When Turner died in 1851, he left the contents of his studio, nearly 300 oil paintings and 30,000 watercolours, to the nation he loved. Most are now in the Clore Gallery of Tate Britain. Please join us there as we take a fresh look at the painter described by his colleague and rival Constable as having “a Wonderful Range of Mind”.
It is sometimes easy to forget just how thrilling the work of Turner can be! Whether we witness a shipwreck, the burning of the Houses of Parliament, a train barrelling its way towards us at fifty miles an hour, or the ghostly image of a castle enshrouded in the morning mist, it is clear that Turner passionately wants us to be there sucked into a maelstrom of colour and light. What drove his range of subject matter? What was his take on this vibrant and sometimes terrifying period in English history, when the violence of the Napoleonic Wars gave way to other kinds of battle, between steam and sail, steam and horse, or a whale and the sea?
11.15 Meet at Manton entrance to Tate Britain.
1.15 Ends with optional lunch in White Swan pub nearby.
Cost: £80 members, £90 non-members
The medieval collection of the V&A is glorious: quite simply second to none in Europe. From its vast holdings, curators have selected enamels, metalwork, stained glass, ivories, sculpture, embroideries, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, and jewellery, for display in five galleries. We are led by the hand and eye of the artisan into the medieval worldview – into a rich world of colour and form as bright as when it was first created, of craftsmanship so superb it takes the breath away with its finesse –with rare vivacity and character of animals and foliage. Here are the punched peacocks of 7c. Anglo-Saxon earrings, the intricate writhings of the Gloucester Candlestick of the early 1100s, the dazzling Sion Gospels Book Cover of the 1140s, the richly-enamelled Becket Casket of the 1180s, superlative 13c crozier heads and a tabernacle like a miniature Romanesque church. We discuss the function these magnificent objects would have had in their time and culture as well as how their meanings relate to one another through some of the finest craftsmanship and artistry Europe has ever seen.
11.15 Meet in Exhibition Road Entrance of V&A.
1.15 Ends with optional lunch in Pierino Restaurant, South Kensington.
Cost: £80 members, £90 non-members.
At this dark damp time of year in London access to vibrant colour counts as a vital necessity as it alone can have an instantaneous uplifting effect on our spirits. Where better to go than to the galleries of the Courtauld Institute, where colour seems literally to pulsate from the walls. Looking at how artists ensure colour achieves its fullest effects, we take a morning journey to see it used and celebrated by artists from the medieval to the modern. Amongst several examples, we study small medieval devotional altarpieces where colour amplifies the already poignant message of the religious iconography. We see how Rubens uses colour to create swirling, passionate movement. We see colour in the hands of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, creating, not just light, and shadow, but rhythm, depth, emotional resonance, even the very interpretation of the image itself. We conclude the morning of study with the two 2025 commissions from the British visual artist Rachel Jones, whose vast and vibrant canvases pullulate with energy and movement, and enigmatic meaning.
11.15 Meet at entrance to Courtauld Institute Galleries on the Strand.
1.15 Morning ends with optional lunch in Boulevard Brasserie, Bow Street.
Cost: £80 members, £90 non-members for Friends of Courtauld or Art Fund Members, or £92 members, £102 non-members including entrance.
One of the most astonishing developments in the entire world of art museums has been the opening this year of the V&A Storehouse. In common with other great museums in the capital, the V&A cannot display all its holdings at its principal site in South Kensington. So a depôt has been established in a section of the 2012 Olympics site in Stratford, East London, holding more than 250,000 eclectic objects both very large and very small, 100 small curated exhibits, and 1,000 archives (the V&A collection includes around 2.8 million objects in total). Because the V&A’s collections span 5000 years of human creativity, the team at Storehouse cares for everything from the pins used to secure a 17th century ruff to a two-storey section of a maisonette flat from the Robin Hood Gardens housing estate, demolished in 2017. The sheer scale of Storehouse means it is now possible to see other huge artefacts, including The Kaufmann Office (the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside of the US) and the spectacular 15th-century gilded wooden ceiling from the now-lost Torrijos Palace in Toledo, Spain. We anticipate returning to the Storehouse in the future for many more Treasure Hunts!
11.15 Meet at main entrance V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East Storehouse, V&A, Parkes St, London E20 3AX.
The closest station, Hackney Wick, is an 8 minute walk to the Storehouse. Take a quick journey by Elizabeth Line to Stratford, change to Mildmay Line, go one stop and exit at Hackney Wick. Maps will be provided. There is a café in the building for coffee beforehand.
1.15 Morning ends with an optional lunch in an authentic family run Balkan restaurant, Burnt Umber Brasserie, just by the station. We regret that the number of participants is limited to twelve.
Cost: £80 members, £90 non-members.
Booking Information
These ‘Face to Face’ study days have been developed by Louise Friend and will be presented by Nicholas Friend. Cheques are not a viable option at this time. Instead, please make your payment to Friend&Friend Ltd by bank transfer to our account with Metrobank, bank sort code 23-05-80, account number 13291721 or via PayPal to nicholas@inscapetours.co.uk, or credit/debit card by phone to Henrietta on 07940 719 397. She is available by phone Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-5 pm.
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