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| Some reading material |
I thought I knew a fair bit about
John Ruskin (1819-1990) because of his connection with the
Pre-Raphaelites (he was a great supported of them), but I realised I'd never seen any of his art. So when the exhibition at
Two Temple Place was announced I was excited.
Two Temple Place is a gorgeous venue. I've been there once before shortly after it re-opened. I fell totally in love with it. Wood paneled walls, wonderful glass ceiling over the stairs and landing, and two lovely windows in the main hall - one each end. The house was built by William Waldorf Astor between 1892 and 1895 and is situated just off the Thames Embankment, close to Temple tube station. His son Waldorf married Nancy, the first lady to take a seat in parliament in 1919. I found out today that you can take a tour of the house some Sundays. I'll definitely go back for that!
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| Two Temple Place |
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| Ceiling over stairs and landing |
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| Landing |
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| Stairs |
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| The Great Hall |
And so on to the John Ruskin exhibition. Here is a collection of John Ruskin's own work as well as work he collected by others. I was quite taken aback by his drawings and paintings, in that they were so well executed. He exhibited great attention to detail. His great interest was architecture and he toured Italy making notes and sketches. He wrote several books and had an opinion of most things (some of which are very funny!). Ruskin was also a social thinker and was interested in literature and geology. He was a great believer in education. Ruskin also set up a museum in Sheffield in 1875. He felt that the working man needed beauty. Here was a place to see it, as well as in the surrounding countryside. Ruskin was doted on by his mother and married Effie Gray in 1848, but the marriage was never consummated and Effie later married John Everett Millais.
The exhibition is spread over the library, stairwell, hall and great hall and consists of paintings, sketches, sculpture, books and pottery. Also on show are early photos known as daguerreotypes (a process employing iodine-sensitized silver plate and mercury vapour) which Ruskin took. He used these images to refer to when he painted his pictures.
The exhibition is on until 22nd April and entrance is free! After you have enjoyed the art there is a lovely cafe serving refreshments, cakes and lunch.
On leaving the exhibition I walked towards Blackfriars Bridge, crossed over and wandered back to the station taking the back streets rather than along by the Thames. It's nice to explore somewhere different and I found a few photo opportunities.
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| Skyline - Blackfriars Bridge |
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| Blackfriars Station |
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