See Matisse's 'The Snail'

Completed by Henri Matisse in 1953, 'The Snail' is a collage, created by the artist using gouache paint on pieces of paper, which were then cut and pasted onto paper mounted on canvas.


We are told that Matisse created the piece at the Hotel Regina in Cimiez, Nice, and the date places its creation at the very end of his life, when he was more than 80 years old. At this stage of his life, Matisse was confined to a wheelchair and had stopped painting altogether, instead producing these cutouts with the aid of assistants. 'The Snail' is part of the Tate's permanent collection and can be seen in the Henri Matisse and Bridget Riley room on Level 4 at the Tate Modern.

For more, see http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/matisse-the-snail-t00540

_{^Picture © appelogen.be used under a Creative Commons license^}

See the London Bridge City Sculpture Exhibition

Situated alongside the Thames in front of Cottons Centre, close to Hay's Galleria, London Bridge City Sculpture Exhibition 2011-12 brings eight sculptures by established artists to the riverside.


The eight colourful sculptures use various media, including cast iron, galvanised steel, fibreglass and cold cast bronze and are designed by artists Jilly Sutton, Michael Lyons, Charles Hadcock, Martin Griffiths, Oliver Barratt and Sheila Vollmer.

For more, see http://www.rbsdevelopment.co.uk/events/london-bridge-city-sculpture

Embrace the Cultural Olympiad

There are now only nine days left of the Cultural Olympiad, or London 2012 Festival, or whatever it's called, and though you might have forgotten all about it there are still plenty of events on, especially if you're into the arts.


Plenty of events are on offer, from sporty-art ones like BT Road to 2012 at the National Portrait Gallery, to filmy ones like Helen Petts: Throw Them Up and Let Them Sing at the Royal Festival Hall, and multi-sensory ones like Maurice Orr's the Screaming Silence of the Wind in the Festival Village at the Southbank Centre. Sure London has great arts all the time but many of these are free, due to the unique way the Olympics is over-funded.

For more, see http://festival.london2012.com/

See From Paris: A Taste for Impressionism at the Royal Academy

Your author spent a very pleasant couple of hours recently wandering 'From Paris: A Taste for Impressionism' at the Royal Academy. The ongoing exhibition brings together 65 paintings which were collected by Singer sewing machine heirs Sterling and Francine Clark, and now belong to the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts, USA.


The Clarks were knowledgeable and avid collectors, and weren't lacking in cash to indulge their interest, as can be seen in the numerous invoices from art dealers which accompany the exhibition, showing just how much they parted with in order to get their hands on the works of Manet, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Sisley and other great artists, which come together in this exhibition. But we should be thankful, for the result is an interesting snapshot of impressionism and the works that influenced it, which includes some very beautiful pieces. Thank goodness for sewing machines.

The exhibition continues until 23rd September. For more, see http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/from-paris-a-taste-for-impressionism/

Learn about Brazil's Olympic future

It's only 1,453 days to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and last night the baton was firmly passed to the South American city, with a memorable flourish. If you're keen to understand what Brazil and Rio have to offer without leaving London, then you're in luck as Somerset House hosts Casa Brazil until 8th September, with a showcase of Brazilian art and culture.


Your author popped into the Embankment Galleries yesterday and, apart from a big clock and a shop already selling Rio Olympic tat, was impressed by exhibitions on Brazilian art and design, and also on the Olympic plans for the city, where you can learn about the work that has already taken place to prepare for the Games.

For more, see http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/casa-brasil

See Paolozzi's Newton at the British Library

In the gardens at the front of the British Library a hunched-over statue sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi can be seen on a plinth, making mathematical examinations.


Installed in 1995, the hunched sculpture is based on William Blake's 1795 print Newton. In the print, Isaac Newton crouches naked a rock covered with algae, seemingly on the seabed.

For more, see http://www.newton.ac.uk/art/paolozzi.html

See Sir John Soane's Hogarth collection

The Sir John Soane Museum at Lincolns Inn Fields is a treasure trove of items, and among the most celebrated are the ones that hang in the picture room at the rear, Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress and An Election.


