Westminster Cathedral, William de Morgan, Art and Family

While I was in London last weekend I had some spare time, and used it to do a little bit of sight-seeing.

I called in to Westminster Cathedral, which is a Roman Catholic cathedral, built between 1895 and 1903 - it's built from brick, so on the outside it has a flavour both of Victorian municipal building and Italian church - I can't help but think that the architect had seen Siena but didn't have the budget (or the marble)

Inside, it isn't completely finished, but those parts which are complete are Neo-Byzantine, with mosaic ceilings. (I do have a very soft spot for a well done mosaic ceiling)

It's impressive, although I couldn't stay long due to the amount of incense!

My second bit of touristing was a visit to the London Guildhall art gallery, to see their (temporary) William De Morgan exhibition.  I am very fond of William De Morgan's work, from when I first came across his work in the Manchester Art Gallery, years ago.

He was a contemporary, and friend of William Morris', and designed and created ceramics - dishes and tiles (including tiles explicitly designed to complement Morris's wallpaper designs.

What I didn't know before seeing this exhibition was that De Morgan's father was a celebrated mathematician (Augustus De Morgan) who was an agnostic who became a professor at University College London as, unlike Oxford and Cambridge, no theological test was required. He also taught Ada Lovelace. It seems likely that his skills in maths and geometry influenced his son's designs.

I also learned that William De Morgan designed a set of tiles for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known, of course, as Lewis Carroll), who was a friend of his,  which were installed round the fireplace in his college rooms: they feature Dodos and dinosaurs, among other things. (They are still in the College, but the exhibition has photos) 

 I loved the dragons and fishes, and the fact that almost all of the designs are symmetrical, some of them in more than one direction.

Sadly the Greast Hall at the Guildhall was not open, so I couldn't look round the hall.

However, the church next door, St Lawrence Jewry, was open, so I popped in for a while. The church was designed by Christopher Wren, but was badly damaged in the Blitz, leaving the walls and facade standing but not much else, so the interior and stained glass are modern. I rather liked St Michael.

 But the best known of the windows is the Christopher Wren window, which features the man himself (flanked by woodcarver Grinling Gibbons and Master Mason, Edward Strong, with the architect and Vicar at the time of the restoration shown at the bottom of the window.

All very enjoyable. As was the duet being played on the church's grand piano, while I was there. It wasn't clear to me whether they were official, as it were, or if they had, like me, simply popped in in passing but (unlike my) had the skills and talent to play wonderful piano duets!

And in between, I got to meet up with one of my cousins, and to have a really enjoyable catch up.

Public Art, and Architecture (Or, What I did on my holidays, Part 7)

One of the things I liked about Toronto was how much public art there was, and (no doubt because the city is relatively young) how much of it was modern, and playful.

I was very much taken with this sculpture, 'Rising', by Zhang Huan, which is covered with birds (or hands, or birds made of hands) 

There are more birds inside the building, and on the roof, although you don't notice them at first!

This one was outside the courts.

 This butterfly was at Crawford Lake.

These fish were set into the pavement, along with many others, among patterns of maple leaves, laid out as part of the brickwork.

This couple (called - 'Immigrant Family' ) is by Tom Otterness. 

 

This medallion, not far from the St Lawrence market, commemorates on of the ships used in the 1812 war.

The mural was next to a fire station near the Distillery district.

Both these sculptures were in the distillery district.

Then there were some urban cattle, in the financial district.

A couple of whales (also in the financial district)

The giant model soldiers I only saw from the tram. They weren't far from Fort York, but I don't know whether there were intentionally related to it!

I couldn't find who the artist was, of these playful, slightly Gromit-like dogs, but I liked them!

Then there was the architecture.I liked the shape of this mall, and the old Stock Exchange of Toronto, engulfed in a much bigger, newer building.

Then there was the car in the wall of the CTV building, which should probably count as art rather than architecture...

And of course there was the Art Gallery, and the RMO, both of which you've seen on previous posts.

Art and History, Or, What I Did on My Holidays (Part Two)

On our second day, we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum, which meant going in the opposite direction to out previous explorations, and took us via Queens Park and the Ontario Legislature buildings, and various parts of the University.

Ontario Legislature building

As you can see, after the grey skies and drizzle of our first day, there were blue skies and sunshine, which was lovely. There were huge beds full of tulips, along the road side, all making for a very enjoyable walk.

The museum itself it  mixture of old and new, architecturally. The older parts reminded me of the Natural History Museum in London, with the added attraction of a Byzantine inspired mosaic ceiling in the main entrance way.

I like museums, and this was no exception. It has a nice collection of dinosaurs, a further Natural History section with a gallery of taxidermied birds, and sections on endangered species of the region.

There is also a small but well presented Egyptian section, and Greek and Roman artefacts.

Ancient Egyptian model of a cow giving birth

My personal favourite, however, and the area I found most interesting, was the section of the museum dedicated to the First Peoples of Canada, and their history and culture. The exhibitions have been curated by, or with input from, experts who have indigenous heritage themselves, and it includes information and exhibits about the interactions between indigenous cultures and white settlers (for instance, items made in the 1880's for early tourists)

Birch Bark freight canoe (made in 1971 to 1880s pattern)

 There was a beautiful, full outift, made by/for a Cree woman in around 1850, which had gorgeous floral embroidery and beading, and to my uneducated eye, looked similar to the type of style I associate with Eastern European traditional dress. I wonder whether there were early trade links via Russia and Alaska, a d if so, who influenced whom, more.

