Trip Review-Day 6 Music in London

The afternoon of the sixth day was Sunday and there was a St. Patrick's Day celebration at Trafalgar Square.  Some Irish rock and folk bands were playing at Trafalgar.  I came upon them on my way back one last time to the National Gallery.  There were quite a few people listening to the music and having some refreshments.  

Later that evening we had tickets to the Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall.  The Classical Spectacular was the Royal Philharmonic with the Welsh Guard Band and a choral group playing and singing with laser beams synchronized to the music.  They played Italian opera, British patriotic songs( with a sing a long and flags waving )and ended with cannon fire and the 1812 Overture.  It was our last night in London.

Trip Review-Day 6 Courtauld Institute and Manet

After the Globe Theater tour, we had to walk across the Millenium Bridge and down the Thames walkway to the Courtauld Institute.  I felt a little bad because it was windy and rainy and some of the group were older and slower walkers, but this was our path.  

For me this was one of the highlights of the entire trip and a painting that I had been waiting to see since 1975.   Edouard Manet painted this masterpiece and it was one of  his last great works before his all too early death in 1883.  The painting is all about Manet's finesse as a painter.  The Courtauld Institute had been closed and had moved and on other trips it was not possible for me to see this painting.  It was like greeting an old friend.

Trip Review-Day 6 Globe theater tour

We started out the morning of Day 6 with a short bus trip to the reconstructed Globe Theater.  An American film director, Sam Wanamaker started a foundation to recreate the Globe in 1970 and finally in 1997, the Globe was brought back to life.

We had an outstanding tour with views of the theater and exhibits inside that showed Shakespeare's time in London and costumes and props and how hard they work to keep everything authentic.

It functions now like a summer stock theater and has open auditions in the off season.  There is a comprehensive website at: www.shakespeares-globe.org.  Our students went to a production of "Much Ado About Nothing".

Trip Review-Day 5 Lunch in Salisbury

After a leisurely tour of the Salisbury Cathedral, our group

had the opportunity to explore the city of Salisbury for a few hours.  

We weren't sure what to expect, but by this old city gate you can see that there was the possibility of some charm.  We found a sports bar preparing for a national rugby match between England and Ireland so things heated up in the pub.

Trip Review-Day 5 Salisbury Cathedral

After the morning at Stonehenge, our bus took us to Salisbury Cathedral in the city of Salisbury.  They are celebrating the 750th year of the building of the church.  They also house the best preserved copy of the Magna Carta.

There was a children's choir singing when we walked into the nave.   I bought a cupcake from the bake sale in the cloisters and gave it to Dyani for her birthday.  

This church was also the inspiration for the great Romantic painter John Constable.

Winnie and Jenna are standing outside the church.

Trip Review-Day 5 Stonehenge

On Day 5, we had a bus trip to Stonehenge.  I had always wanted to see this site.  I wasn't expecting much, but was happy about how close you can get to the stones and how nice the setting has been maintained.  I had seen some photos of Stonehenge over the years and Matt had told me that you couldn't get very close and it was crowded.  I thought it was well worth the pilgrimage.  Here is a shot of the entire 2008 Bukowski Art Army from the London/Paris trip.

Trip Review- Day 4 The British Museum

Day 4- The Bukowski Art Army and the British Museum.   The British Museum is the most popular attraction in London, hard to believe, but that is what the recent guide books say.  Our hotel was about 2 blocks from the entrance to the British Museum.  What a great place to see world history!  We started with the Elgin Marbles and enjoyed the great Greek sculpture without crowds.  Actually we also made it through the Assyrian relief sculptures without any trouble, but the Egyptian works were a nightmare!  The crowds were unbelievable!  First we looked at the Rosetta Stone and the noise and crowds were like the subway at rush hour.  We also tried the second floor for Egyptian, but it was completely at a standstill- like cars on the interstate stopped.  It is a free event, so everyone in London seemed to be at the Egyptian exhibitions.  Still we enjoyed what we could.

Later that day our students went to a production at the Globe Theater- Much Ado About Nothing and a group of adults went to Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

Trip Review-Supper Day 3.

Later that day, we needed to eat and there was a pub right out of the door of our hotel in the Bloomsbury neighborhood near the British Museum.   We had the famous fish and chips and some English ale.  Kevin was pretty excited, and Gail made a new friend.

Trip Review- Day 3 in London

If you count the day we flew out, it was day 3 and we walked to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square.  With 35 travelers, it is never easy to walk the busy streets of London, but the group had spirit and will and we made it in about 45 minutes.  The National Gallery is one of the best museums in the world for European painting.  We started with Piero della Francesca and Jan Van Eyck and ended with Seurat.  After the museum there was some time in the afternoon for exploring and these pictures show some of the group in Piccadilly Circus and the neighborhood around the museum.  It was a little rainy, but souvenir shops have a way of brightening up the day for some people.  We had coffee at Cafe Nero and eventually went back to the hotel to look for supper.

Trip Review-Art Army in London

The Bukowski Art Army headed to London on

March 11 for a campaign of personal enrichment.

35 travelers became the newest inductees into the rigors of intellectual and physical exercise.

We landed on March 12 and went directly to 

Westminster Abbey, then a boat trip on the Thames and finally the Tate Modern before check in.   ha.

Jenna and Art Amy leader Bill Bukowski

Art for Lent: Isenheim Crucifixion

One of the most significant pilgrimages of the Art Army in the last five years, Luke, Pete, Nic and Jeff made it to Colmar, France in 2004 to see the Isenheim altarpiece. One of the most powerful and gruesome crucifixion images ever painted, this painting by Matthias Grunewald was completed in 1515.  It marked the first time any member of the Bukowski Art Army had seen this painting in person. During this Holy Week, it is a time to reflect through this art the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Italy Song

"Mock Vasari, but praise Botticelli when we're at the Uffizi!" This rock anthem written by Luke Ulrich and performed by Squirrel Master, was inspired by the 2003 Italy tour. The music video, along with the charged lyrics give an inside look at what it takes to make it in the Bukowski Art Army. "Let's go paint a fresco, Drink some Pinot Grigio...."

Art for Lent: Donatello's Mary Magdalene

During this season of Lent, it seems fitting to go into the Bukowski Art Army Film Archive to find this clip of Theologian Luke Ulrich talking about Donatello's Mary Magdalene. Shot on location at the Doumo Museum in Florence,  Luke talks about how Mary is "wretched" and "ravaged by sin." 

Art Army to go to London today!

The Bukowski Art Army is loading up at 3:30 today to fly to London and eventually end in Paris by March 21.  We have 35 travelers meeting in Minneapolis today to catch the 7:40 to London.  The class is called: Masterpieces of the Western Tradition and they are hungry for art!

This picture is of Jenna from an earlier trip.  This photo represents the spirit of travel, and let's hope the weather is decent.

Dallas and Fort Worth- On the road with Bill and Sherri.

The College Art Association meetings were in Dallas this spring and it gave me the opportunity to visit some of the art museums in the area.   The Kimble museum is a fantastic gem of a museum in Fort Worth.  The picture features the Velasquez portrait and the early Caravaggio card players.

The Kimble has all of your favorite artists in place where you wouldn't expect it.  Sherri is standing in the classical entryway of the Kimble museum.  The other picture is the lobby of the Dallas Museum of Art.  They have jazz nights on Thursdays so we enjoyed dinner and music after the incredible Turner show.