Looking for the Primary Colors (A trip to London, part II)

Hey there, stranger. 

My second day in London City was a dream come true. Not only the night before I could attend a gig for which I was waiting a long time but also the weather was beautiful and I was hungry for art and culture. 

After having breakfast with Helena, I took the public transport again and made my way to The Wallace Collection, a personal matter pending between me and London for a long time now. 

(Read more here)

Walking through the streets of London always makes me happy, and today was not an exception. If you take little lanes and roads this city becomes even more magical and quiet, something quite difficult for a city like this, right?

 

I arrived at the Hertford House early in the morning, which gave me plenty of time not only to walk around but to admire the collection itself (and you know that where there are pictures of the old masters, there I go). The Wallace Collection was established in 1897 from the private collection of Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, who left both it and the house to his illegitimate son Sir Richard Wallace and whose widow bequeathed the entire collection to the nation. It opened to permanent public view in 1900 and it wasn't until September 2019 that they allowed loaning some of their pieces to other museums and exhibitions. The entrance, as in lots of museums in London, is free. 

And, oh my, what a place is The Wallace Collection! 25 galleries full of exquisite art, furniture, porcelain... My heart was beating so hard I thought I would faint! How is it possible that I haven't been here before?

The front State Rooms leads your path to the Back State Room, dedicated to the patronage of King Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. From here you can walk around the ground floor and discover a large armour collection, a Collector's Cabinet or some Medieval and Renaissance works at the Smokers' Room. 

Once on the upper floor, I was lucky enough to admire art while a soprano was doing some rehearsal for an upcoming show that afternoon, a delight to my ears; and had a nice conversation about art with a lovely lady who recognizes me as an art junkie, due to the tears in my eyes while admiring the fascinating Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower by French artist Paul Delaroche. I must also say that my heart skipped a bit when I finally was in front of The Swing by Fragonard, whose colours makes me still dream about it. 

 Always pay your respects to Velázquez, please

 Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower by Delaroche.

 The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

 And always pay your respects to The Master, Rembrandt

After this binge of art, I needed to walk for a while and recover my senses for my next appointment in the afternoon with Helena and Viveka, so I took a walk to Chinatown. 

From there, I took the metro to South Kengsintong to meet my girls there and visit the Victoria & Albert Museum for the Mary Quant Exhibition.

No photos can make justice to the fantastic exhibit at the museum, I wish I could have tried on every garment because they all were so precious (especially that red and white raincoat!!). We were there for a while and after the museum, we had some merienda (that's what you get when you're with a group of Spanish people, of course) and then we went home for some rest and get ready for the night since we were attending the monthly Cave Club at the Moth Club, an amazing party organized by Rhys Webb from The Horrors! Also, we were meeting Carla, a friend of mine that I haven't seen for over ten years since we used to live in Granada. 

To be honest, the night was so crazy and fun that we did not take any photos, only this one with Viveka and Helena, and the photo cabinet that you can see at the beginning of the post... So yes, it was an amazing night.

Tomorrow I'm back to work and I can't deny I'm a little bit nervous since I don't know how we are gonna handle everything with the COVID-19 situation. How are you doing with the quarantine?