Van Gogh Museum ..... Amsterdam

Before I visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam my main impressions of the artist were sadly limited to the lyrics of the Don Maclean song "Starry, Starry Night", and news of the sale of some of his paintings to Japanese corporations. I must admit to having held a certain hostility towards such sales. The exhibition made me rethink that view. I had no idea of the influence on Van Gogh of Japanese woodcuts, in pictures such as The Courtesan (1887) and Bridge In the Rain (1887). I now realise that this particular piece of cultural traffic is two way. Somehow this makes it more fitting....

The museum was an eye-opener in many ways. Opened in 1973 it tells the story of Van Gogh (1853-1890) in stages with each room representing a period in his life. Each room is named after a town in which he worked. It rapidly becomes apparent that there is little to separate life and art. His moods, symbols and thoughts were expressed directly onto canvas.

Van Gogh was the son of a minister who grew up in a rural environment (Nuenen). He never favoured the gentry, saying "a peasant girl is more beautiful than a lady". The artist's own favourite painting was not one of those of vivid colours for which he is popularly remembered, but a dark one - The Potato Eater (1885).

Having said this, however, one cannot deny the importance of colour in his work. Colours were used to express his mood, and as symbols. He compared his use of colour to Wagnerian music; perhaps he saw the colours as building different leitmotifs, one upon another, to achieve a full effect.

My favourite painting in the museum was The Reaper (1889), but you might well choose another. If you get the chance, why not make a visit and see?

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The Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum
..... Clove Building, Maguire Street, London

This museum tells the story of tea and coffee consumption in Britain: featuring smuggling; the development of the tea and coffee trades (including the clipper races) to modern advertising and 'convenience' products such as instant coffee and tea bags. On display is a large collection of teapots, many of fancy design - including one in the shape of the head of Princess Di from which tea is poured through a hole in her forehead! Also coffee pots, coffee grinders and various other tools of the trade.
In the museum is a cafe which serves good house-blends of tea and Kenya coffee; also a retail shop offering wares such as tea-towels, caddies and presentation packs of tea and coffee.

Access is from Tower Hill Underground and Tower Gateway Docklands Light Railway Station, or from St. Katherine's River Bus stop on the North Bank of the Thames with a walk across Tower Bridge.

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