Home again, home again…

Of course, after two cold weeks in the countryside, when a bit of warmth would have been welcome – the day we left was one of the hottest of the year. We went to Crosby first, to see Another Place – and, as it was a Saturday, half the population of Lancashire was also heading for the coast. Still, we got there, found somewhere to park with a view of the sea, I took some photos [good] did some drawings [bad], resisted the temptation to have an ice-cream – and still got to Liverpool in time to check in to the hotel and take a tour bus round the city – one of our naff pleasures in cities we don’t know.

Of course Sunday was even hotter – but although we had tickets booked for the Picasso exhibition, there was time to take a leisurely stroll along the riverside and take photos of people [for the life drawing session I missed ] and reflections [because they were amazing].

The Picasso exhibition was also amazing. Almost all the work was new to me – even the paintings after Delacroix, Velasquez and Manet, although we’d seen some of the series at the National Gallery last summer. [I think this reflects Picasso’s prolific work rate as much as my ignorance – at least, I like to think so!]

The exhibition and the accompanying book set the work in it's political contest, which was particularly interesting, especially as we could remember some of the events. And of course, as usual, I was blown away by his drawing – to the extent that I bought a [children’s] book on how to draw like Picasso …

Having located the Walker Art Gallery on our bus ride, after lunch we visited an exhibition there, which I’d read about somewhere – ‘The Rise of Women Artists’. I swore to Wensleydale that until we arrived I didn’t know it included embroidery – and it was true, because I hadn’t read the details on the web page properly [not for the first time ...]

This exhibition was as good, in a different way, as the Picasso.  This flickr set gives you a flavour, although unfortunately the art is unattributed, and there was no catalogue and relatively few postcards. Well worth a visit – and the cafe is OK although the woman serving wasn’t.

Unfortunately we didn’t have the energy to tackle the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition as well. I think you could spend an entire day at the Walker, there is so much to see.

Good to be home after all that culture – and back to college tomorrow to try to catch up on what I’ve missed …