This week we’ve seen two exhibits and made a short jaunt to visit friends in Dorset, Wareham to be specific. We’re a short walk from the V&A Museum so that was an essential as was the featured exhibit at the Royal Academy. Being in Dorset was being transported to another world, full of history and marked by heaths, ridges, flood plains, and even a castle. Corfe Castle sitting high on a ridge in Corfe. All lovely.
FASHION AT THE V&A
The Victoria and Albert Museum has free exhibits and ones for which you must pay. We decided to take advantage of one of the free ones. It was a history of British fashion from about 1790 up through the ages to around 1970. Mostly women’s clothing, but here and there examples of menswear. It was fun to see the many layers women wore in the early years, so many that you wonder how ordinary women, as opposed to rich ones, could dress themselves. Here are a few highlights that appealed to me. You can probably guess which decade the later ones are from.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
The other exhibit we saw was “Abstract Expressionism” at the Royal Academy of Art, and it was superb! A very detailed exploration of the movement with lots of attention paid to several of the biggest names, Gorky, Pollock, de Kooning and Rothko. But also, we were introduced to Clyfford Still, an outsider in the movement whose work was really only seen by the public after his death in 1980. The museum in Denver dedicated to his work owns ninety-five percent of it. A westerner from North Dakota, his work shows the influence of those landscapes. 
I found the exhibit fascinating, appreciated Pollock’s work and impact in a new way, and loved the intimate display of seven of Rothko’s works in a smallish space–strange to say, I know, since the works themselves aren’t small. But in this hanging, you can immerse yourself in the saturated color. No photography allowed so I can’t share it with you, but, if you’re in London, do go!
Note: All photos copyright JWFarrington (some rights reserved)
Museums sound interesting; weather sounds terribly cold to me. It probably got to 70 today or almost. Enjoy your time. Dorset liked lovely!