Over a number of pictures, the two collections tell two stories, firstly in A Rake’s Progress that of Tom Rakewell, a man who becomes consumed by a life of vice and self-destruction after inheriting vast wealth from his miserly father, and secondly in An Election, the story of an Oxfordshire contest at the General Election of 1754, which was mired in controversy. Best of all, you can view them for free right in the centre of London.

For more see here for A Rake's Progress and here for An Election.

_{^Picture © Copyright R Sones and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence.^}

Attend Late Shift at the National Portrait Gallery

Your author is a big fan of late openings at our museums and galleries, and tonight, as every Thursday and Friday night, the National Portrait Gallery is holding Late Shift, a chance to wander round after work and enjoy the gallery in a more informal setting.


Tonight, we are told to expect poetry readings in Memory of Lucian Freud, and guest DJ Edward Otchere, whereas tomorrow night, Draw the Line offers us an opportunity to take part in a life drawing class led by Sophie de Stempel, one of Freud's former models, and various other drawing-related activities.

For more, see http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/lateshift/late_shift_home.php

Book a London at Dawn Photography Tour

One morning last month, your author rose at an ungodly hour to spend some time at the invitation of professional photographer Anthony Epes and black cabbie & certified tour guide Nick Mortimore touring the City of London. Joined by a small but determined ragbag team of London writers and journalists, it was an interesting way to observe the City as it woke to face another day.


Unlike many such things, the tour was both interesting and rewarding, with Mortimore a very knowledgeable London guide with plenty of information and London insight - gleaned from 25 years driving London's streets from North to South - and Epes brimming over with photography skills. The tour left Tower Pier and made its way up past the Tower of London and on into the City, past Bevis Marks and the Gherkin, and off towards Spitalfields before your author had to break away to bike into work.

Yes, the tours are expensive, and yes you have to get up whilst it's still dark and travel across London as the birds are only just beginning to stir, but seeing London in the early morning is a great experience, and often motivating oneself to do so needs a reason, so it helps to have the passion and interest that Mortimore and Epes offer in bags.

For more on their tours, see http://www.londonatdawn.com/

See the Brune Street Panels

Funded by the City Fringe Partnership and designed by artists Meena Thakor and Kinsi Abdulleh, the Brune Street Panels were added to the walls in Brune Street opposite the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in 1998.


The panels reflect the vibrant history of the local area, with a particular focus on the Jewish cultural influences in the street and surrounding neighbourhood. The former soup kitchen opposite was established to feed the Jewish poor in nearby Leman Street in 1854, and and relocated to the street, Butler Street in 1902. We are told that even in the 1950s it was still regularly feeding 1500 clients, and continued until 1992, when it merged with Jewish Care in Beaumont Grove. Today it is, as readers might expect, a block of flats.

For more, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiredoflondon/sets/72157629884778427/

See Alexander's Jubilee Oracle

One of a number of pieces of art on the South Bank, Alexander's Jubilee Oracle dates from 1980 and is a bronze sculpture found on the walkway between the Royal Festival Hall and the London Eye.


The Oracle stands on a plith, inscribed with a quote from the artist, reading 'Mankind is capable of an awareness that is outside the range of everyday life. My monumental sculptures are created to communicate with that awareness in a way similar to classical music. Just as most symphonies are not intended to be descriptive, so these works do not represent figures or objects'.

For more, see http://www.southbanklondon.com/walkthisway/SculptureStroll.html

Attend a late opening at the Guildhall Art Gallery

Your author is dashing off this evening for the 18:20 to Manchester Piccadilly, and is sad to be missing what sounds like a brilliant evening at the Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London this evening inspired by the current exhibition entitled "Age of Elegance: 1890 - 1930".


In a departure from the usual City of London Corporation style, the gallery will host a pop-up cocktail bar, big band music and costumed dancers from The London Swing Dance Society. There will also be readings from P.G. Wodehouse and some suitable1920s entertainment, as well as Jazz Age verse from the Keats House Poetry Ambassadors.

For more, see http://www.guildhallartgallery.cityoflondon.gov.uk/GAG/Learning/Late+Views.htm

_{^Picture © Copyright Basher Eyre, used under a Creative Commons Licence^}

See Seurat's Bathers at Asnières

Apparently composed from a number of smaller studies of individual figures, Seurat's Bathers at Asnières shows people swimming on an attractive section of the River Seine in what is now an industrial suburb of Paris.


