The National Portrait Gallery

It started out a beautiful day, so on my way to meet my lovely friends, Saskia and Esther and Master Josiah at the Portrait Gallery, I thought I would wander through Trafalgar Square.

There is something about the architecture and the statues and the fountains that I just love.  There is always a special piece of art in the square and at the moment there is a giant blue rooster which I think fits in perfectly with its surrounds!

The sun in London always brings out the nudist in the Brits.  The minute the clouds part people immediately lay on the closest piece of grass and get their gear off. 

Just around the corner from Trafalgar Square is the National Portrait Gallery.  It houses portraits from way back to the Tudor era to contemporary pieces.  

Josiah wasn't that interested in the Tudors either!

I call this one on the right contemporary, but going by the amount of hair Will has, I'd say this was painted a few years back!

I love these types of paintings that are so meticulous with the detail that you have to get up quite close to check whether it's a photograph or a painting.  You could just read the information sheet next to the picture, sure, but the naked eye doesn't lie.

This chap was the chap who invented the thing that measured CFC's in the atmosphere!

Then you get the type of art that you have to question is it really art and really, if given a pencil and a bit of paper, could I maybe do that? 

 I think the answer is simply that I didn't do it and somebody else did, therefore...... I don't know, it is still art?

This one - just plain creepy.  I'll let you read the information sheet for yourself.

I must say, besides the use of the artists own blood and scribble, I do prefer the newer stuff.  I like to have at least heard of the person that I'm looking at or if not, that they be from this century.  One year I went and there was a 30 minute video of David Beckham asleep that just looped around. 

 It was mesmerising! 

And just like Becks..... Josiah slept through the whole thing!

Here's an oldy, but a goody...... it's Shelley and...... Shelley!

All this amazing stuff and Esther preferred to watch her sleeping baby!

When we came out of the gallery the skies had turned grey and wet and so we sought the shelter of the underground cafe.  How cool is this building?

And here we met up with Angela, ate cake and drank tea, like civilised people!