London Art Galleries
London is home to some of the best art collections in the world.
The National Gallery has a comprehensive collection of art dating from the beginning of the medieval period to the end of the 19th century - representing all the major places and most of the renowned artists of the important art movements (Italian and Dutch/Flemish Renaissance art, French impressionism, and so on).
Tate Modern (focusing on modern art) and Tate Britain (focusing on British art) are, like the National Gallery, internationally renowned.
1. The BarbicanAbout. The Barbican is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe.
Nearest tube: Barbican.
Address: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Contact: 020 7638 4141
2. The County Hall - Dali Exhibition
About. Located in the vibrant South Bank, near the London Eye, and looking onto The Houses of Parliament across the river. Includes a permanent Dali collection and other works of arts and features.
Nearest tube: Waterloo, Westminster
Address: Dalí Universe, County Hall Gallery, Riverside Building, County Hall, London SE1 7PB
Contact: 0870 744 7485
3. The Courtauld Gallery
About. The Courtauld Gallery is part of the Courtauld Institute of Art – a world renowned centre for the study of the history and conservation of art and architecture. Although small, the gallery has a wonderful collection of art from the Renaissance into the 20th century. It is particularly well-known for its collection of Impressionist and post impressionist paintings.
Nearest tube: Temple, Embankment, Charring Cross
Address: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
Contact: 020 7848 2526
4. Guildhall GalleryAbout. The gallery has over 250 works, including views of London life over the last 400 years, and more. The remains of a Roman amphitheatre (unearthed around 20 years ago) can, also, be viewed during the visit to the gallery.
Nearest tube: Bank, Moorgate, St Paul’s, Mansion House
Address: Guildhall Art Gallery & Roman London’s Amphitheatre, Guildhall Yard, Off Gresham Street, London EC2V 5AE
Contact: 020 7332 3700
5. Hayward Gallery
About. The gallery hosts several exhibitions each year (doesn’t hold a permanent collection). Nearest tube: Waterloo, Embankment
Address: Hayward Gallery, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London, SE18XX
Contact: 020 7960 5226
6. ICA
About. The ICA is a general arts centre, focusing on contemporary art from Britain and around the world, as well as hosting various educational events, and more.
Nearest tube: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus
Address: The ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
Contact: 020 7930 0493
7. The National GalleryAbout: The National Gallery, London is a world famous gallery with paintings from the early Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the artists with a large / important collection of work include: Rembrandt, Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Manet, Della Francesca and Raphael (the gallery, also, contains works by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, amongst others).
Nearest tube: Leicester Square, Charring Cross
Address: The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
Contact: 020 7747 2885
8. The National Portrait Gallery
About. An extensive collection of portraits of famous British people both historical and contemporary – paintings, photographs, caricatures, drawings and sculptors.
Nearest tube: Leicester Square, Charring Cross
Address: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE
Contact: BT Type Talk 18001
9. Photographers' Gallery
About. The Photographers' Gallery is the leading gallery in London dedicated to photography – with works by famous photographers both past and present. Nearest tube: Leicester SquareAddress: The Photographers’ Gallery, 5 & 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7HYContact: 020 7831 1772 ext 201
Queen's GalleryAbout. The Queen’s Gallery (at Buckingham Palace) exhibits art and antiques that are part of the Royal collection.
Nearest tube: St James Park, Victoria
Address: The Official Residences of The Queen, London SW1A 1AA
Contact: 020 7766 7301
10. Royal Academy of ArtAbout. The Royal Academy of Arts was established by artists nearly 250 years ago with the purpose to promote art and architecture in general in this country – and the same purpose still continues today (with the academy still being governed by artists). The academy has a private a collection (including many works of past academy members) as well as exhibitions throughout the year.
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus, Green Park
Address: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
Contact: 020 7300 8000
11. The Royal Albert Hall
About. The Royal Albert Hall does, from to-time-time, host various kinds of visual exhibitions.
Nearest tube: Knightsbridge, High Street Kensington, South Kensington
Address: Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
Contact: 020 7589 3203
12. The Saatchi Gallery
About. The Saatchi Gallery was set up by Charles Saatchi over 20 years in order to exhibit his private collection of contemporary art – a collection that has had an important impact on the contemporary art world in general.
Visitors: As of date of publication of this article (June 2008) the gallery is being moved to a new location so please check website for details).
13. Serpentine GalleryAbout. A popular gallery for modern and contemporary art.
Nearest tube: Lancaster Gate
Address: Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
Contact: 020 7298 1515
14. Somerset House
About. Somerset House is the location for the Courtauld Gallery as well as being the location for other art displays.
Nearest tube: Temple, Embankment, Charring Cross
Address: Somerset House Trust, South Building, Somerset House, Strand, LondonWC2R 1L
Contact: 020 7845 4600
15. Tate Britain
About. Tate Britain is the gallery with the most comprehensive selection of British works of art, from 1500 to the present, in the world. Some of the leading artists represented in the gallery include: William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, J.MW. Turner, Francis Bacon, Joshua Reynolds, Henry Moore, David Hockey and more.