Cree women's hood, C1850

There were also articles such as Sitting Bull's war bonnet (and its case, which opened at both ends so that the bonnet can be inserted and removed without damaging the feathers)

Sitting Bull's War bonnet

Finally, there were some modern pieces of art, created by 1st Nations artists drawing on tradition, such as this Golden Eagle, by Ben Thomas.

Golden Eagle carving (1984) Ben Thomas (Mohawk, Six
Nations of the Grand River )

It was very interesting, and sobering. I am pretty sure that if I lived in or near Toronto, I would be visiting regularly.

Mention must also be made of the building itself, which now incorporates the dramatic and appealing Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, an extension to the building added in 2007.

St James' Cathedral

That evening, we visited St James' Cathedral, where I was made very welcome at their bellringing practice.

The (12) bells are a recent addition, having been installed in 1997. The bells are older that that, having previously  hung in St. James’ Church in Bermondsey, London, as a ring of 8, with the other 4 bells being cast from spare bell-metal, some of which was shaved from the inside of the other bells when they were re-tuned. 

My ringing skills are a bit rusty, but I couldn't miss the chance to ring on a whole new continent! (and one of just 8 towers in Canada)

Video from the Cathedral's website

The following day we went in for more culture, with a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which , unsurprisingly, has lots of Canadian art, as well as some pieces but European artists, including a rather nice Picasso.I liked the works of Lawren S Harris and the wood / lino cuts of Mary E Wrinch and Dorothy Haines Hoover.

There are also some wonderful examples of Inuit and indigenous sculpture, some very old, like these seals, some of which date back to 300 AD,

Walrus Ivory seals

 Others which are much more modern, like this standing bear. 

Standing Bear, Pauta Saila, 1975

The Gallery also has some wonderful architecture. The spiral stair you can see (behind the Henry Moore)on the outside of the museum in the previous post, continues inside in wood.

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There is also a lovely wood and glass gallery on the side of the building, which, from the inside, feels a little like being under the hull of a huge canoe.

It's very appealing. I'm not sure who the architect is, but I approve!

Toronto, or What I did on my Holidays. (Part 1)

Last summer, my friend Lyle got in touch with me to tell me he'd won a holiday through the #CokeSummer promotion Coca Cola were running, and did I fancy a free holiday to Toronto?

Well, there is only one possible answer to that!

We flew out on an early morning flight, which was delayed a couple of hours, and the flight is 7 hours, so we were a little bit tired and slightly spaced out by the time we arrived. Our package was supposed to include airport transfers, and we were indeed met by a very nice car, and friendly driver. Who then proceeded to take us to entirely the wrong hotel, (entirely due to a cock up by the travel agency, who despite having booked the hotel, apparently didn't know where it was) So we had a rather long taxi drive (in a less posh car) back past the airport to the hotel!

Henry Moore outside Art Gallery of Ontario

Once we'd checked in, we found food, then went for a wander to look at downtown Toronto.

We found the Art Gallery of Ontario, and a rather nice Henry Moore outside it, and also found the Roundhouse  what's left of a huge rail depot and turntable, with a selection of railway engines and carriages on display.

And of course,the CN Tower. Which is  very tall, and visible from all over the place!

We also saw (and heard) a peregrine falcon, outside the stadium by the tower.

CNTower

So an interesting start to the trip.  The following morning we started out with a walk down past the Tower, to the lakeside. On the way we found a totem pole, with lots of beautiful sea creatures on it.

Further on, we walked through the remembrance garden (with memorials to Canadians who fought in WW2) and on to Princes Gate at Exhibition Place, erected in 1927. Very imposing.

Princes Gate

We then visited Fort York - there were barracks on the site in the 1790s, with more substantive buildings and fortifications erected in 1811, as relationships between the USA and Britain deteriorated. The current site has some of the original buildings, others which have been reconstructed, and a modern museum and visitor centre.

Fort York

It was very interesting, and several of the buildings were furnished as they would have been in 1812 (with officers getting 2 rooms each, and enlisted men sleeping in quad bunks, with around 30 of them in the same amount of space a single officer would have.

On the way back we wandered into a rather lovely little church, the church of the Holy Trinity (mostly, it must be said, because it has some rather nice little turrets on the outside, and because I like churches) 

Church of the Holy Trinity

It turned out to have a lovely interior, with some gorgeous modern stained glass (apparently it lost the original, 19thC glass down one side of the church in a fire in the 1970s) 

The church was built in the 1840s with a legacy from an Englishwoman who stipulated that the pews must always be free (it was normal practice at the time for them to be rented to parishioners) so anyone, rich or poor, could attend. The church's original congregation included freed slaves, and over time it's also been welcoming to the poor, the homeless, to LGBTQ people - it holds a regular memorial service for homeless people. All in all, a lovely little church with a fascinating history.

We popped into the Eaton Mall which is next door - it's a vast shopping centre (not my favourite kind of place) but pretty appealing as these things go, and home to a gorgeous bit of public art, consisting of a flock of flying geese, suspended in the air at one end of the Mall.

And also visited Nathan Phillips Square, home of City Hall,  an interesting and dramatic bit of architecture in its own right.

City Hall

It was shortly after this that we discovered Craft, a bar / restaurant with over 100 beers on tap, and some pretty tasty food, too.

All this, and only the end of the first full day!