"Saved!" - art exhibit opened by Queen
Lethal Injectn
"Queen tours art saved for nation:
The Queen has opened an exhibition of artworks which have been saved for the UK
instead of being shipped abroad.
She and the Duke of Edinburgh saw pieces such as Canova's The Three Graces and
Velazquez's Rokeby Venus, among some 400 artworks.
The Queen was particularly interested in a Michaelangelo chalk study, bought in
1926 for £600 and worth £15-20m.
The Saved! show at the Hayward Gallery in London also features works by
Picasso, Mondrian, Rodin and Titian.
It is dedicated to sculptures, paintings and treasures saved by the National
Art Collections Fund over the past 100 years.
The royal couple laughed and chatted as they were shown separately around the
exhibition, formed from a selection from 500,000 pieces now based in
collections around the UK.
Picasso's Weeping Woman and Botticelli's £10m masterpiece Virgin Adoring the
Sleeping Christ Child are on show.
But the exhibition also contains modern work such as Julian Opie's Pop Art
portrait of the band Blur and Anish Kapoor's large silver egg-shaped sculpture
entitled Turning The World Inside Out.
"[The Queen] was puzzled by some of the objects in the contemporary space,"
said David Barrie, director of the Art Fund.
"I'd better not say which ones, it was in a good-humoured way."
The Queen was also shown the last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots which
was composed just a few hours before her execution.
The script, dated 8 February 1587, is addressed to her brother-in-law King
Henry III of France.
"Tonight after dinner I have been advised of my sentence. I am to be executed
like a criminal at eight in the morning," it reads.
Saved! marks the reopening of the gallery following a revamp which includes a
new foyer extension and glass pavilion, as well as the Fund's centenary.
But some critics have questioned whether the Funds' work deprives people abroad
of the chance to enjoy some of the world's greatest art treasures."
================================
I hope Stephen will be able to see this and give us a personal report as it
sounds lovely. Photographs of the Canova and Velasquez pieces shown in the
article make me envy his opportunity. :)
stephenmead
"Lethal Injectn" <lethal...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031023002416...@mb-m12.aol.com...
OK I promise to report back to the group! But I can't go for at least a
week.
Stephen