Ballet, dinner and exhibitions

[wellinghall]

We're going to London tomorrow, to see "Alice in Wonderland" at the London Coliseum. Before that, we're thinking of going to an exhibition or two. Currently on our shortlist are:
- Velazquez, Cezanne and Dutch winter scenes, at the National Gallery
- English 16th / 17th century silver from Russia, at Somerset House
- Holbein (but this is a bit more out of the way).

Has anyone been to any of these? Also, can anyone recommend somewhere for a pre-theatre dinner in the area?

Comments

[arda-unmarred.livejournal.com]

It's at the Tate.

[arda-unmarred.livejournal.com]

I've been to the Holbein. It's good and big, though his portraits do get a bit repetitive after a while :) But the National Gallery exhibitions also sound good, I know dreiviertel has been to the Velazquez.

[tree_and_leaf]

The HOlbein exhibition is extremely good, although the labels aren't particularly helpful. But it does have some good pictures which are normally on the Continent. The drawing of Thomas More and his family is particularly good.

[wildfyre.livejournal.com]

joosetta went to the Velazquez exhibition and said it was great. No idea about the others, though.

Re dinner, if you're in Covent Garden then there's a fantastic restaurant at One Aldwych, though quite pricey. Sarastro on Drury Lane is amazing, though I've only ever been to the opera dinner thing.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I've been to the Velazquez and enjoyed it a lot, starting from a basis of almost-zero knowledge about the artist. (I like to learn about people new to me!) The audio guide was well worth it and gave a good pace to the exhibition (which took about 1.5 hours). If you're there, I also highly recommend the free temporary display (Manet to Picasso) in the basement of the Sainsbury Wing (and the film clips in the little auditorium down there are extremely good both in themselves and as a way to take the weight off your feet!)

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

Being me, didn't go in any of the paid-for exhibits at the National, but Manet to Picasso was great, and filled a good length of time (over an hour, maybe nearing 2? I can't quite remember) as we took quite a deep interest in each painting and sat down to take the paintings in several times. Of course, taking the opportunity to see the paid-fors is a good idea since they'll be going soon, although Manet to Picasso isn't going to be hung there, like that, for much longer either. The rest of the National is great too, don't do what we did and try and look at everything in one day though, or your brain will explode.