The Englishman's Home

Another day out of the office. This time in London.

I had a bit of spare time when my train arrived at Waterloo so I wandered around the South Bank complex for a bit. If anyone remembers it from the past, it is completely transformed now. All the buildings have been rejuvenated and are open to the public. In all the buildings and outside there are cafes and restaurants and always loads of free exhibits and activities. At the moment it's the anniversary of the 1951 Festival of Britain.

This mural by John Piper was displayed in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer. It was commissioned for the Festival and is currently on loan from a private collection. I love it.

Later I visited the Cult of Beauty exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum which is well worth seeing if you like late nineteenth century English arts and artefacts. I was delighted to see wonderful paintings by Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Millais and Whistler as well as interesting furniture, ceramics, and jewellery. No photography allowed, unfortunately.