Northampton

Decided to visit Northampton Museum and Art Gallery….. there were two exhibitions that I wanted to see. Firstly the large pencil portraits by Clare Abbott she’d made in 2012 about journeys on foot, showing portraits of the ill fated Scott of the Antarctic’s expedition to the South Pole in 1912. This also included some sculptures. The portraits are beautiful. The other exhibition: The Power of the Portrait which is a mixture of portraits and sculpture. I was particularly taken with two. The first is a picture, on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, of Dame Sally Davies, the first female chief medical Officer in 2011 painted by Daphne Todd OBE, first female President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. It’s an informal asymmetrical composition which allowed for the inclusion of her team.
Unusually there are two extra pairs off bespectacled eyes either side of her head, which tickled me. The other startling image is of Alan Moore who is primarily known for his work in graphic novels, painted by Lee Burrows.

I also paid a quick visit to the shoe gallery, which is a much improved display from the one I saw all those years ago. Such fun, I even had some platforms, but not as high as these.

Finally, the mural outside, which I just had to photograph!