as soon as I alighted in London, and I’ve been busy coughing, consuming cold medicine, moaning, and blowing my nose for the last few days. Happily, I managed to drag myself out of bed, choke down some delicious avocado toast, and haul my arse to “The Southbank Centre” this morning. Quite a beautiful morning, in fact! I finally feel as if I might beat away this nasty virus just in time for September. Thank goodness.

Besides falling ill like a Regency-style damsel in distress, I did manage to wander around Bath. In this brief overview, you’ll be grateful to note that a blasted cold can't stop me from soaking up culture.

The Holburne Museum – “Stubbs and the Wild,” (http://www.holburne.org/events/stubbs-and-the-wild/?instance_id=9405):

If someone had told me that I’d enjoy an art exhibition devoted to the eighteenth-century naturalist/painter/horse-lover George Stubbs, I would’ve called that person a goddamned fantasist who didn’t know a painting from a playing card. Really, look at these happy, cutesy leopards – they kinda make me want to throw up:

How wrong-headed I was! Although Stubbs specializes in staid paintings of horses and other species, I learned about his signal contributions to natural science, such as his still-relevant horse anatomies that he perfected through years of medical study and creepy dissections. 

Plus, Stubbs worked with Josiah Wedgwood to advance enamel painting and production, as in the case of this enamel-on-ceramic.

To demonstrate the multifarious contributions of Stubbs to the arts and sciences, The Holburne Museum struck upon an ingenious idea for organizing this exhibition – the curators asked experts from different fields to comment on Stubbs’s paintings. In the audio guide, a veterinarian, horse behavioral specialist, biographer, sculptor, zookeeper, deer ranger, naturalist, Olympic gold medalist in dressage, enamel painter, and printmaking specialist all weighed in on Stubbs’s work. This multidisciplinary approach livened up the exhibition immeasurably – not only did I learn quite a bit about Stubbs’s working methods, but I picked up fascinating tidbits about animal behavior, which Stubbs (as it happens) recorded with humor as well as scientific precision.

If you’re interested in listening to illuminating remarks about George Stubbs (and who wouldn’t be?), check out these podcasts: (http://www.holburne.org/stubbs-and-the-wild-podcasts/). Who could’ve guessed the charm of a zookeeper? I had no idea. He made me laugh out loud in the middle of the gallery even as other patrons looked at me like I was crazy. (I probably am.) But really - what a funny guy! Moreover, my absolute favorite commentator was Carl Hester, the Olympic gold medalist in dressage, who spoke about “Horse Frightened by a Lion.”

Again, I discovered something essential – Olympic gold medalists in dressage are ridiculously engaging, possibly a little cracked, and quite thoughtful on the subject of horses’ thighs.  

The Roman Baths (http://www.romanbaths.co.uk):

I arrived at “The Roman Baths” first thing in the morning to avoid being trampled by tourists, and I’m so glad! Firstly, I had the opportunity to take marvelous pictures of Sulis Minerva, the goddess whom we’d all be praising for patronizing and blessing my journey across Europe (Odyssey-style) if anyone still believed in the Celtic and/or the Greco-Roman pantheon. AND THEN! The historical reenactors took especial notice of me, playing up their roles for my particular benefit. Woo hoo!

First! Salve, Sulis Minerva!

As I learned from another helpful audio guide, the ancient Romano-British inhabitants of Bath named the baths’ goddess Sulis Minerva because the authorities decided that it would be easier to associate the Celtic deity Sulis, traditionally “worshipped at the thermal spring of Bath,” with the Roman goddess Minerva instead of pissing off the Briton locals by ignoring their native traditions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulis). So yes, Sulis Minerva is a cross-cultural, double-for-your-money super-deity. Now there’s a tolerant solution to religious co-mingling and co-habitation – simply combine all the gods and goddesses from different religions together, and then call it day. We could learn a lot from the Romans.

And then this happened. A Roman Centurion and his slave had a jolly time making me laugh as part of the early morning bath-side entertainment. In this photo, I look rather dubious:

But by the time this photo was taken, I’m totally cracking up:

Also, I adore slaves who pay me the proper respect:

Victoria Art Gallery, (http://www.victoriagal.org.uk):

The Victoria Gallery offers an odd assortment of random Victorian junk, such a giant cabinets full of ugly china, porcelain, and ceramics:

However, the very coolest piece of old-timey ephemera was this coin-operated, clockwork-painter. Put it a coin, and see him paint. Painting’s easy! (If I ever figure out how to use Dropbox - unlikely - I’ll upload the relevant video of the machine in action.)

Moreover, the Victoria Art Gallery offered this bemusing exhibition devoted to recreating the interior decorating efforts of The Bloomsbury Group, particularly those of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant (http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/events/room-their-own-lost-bloomsbury-interiors-1914-30). Although the exhibition didn’t convince me that I need to redecorate, it did display Grant’s most famous portrait of Vanessa Bell (1918) that usually hangs at the National Portrait Gallery:

Here’s the wonderful result of this loan – when I visited the National Portrait Gallery in London a few days later (http://www.npg.org.uk), I got to see A DIFFERENT portrait that Grant painted of Bell (1917), which isn’t usually shown:

I love this portrait. Vanessa Bell looks totally annoyed – that’s precisely how I feel when people attempt to paint my portrait! Plus, she’s lounging in front of her impressive book collection – exactly as I am wont to do! Other than her unusual domestic arrangements with Clive Bell, Duncan Grant, and Roger Fry in their polyamorous love-nest in Charleston (http://www.charleston.org.uk), I’d say that Vanessa Bell and I might've had quite a bit in common if I'd been running around London a hundred years ago.

Whew, I've already made my way through an entire packet of Kleenex, and so my runny nose and I will return for a theatrical and artistic appraisal of London another day. Another day soon! Cheerio till then!