June 7th 2013

Sometimes I write quite long blogs...but today's is short. I was anxious, after a manic week last week on Munch and then the long late flight to DC that a 12 hour day filming at the National Gallery would be exhausting.  I was completely wrong. I was energised from the first shot. I always feel it's my favourite gallery when I'm there (but I often feel that in other galleries too) and to be concentrating on the Vermeers - with world-expert Arthur Wheelock - was absolutely tremendous. I genuinely could have listened to him all day. As I always argue...you can look at an artwork and appreciate it, just as you can listen to Mozart and like it. But the more you understand the biography of the artist and the intention & history of the piece, the better the appreciation. If you do nothing else in DC, go to see the Vermeers.