The large piece was painted using oil on canvas and completed by Seurat in 1884, when he was just twenty-four years old. It now hangs in room 44 of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathers_at_Asni%C3%A8res

_{^Picture © artelista used under Creative Commons^}

See David Shrigley's Brain Activity

Your author popped in to see the Hayward's latest exhibition last weekend, showcasing the work of Glasgow-born artist David Shrigley. We are told that this is Shrigley's first major survey show, and combines old favorites with fresh Shrigley works in all mediums.


Shrigley's witty works have long been a favourite of your author, and the only problem with the exhibition is all the people that are there, when Shrigley is the sort of artist that everyone always assumes they are the only one who has discovered.

For more, see http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/david-shrigley

_{^Picture © atomicjeep used under Creative Commons^}

Have coffee and cake at the Ragged Canteen

A pleasant space for tea and a snack before tackling the art upstairs, the Ragged Canteen is part of Beaconsfield gallery in Lambeth and takes its name from the former Lambeth Ragged School in which the centre is based.


Open on weekends from 11am – 4pm during exhibition periods, it's a very cosy and relaxed place, which is only ever a problem when it comes to ordering or trying to pay your bill.

For more, see http://beaconsfield.ltd.uk/cafe/

See the Salamanca Street Ceramics

Echoing the history of an area once dominated by the Doulton and various other potteries, ceramic tiles dot the walls beneath the bridge on Salamanca Street in Lambeth.


Whilst Doulton's grand headquarters was in Black Prince Road, the company once had potteries and kilns dotted around North Lambeth, centred around Salamanca Street, and the tiles designed by Duncan Hooson, Ali Samiel, Janet James, Sue Edkins and others provide an echo of this golden age of London ceramics. They are complemented by mosaics of a pedlar and a Spanish flamenco dancer.

For more information, see http://www.southbankmosaics.com/content/walk/salamanca.php

See the Landscape Photographer of the Year exhibition

Now showing at the National Theatre is a collection of around a hundred of the best landscape photographs of 2011, in a competition designed to pick the best in the UK.


The exhibition began on 5th December 2011, and the winners have already been announced, but due to popular demand the exhibition has now been extended until 19th February.

For more information, see http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=67845

_{^Picture © Christine Matthews and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons license^}

See Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses

Your author believes that free art is the mark of a civilised society. Anyone can walk into London's best galleries, for free, and see some of the greatest works of art mankind has ever created, and this is surely a social good of which our great grandparents would have approved.


Wheat Field with Cypresses is actually a series of three similar pieces of art, painted by Vincent Van Gogh during his stay at the St-Rémy mental asylum, near Arle in France, in 1889. The National Gallery holds a September 1889 version and exhibits it every day, for free. It can be found in Room 45, on Level 2 of the Gallery.

For more information, see http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-a-wheatfield-with-cypresses

_{^Picture from Wikimedia Commons^}

See the William Morris exhibition at Two Temple Place

London's newest art venue opened in October, and Two Temple Place beside the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge plans to host free exhibitions in its gallery space indefinitely. The current exhibition William Morris: Story, Memory, Myth lasts until late January.


We are told that the exhibition explores how William Morris told stories through pattern and poetry, and returned to the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Norse saga, Arthurian legend and Greek myth throughout his artistic career.

For more, see http://www.twotempleplace.org/exhibitions.html

_{^Picture © Duncan~ used under Creative Commons^}

Find Andrew Burton's Chimney

Rising unexpectedly from the grass around Westferry Circus, Andrew Burton's Chimney is part of a series of brickworks inspired by the artist's travels in India and brought to the Canary Wharf area in 2008.


Burton uses miniature clay bricks, and collaborated with artists in India, Korea and the Netherlands in order to produce the pieces, and Chimney is said to echo not only the temples, palaces and brick works he visited, but also western factory chimneys, the minarets of the Taj Mahal and India’s tallest brick minaret at the Qutub Minar near Delhi.

For more, see http://www.wharf.co.uk/art4.html