Let's make this Easter Sunday Special!!! To start; let's visit Tate Britain and view the great re-hang of it's permanent galleries...
They say: Tate Britain opens a complete rehang of the world’s greatest collection of British art, the first time in ten years that the gallery’s free displays have been presented anew. Visitors can now discover over 800 works by over 350 artists spanning six centuries. Much-loved and iconic works – from John Everett Millais’ Ophelia and David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash to Barbara Hepworth’s Pelagos and Chris Ofili’s No Woman, No Cry – are joined by a host of new discoveries and additions. Reflecting the growing diversity of Tate’s collection, the displays feature 200 works which were acquired after the millennium. These include 70 works which entered the collection in the past 5 years alone, from grand Tudor portraits to contemporary installations.
The rehung galleries are laid out chronologically, from the 1500s to the present day, and each room has a distinct wall colour, title and theme. They explore art in its social context, revealing how artists responded to the cultural, political, economic and technological changes they lived through. These include the rise of the urban metropolis in the era of Hogarth, the Pre-Raphaelites’ quest for beauty amid the industrial revolution, the place of abstract art in Britain’s post-war reconstruction, and the impact of celebrity culture on the 1990s art scene. Visitors can also enjoy a career-spanning display of 100 works by JMW Turner, rooms devoted to key historic figures like William Blake, John Constable and Henry Moore, and a series of regularly changing solo displays to celebrate ground-breaking artists like Annie Swynnerton, Aubrey Williams and Zineb Sedira.
The relationship between British art and the wider world is a key theme throughout the rehang. Reflecting the internationalism of Britain’s history and its multicultural present, many of the artists on display were born outside the UK, from Rubens, Van Dyck and Canaletto to Frank Bowling, Paula Rego and Mohammed Sami. The rehang also better reflects the contribution of women artists, from Britain’s earliest professional female painters like Joan Carlile and Mary Beale, to modern masters like Gwen John and Ithell Colquhoun. Half of the living artists on display are women, including Turner Prize winners such as Rachel Whiteread and Lubaina Himid, alongside a new generation of artists like Rachel Jones and Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. I will lead us and we'll fit in as many as we can.
After this, we'll take a scenic riverside stroll along the Embankment to the: The Civil Service Club in Great Scotland Yard which is a unique organisation in a special building at the historic heart of government in Whitehall. Upon her accession to the throne in 1952, Her Majesty The Queen made the premises available to the Club to provide 'a social facility within the reach of all.’ Today the Club is thriving as never before, with more than 12,000 members and a mission true to its original founding.
I am a member and I have booked tables for us. Therefore, it is important to keep your RSVP up to date, especially if there's a waiting list. Our tables are booked for 17:00 hrs.
They do a very reasonable Sunday Roast Dinner £9.00 - £10.00
Here's a link to view the menu:
https://www.civilserviceclub.org.uk/getmedia/4cb4fbfb-43c4-4bdb-9cbb-ff06d1a2163d/Sunday_Menu_2023.aspx
If you want, you can stick to the regular menu:
https://www.civilserviceclub.org.uk/Bar_Menu_Jan_24.aspx
Drinks are reasonably priced too...
I will meet you at the exit of Pimlico Tube Station.
The Meetup fee for this event is £4.00 – which is payable on the day.
If you do not see us please call/text me on: 0739 623 3874 – text is best! - psssst! Don't forget to say your name in the message.
However, before sending any message please check the site in case I have added an update. We will only wait for 10 minutes and I cannot take calls thereafter.
Hope to see lots of you there :)
NB. As usual there will be others coming along from my other Meetup family ;)