Nearest tube: Pimlico, Westminster
Address: Tate Modern, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Contact: 020 7887 8888
16. Tate ModernAbout. Tate modern is the country’s leading gallery for international modern art. Tate Modern is located in an impressive building that was, until, as recently as 1981, a power station.
Nearest tube: Southwark, Blackfriars
Address: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Contact: 020 7887 8888
17. The Victoria and Albert Museum
About: The Victoria and Albert Museum houses the largest and best collection of decorate art and design objects in the world.
Nearest tube: South Kensington
Address: Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Contact: 020 7942 2000
18. Wallace Collection
About: The Wallace Collections includes works by many of the leading painters from the 15th to the 19th century. Some of the painters represented here include: Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens, Canaletto, Murillo, Velasquez, and more.
Nearest tube: Bond St, Baker St, Oxford Circus
Address: The Wallace Collection , Hertford House, Manchester Square, London WIU 3BN
Contact: 0207 563 9500
Whitechapel Gallery
About. Well-known for its exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.
Nearest tube: Aldgate East
Address: Whitechapel, Angel Alley Entrance, 80 - 82 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 7QX
Contact: 020 7522 7888
History of Advertising
CONTENTS
- Advertising: 19th century to the 1960's
- Advertising - 1960's to the 1990's
- Advertising- 1990's to the present
- The future of advertising
- Videos on history of advertising
ADVERTISING: 19th CENTURY TO THE 1960's
Advertising has been around as long as people, in particular, those in commerce have have been communicating the existence of their business, service or product through communication methods other than direct oral communication. So it's been around for a very long time.The origins of modern advertising - i.e where some sort of system was developed to enhance the procedure of 'of communicating the existence of .. business, service or product .. other than word of mouth' - lie in the 19th century with the introduction of paid advertisements in newspapers. By the beginning of the 20th century advertising consisted of professionals putting-together content, as well as brokering space for, advertisements.
The 1920's marked an important decade in the next phase of advertising: advertisement slots in electronic media: firstly, in radio, and later on, in television.
ADVERTISING - 1960's TO THE 1990's
The 1960's mark the second really big phase in the history of modern advertising. It was at this time that advertising legends such as David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, and Bill Bernbach (arguably the the three greats in the history of advertising overall) and others, were perfecting/working with/ introducing new ideas/business models that would transform advertising into a recognizable industry (thanks, to an important degree, to the new opportunities offered by TV). Ideas / business models such as:The creative advertising agency
The creative advertising agency wasn't something new but it became better organized and, generally, bigger than before.
The creative team
Creatives (copywriters and art directors) had existed before but the art director was made an equal of the art director, and the two were united together to work in teams of two.
Planners / strategists
No longer did account managers have to take responsibility (or sole responsibility) for matters relating to the research, marketing and strategy sides of clients' campaigns. Account planners were introduced to assist (or take over from) the account manager, leaving the account manager to focus more on developing relations with clients.
The big idea
The marketing strategy behind a campaign must have a 'big idea' (marketing idea) on which the whole creative concept and the campaign in general rests. A 'big idea' that will engage the audience in an important way.
Really engaging the customer
The focus now is much more: talk to, not talk at, the customer. Research your customer. Know your customer. Engage your customer.
Engage your customers by talking their language.
Benefit to the customer. Another way of engaging customers is to offer something that the they will regard as a benefit to them.
Brand personality. And another way of engaging customers is to create brands that have personality - brands that stand out of the crowd in some unique, interesting way.
ADVERTISING - 1990's TO PRESENT
The 1990's mark the third really big phase in the history of advertising, due mainly to the pivotal role of the internet in all aspects of modern life. The advertising industry now is remarkably different in the following ways:
Technology approach
Digital media requires people in advertising, in general, to have a certain amount of knowledge about the how the technology functions overall (so as to be better able to manipulate the technology for the purposes of increased and more effective communication).
Audience approach
Audiences are now more disparate and harder to locate than they were in previous decades (one reason being that the new media platforms allow people to do a host of many different different kinds of activities). People in advertising, now, have to be a lot smarter in how they go about understanding who their audience is and what it it doing.
And it is now, increasingly, harder to grab and hold onto the attention of audiences - due, mainly, to increased competition for audience attention.
Marketing approach
Myriad of ideas. It's not enough, anymore, to have just one big marketing idea like before (in general, at least). Now it's necessary to have a host of different ideas (underlined by an over-riding theme) in order to meet the new pressures of audience diversity and the increase in competition for audience attention.
Marketing mix. In order to meet these new demands, the marketing strategy will often involve a wide range of communication approaches and channels, for example, ad campaigns backed up, perhaps, with PR, publicity events, brand sponsorship and so on.
THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING
Certainly, advertising is still in the midst of some important changes. There is much uncertainty about how things are going to pan out, for example, some people in advertising see advertising as going down a utilitarian route (offering a useful service to the audience) and others that it will carry on being about entertainment. Most people in advertising think that it will involve both (utilitarian and entertainment elements) but the real question is the form in which these will take.
One thing is certain, though: there are certain skills / abilities that people, in the advertising industry in general will have to have in order to do well.
Firstly, to have a good general understanding of the advertising industry in general, and to keep up-to-date with the latest advancements.
And, econdly, to be flexible (and adaptable): in particular, the ability to consider a wide range of different communication channels and approaches, and to work with a wide range of people with different skills and expertise in the business; and more.
VIDEO ON THE HISTORY OF ADVERTISING
Copywriter, Art Director and Advertising Creative Careers - UK and London
Favourite Humorous Book ?
In my effort to get back into reading (where I used to read, like many people, about a couple of books a week - now I am lucky if I read a couple of pages ..) as mentioned in earlier post, I have compiled a list of my top 10 humorous (fiction) books - please add to or delete if you so wish / interested - it would be good to get some suggestions for some new books.
1. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13 and 3/4
Sue Townsend This is ripping laugh-out-loud stuff, as well as being warm and endearing. Adrian has everything going against him: he is a spotty, red-faced teenager who lives in a very ordinary neighbourhood, with very ordinary friends, and with a very ordinary and dysfunctional family to boot. And, yet, he is a romantic of sorts: he hopes one day to be a great writer. For all his pretensions, dirty habits, spots and teenage hormones, we are rooting for him.
2. The Van - Roddy Doyle.
Roddy Doyle: you could easily include some of his other books, as well, that are just as funny: 'Paddy Clarke, Ha, Ha, Ha', 'The Commitments' and more. This is wise-crack, working-class, Dublin wit at its best.
3. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
From Dublin himself, but a toff (of sorts) from across the river to where the working class characters of Roddy Doyle live, Oscar Wilde is the wit supreme. Although 'The Importance of Being Earnest' might sound highbrow, it is not. Supremely witty / amusing stuff.
A few famous quotes from play:- "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."- "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.""Oh, I don't think I would care to catch a sensible man. I shouldn't know what to talk to him about."
4. Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan
Borstal Boy is an autobiography - in fictional form - of Behan himself when he was locked up in a boys prison in the UK for being involved in Republican activity. Being locked up isn't funny, but even so, there are lots of wise-crack and warm passages throughout.
5. Rumpole of The Baily - John Mortimer
The claret-swilling, jovial, 'Old Bailey hack', Rumpole spends his life, good-naturedly, pricking the pomposity of the judges and barristers (his colleagues) of London's most famous courthouse, The Old Bailey, whilst avoiding his sharped-tongued wife 'She Who Must Be Obeyed', as well as having to deal with his daily dose of hardened and unpredictable criminals in the courthouse. You would have to have a sense of humour to get through all of that.
6. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Not sure that Huckleberry Finn could be categorized as a humorous book but I, at least, find it 5-star humorous. Huck, free of the shackles of (or the worst aspects of) the contemporary, modern world around him, is just enthralling to follow as he escapes down the Mississippi with Jim. Innocent, warm humour.
7. Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens
I include this mainly because of the wise-crack, good-natured cotney - Sam Weller. "Vell," said Mr. Weller, "Now I s'pose he'll want to call some witnesses to speak to his character, or p'raps to prove a alleybi. I've been a turnin' the bis'ness over in my mind, and he may make his-self easy, Sammy. I've got some friends as'll do either for him, but my adwice 'ud be this here--never mind the character, and stick to the alleybi. Nothing like a alleybi, Sammy, nothing."
There are lots of other great Dickens comic characters one could include here, too, i.e Mr Micawber (David Copperfield), Pumblechook (David Copperfield), Scrooge, and others.
8. All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot
Adventures of a young vet in the harsh but spectacular-looking countryside of the Yorkshire Dales around the time of the Second World War. This isn't really laugh-out-loud, more gentle chuckle. Really good-natured, good-humoured stuff. If this story had taken place now as opposed to 70 or so odd years ago, then it might have been a bit twee but it took place at a time when life was harsh (even for vets), and in particular for the many small-holding farmers living on the remote farms of the Yorkshire Dales at that time.
9. Just William - Richmal Crompton
Children's book. But it still makes me laugh and guffaw (to use a favourite-Dickens word) like I did when I was a kid. William is the eternal good-natured but naughty kid who within 5 minutes, without fail, will manage to get a starched-white shirt covered, perfectly, in mud or dirt.
10. Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour - Surtees
The impoverished English aristocrat / gentleman who manages to live the good life thanks to the generosity (sponging off) others. 19th century, British classic (around time of Charles Dickens).
Any obvious ones missing? Jeeves and Wooster (P.G Wodehouse), for example. I left Jeeves and Wooster out because Jeeves and Wooster is almost an institution now (and would just overshadow all the others - don't you think?)
