I went to the V&A to see:
"The Cult of Beauty - the Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900" (until 17th July) and curated by Stephen Calloway
When I read for my first degree at the Open University back in the mid- seventies, I studied the history of art and architecture from 1850 and for my dissertation I chose the work of Thomas Jeckyll, the Norwich based, architect and designer, then still largely unknown. (
Thomas Jeckyll by Susan Weber Soros and Catherine Arbuthnott wasn't published until 2003 to coincide with an exhibition in New York). So, I went today to rekindle my affection for his work which was simply stunning.
The exhibition as a whole is beautifully curated apart from the rather disappointing explanation of Whistler's Peacock Room (now extraordinarily at the Freer in Washington, DC) which TJ designed but Whistler refashioned as "Harmony in Blue and Gold".
and
"Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography" (until 17th July) and curated by Professor Tamar Garb and Martin Barnes
This exhibition represents the work of 17 South African photographers who have lived or worked there between 2000-2010.
I cannot recommend it strongly enough if only to see David Goldblatt's work again or the vibrancy of Jodi Bieber's female sitters in their own homes.
I then popped into the
V&A Dundee architectural competition - where they had the models from the final short-list. The Japanese-based architects Kengo Kuma and Associates were selected by an international jury as the winners back in November, 2010 "following an extensive process of consultation and evaluation, including meeting with all the architects
(120 applied) and their teams, visiting their existing buildings, and establishing the feasibility of the project to meet the tight timescales and budget." The model was absolutely stunning and when turned into reality will provide Dundee a cause celebre.
See:
http://kppa.co.jp
and finally, I checked to see what the museum had either purchased or been given recently and was greatly taken by a couple of Alexander McQueen dresses!!