The Imperial War Museum is not typically a place I think of when wanting to see art - but recent developments suggest it should definitely be part of the education of any self-respecting artist of fan of art history who wants to understand better how war has been recorded from a visual perspective.
Not least because the Galleries include some iconic artwork as well as important films
and photography.
The reason I was at the IWM last Friday was because I'd been invited by the
Museum's Digital Producer/Director to some filming she was doing with Gareth
Reid in relation to various of the outstanding paintings in the IWM's art
collection.
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Gareth Reid being filmed while sketching and making notes about "Gassed" by John Singer Sargent |
Some of you may remember
Gareth Reid as
the
winner of the 2017 series of Portrait Artist of the Year
and more recently Portrait Artist of the Decade (Review: Portrait Artist of the Decade as featured in Portrait Artist of the Decade Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery -
last few days). For me he will always Gareth Reid who I first met at the National Portrait Gallery back in 2008 when he
was responsible for what I still think of as one of the best BP Travel Award
Exhibitions in the history of the award (see BP Travel Award: Gareth Reid and the Finnish winter bathers).
He and I were both very impressed with the Galleries and their content. Read
on to find out more.
The Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries
The Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries are located at the Imperial War Museum in London. They opened last
November on Remembrance Sunday.
The Galleries are free to enter, making more
of IWM’s world-class collection available and accessible to all.
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| Entrance to the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries |
This is the first time in IWM’s history that a permanent gallery space has been created to display the three collections together - visual art, film and photography.
