The Grand Tour

Author
Discussion

nick_bbb

Original Poster:

5,410 posts

235 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
I had a day off today and thought I would go and check out the National Gallery’s Grand Tour Exhibition.

http://www.thegrandtour.org.uk/

They have commissioned copies of paintings and hung them in the streets of London. I wanted to check it out as I was keen to see how people were interacting with the paintings (many seemed not to notice them at all!) and also it’s rare that you get a chance to photograph works of art and almost never in these unusual settings. I made it round 30 of the 44 before I got fed up of getting wet but I’m quite pleased with the results. It was great to see that none of them had been vandalised!































































GetCarter

29,380 posts

279 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
What a photographic gift.

..and well done for taking advantage. 1, 2 & 8 are fab!

ETA: 8 is a masterpiece. Reubens would have LOVED it.




Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 4th July 18:57

V6GTO

11,579 posts

242 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
I'm thinking that the Grotesque old woman looks like Tony Blair if you add 20 years, no?

Great stuff Nick...I think I prefer the ones with human interaction/involvement...and well done for making the effort in the rain.

Martin.

nick_bbb

Original Poster:

5,410 posts

235 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Thanks guys smile It was really tough trying to get people into shot as they all moved out of the way when I held the camera up. Luckily the guy with the beer agreed to move back again when I asked him biggrin

Classic moment today, I was walking along camera in hand (with flash on top) and realised Timothy Spall was walking towards me, he spotted the camera and gave me a smile, I smiled back and walked on. He looked very disappointed that I didn't Pap him biggrin Strange thing was I saw Christopher Fairbank about 30 mins later, I wonder if there was an Auf Weidersahen Pet meeting going on.

KB_S1

5,967 posts

229 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Absolutely brilliant.
Was it an enjoyable day out?

nick_bbb

Original Poster:

5,410 posts

235 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
KB_S1 said:
Absolutely brilliant.
Was it an enjoyable day out?
It's a great day out, It took me about 3 hours to get round 30 though. It's a bit or a treasure hunt for some of them which added to it.

Another amusing incident took place when I popped into the nearest pub in a shower for a pint, it was an O'Neals. These two Americans came in and said they had never been in a pub and didn't know what to do eek Well, you drink beer it's quite easy! Then they asked the barman how many hundreds of years old the pub was. "We've been open for 11 years" was the reply rofl

Gemm

1,833 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Nice shots! I must go and see them.

BTW, I think Bacchus and Ariadne is by Titian, not Michelangelo. wink

Mr Noble

6,535 posts

233 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for them Nick! Great shots, well done for making the efffort. smile

CVP

2,799 posts

275 months

Thursday 5th July 2007
quotequote all
Great stuff and a very interesting project. I'm with V6 GTO on this one and am in favour of the ones with human interaction in. Were people looking at them at all or just in city "got to get between A and B" mode? I know when I used to work in the centre of town a lot of time I would be head down just rushing to get where I needed to be.

Cheers

Chris

gregorio!

1,178 posts

238 months

Thursday 5th July 2007
quotequote all
Brilliant!

This one is superb. The juxtaposition of the short haired all consuming cheerful modern man next to poor old samson, who's having his strength-giving locks removed is truly wonderful. 10/10 for this one mate smile


DH2

311 posts

264 months

Thursday 5th July 2007
quotequote all
That is a really cool set.
And you weren't tempted by a jaunty angle tongue out

DH2

nick_bbb

Original Poster:

5,410 posts

235 months

Friday 6th July 2007
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Gemm you were right, the print out guide is wrong!

No jaunty angles wink

It seemed only right to go back and finish the job that I started. The paintings round Covent Garden are much closer together so it was quicker to get round. There was some controversy over Monet’s Water Lily Pond. Art imitating life imitating Art. Between the site survey before the painting was mounted and it being mounted the council gave a licence to a street trader to sell Banksy canvases on the same plot, so these now sit in front of the Monet. Banksy himself has vandalised a Monet before releasing a version of the same paining with a shopping trolley dumped in the pond.

































Gemm

1,833 posts

215 months

Friday 6th July 2007
quotequote all
nick_bbb said:
Gemm you were right, the print out guide is wrong!
[geek hat on]Sorry to be real pain again, but it's Titian, not Titan.[geek hat off]. biggrinbiggrin

Enjoyed looking at the images. Thanks for posting them! thumbup

Edited by Gemm on Friday 6th July 20:57

2jamesl

1,346 posts

215 months

Friday 6th July 2007
quotequote all
Won't be too long until banksy works his amazing artistic magic then....

nick_bbb

Original Poster:

5,410 posts

235 months

Monday 9th July 2007
quotequote all
Gemm said:
nick_bbb said:
Gemm you were right, the print out guide is wrong!
[geek hat on]Sorry to be real pain again, but it's Titian, not Titan.[geek hat off]. biggrinbiggrin
Doh!

I was particularly pleased with Philip IV of Spain and the pregnant woman smoking in front of the bathing beauty (which also disgusted me).


SpydieNut

5,800 posts

223 months

Monday 9th July 2007
quotequote all
clap well done - they look magnificent.

the blend of hectic modern life with the timeless beauty of those old masterpieces is a bit surreal. it shocks at first, but it definitely works.

thank you for taking the time to get them and also for sharing them with us.

imperialism2024

1,596 posts

256 months

Tuesday 10th July 2007
quotequote all
SpydieNut said:
the blend of hectic modern life with the timeless beauty of those old masterpieces is a bit surreal. it shocks at first, but it definitely works.
I guess that means the photos are "high contrast", then?

getmecoat

Great shots there.

AMG Merc

11,954 posts

253 months

Sunday 15th April 2018
quotequote all
Came across these financials recently - an interesting read.

"The Grand Tour was enormously expensive - about £35m per season seems to be a ballpark - but it brought in so many new viewers that it was well worth it."...

http://www.hl.co.uk/news/2018/4/9/amazons-very-ver...

GetCarter

29,380 posts

279 months

Sunday 15th April 2018
quotequote all
AMG Merc said:
Came across these financials recently - an interesting read.

"The Grand Tour was enormously expensive - about £35m per season seems to be a ballpark - but it brought in so many new viewers that it was well worth it."...

http://www.hl.co.uk/news/2018/4/9/amazons-very-ver...
Different tour I'm afraid.

AMG Merc

11,954 posts

253 months

Monday 16th April 2018
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
Different tour I'm afraid.
I see that now laugh