Fountain full of Lions

Today was meant to be a Tate Modern Extravaganza.... and it was. But I spontaneously decided to include the National Gallery in it as well. My feet still hurt, it was so awesome.

The lion head from the monument in Trafalgar Square. People climb all over them, so one must be quick if you want person free picture.

That is the national gallery in the back there behind the lion. This is the Tate Modern gallery.

The Tate Modern used to be a power plant, it was built soon after World War II had finished. It reminds me of the architectural style of Metropolis. Its an interesting building that is oddly suited for the displays inside.

The inside of the building. I could not take many pictures inside of the Tate Modern, as they did not allow for flash photography and my camera is married to the damn flash (I have tried everything I can think of to turn the flash off, and it will still flash). But I was able to sneak these ones in.

It hung from the ceiling, and was made of a net vinyl mesh. Can not remember the artist's name though. Was honestly one of my favorite displays.

One of Picasso's paintings. There were so many different displays in many different forms of media, including many video displays. The one where a Frenchman was insistent on dissecting seahorses kind of freaked me out (it starts off like a nature film, then when he starts talking about how the male gives birth he decides to show you the pouch from the inside). There things I did not get, but it did get thinking about art as whole. I think that is whole point of something like the Tate Modern.

I was able to book it over to the National Portrait Gallery, sadly no photography allowed, but I was lucky enough to be able to see some amazing pieces by Degas, and Van Gogh. They had Sunflowers by Van Gogh, one of my favorite paintings. You could see the brush strokes  he used. It nearly brought me to tears. They also had an extensive Renaissance gallery that included a Da Vinci cartoon. It is more art than can be taken in in a life time.

It is a blessing to have been able to lay eyes upon works of art I have only ever seen books, or to think of art in a completely new way. As much as I am ready to go home, I am going to miss this city.

Until Next time...