A Picture of London

The BBC television programme A Picture of London provides a content for various paintings of London by such well known artists as Canaletto, JMW Turner, William Hogarth, Claude Monet, JM Whistler, John Martin, Gustave Doré, CRW Nevinson, and Henry Moore . It also introduced me to less well known artists such as Joseph van Aken and John Collett who produced figurative townscapes.

 The way in which the city has been destroyed and regenerated is highlighted.

The burning of the Houses of Parliament by JMW Turner

The BBC2 programme was actually developed as part of the London 2012 Festival and The Cultural Olympiad on the BBC

Here's what the BBC had to say about it

This first-hand, eyewitness account charts the extraordinary growth of London and uncovers what the past really looked and felt like, excavating London’s history not just through familiar paintings, but by ranging right across the visual record: posters, cartoons, architectural sketches, maps, plans, photos and film.

In a city that seems ever-changing it’s hard to imagine that just behind the bright lights and glass-fronted shops lies the blueprint of London, a piece of history preserved behind a modern façade.

The programme digs out the unexpected and the surprising – the images that transport viewers back with a jolt to the days when Notting Hill was a racecourse, Peckham a well-to-do Victorian suburb and Marble Arch a place of public execution.

If you missed the BBC2 programme about you have seven days to watch A Picture of London on BBC iPlayer in the next seven days.

Here are some of the images featured in the programme.  You can find most of the images on the Your Paintings website.  You can also Browse a gallery of paintings from BBC Two's A Picture of London

Westminster Bridge from the north on Lord Mayor's Day (1746) by Antonio Canaletto

Pandemonium by John Martin

Covent Garden Piazza and Market by John Collett (1725 - 1780)
Collection: Museum of London

Covent Garden Piazza and Market, London (1726–1730)by Joseph van Aken
Oil on canvas, 96 x 100.6 cm
Collection: Museum of London

Besides national collections, the Museum of London has an excellent collection of Paintings, prints and drawings.

The collection covers a vast range of London-related subject matter from the 16th Century to the present day. We hold work by major artists as well as a wealth of images that reveal the topographical, social and artistic life of London.