My Artsy Side

Today I went to Apsley House which has been home to the Duke of Wellington since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The first Duke of Wellington was the one who led the victory against Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo, and frankly you can't escape him in this city. He was thought of as a god because of his leadership and defeat of that big (not height-wise of course) tyrant guy you may have heard of. Weirdly enough, Apsley House is full of statues, paintings, and other reminders of Napoleon. Either the first Duke of Wellington had a secret crush on the guy he defeated or his friends wanted to surround him with reminders that he was more powerful than the formerly most powerful emperor in Europe. Anyway, the house was donated to the Crown in 1949 when the seventh Duke of Wellington realized that they didn't have the money to live in it and keep it up. The current and eighth Duke of Wellington still lives in it I believe, but mostly it serves as a museum with a huge collection of fine paintings, some by famous artists, some copies of famous works, and others by people I've never heard of, but that were pretty none the less. The most painting there is The Waterseller of Seville by Velazquez (I know, him again). However, unlike Velazquez's Venus painting at the National Gallery which didn't float my boat, this painting did...perhaps it was the water. I had thought it was pretty cool ever since I studied it in my art history class I took freshman year (gasp! I know! I'm just like my mother! Except that is the only art history class I will take...not including the mandatory one I'm taking now). Anyway, if you don't know this painting, look it up and you will see an older guy giving a young boy a glass of water, but in the background, there's this shadowy, ominous third guy that people like to argue over and debate what the hell he represents and why he's there and such. Mostly, I find him interesting because he is looking directly at the viewer in this accusing way which I think is interesting because the two main guys aren't making eye contact with us or with each other. So although we can barely see this third guy, he is the one who draws us in. Aren't you proud, Mom?

However, my favorite piece of art in the house was this giant statue of Napoleon. I couldn't take pictures in the house, so the picture I've included is from Wikipedia, but there was no way to describe this imposing statue without a visual. When I first walked into the vestibule at the bottom of the stairs, I wasn't really paying attention and I nearly jumped when I noticed this huge statue. Napoleon commissioned it (because his ego could always use one more statue of himself), but by the time it was finished, he was on the verge of losing his empire. He didn't like the way the statue portrayed him because he thought it didn't look calm enough. The most interesting part though is the orb in his hand. No one knows if it victory turning away from him or if it is peace turning her back on him. Either way, not good. I liked it because you could admire it from every angle as you made your way up the stairs. Sadly, there was no postcard of it either. I have been collecting postcards of my favorite works of art from museums I've been to and I was disappointed there wasn't one of Mr. Ego in the stairwell.

So ends my artsy ramble. I really like going to grand houses (in case you hadn't noticed) and looking at the impressive ceilings, chandeliers, staircases and art. After Apsley House, I walked to Harrods and walked around the food hall looking longingly at all the chocolate and pastries. Then I stopped at a charity shop and got some books. I really like the charity shops here because, besides having cheap books, they have clothes and shoes and other random things that you don't need, but really want. The best thing I've bought at a charity shop was on the Isle of Wight and was this ridiculous painting of a cat (very 50s according to my mom who was lucky enough to get a viewing of it via Skype). I love it. After that, I just wandered around heading in the general direction of my flat. This led me, quite accidentally, past the Anglesea Arms, which is the pub known to be the haunt of one Hugh Grant. Alas, I did not see him, but now that I know where it is, we might go. This weekend is going to be relaxed as we have no trips planned, but this will allow me to explore some of London. Perhaps I will go up to Camden Market tomorrow. The possibilities are endless. :)