James McNeill Whistler

This Week in London – Dinosaurs that ruled the seas; James McNeill Whistler; and, Lambeth Palace Garden…

by exploringlondon
A mososaur skull. PICTURE: Trustees of the Natural History Museum.

• Come face-to-face with some of the deadliest predators ever to rule the oceans in a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Opening tomorrow, Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep allows visitors to see the tooth of a mosasaur – described as the T Rex of the sea – up close, touch a cast of a Baryonyx claw and see a complete plesiosaur. There’s also the chance to hold Jurassic poo and take part in the Fierce Factor trail in a bid to find out which creature deserves to be crowned the most ferocious predator in the sea. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/jurassic-oceans.html .

James McNeill Whistler,
Arrangement in Gray: Portrait of the Painter, c 1872, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Henry
Glover Stevens in memory of Ellen P Stevens and Mary M Stevens,
34.27.

• Europe’s largest retrospective of the works of American artist James McNeill Whistler in 30 years opened at Tate Britain in Millbank today. James McNeill Whistler brings together 150 works ranging from the iconic Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, four major self-portraits from across his career and previously unseen sketchbooks. Other highlights include his largest landscapes such as Coast of Brittany (1861) and Wapping (1860-4) and the largest assembly of his Nocturne landscapes seen in three decades, such as Nocturne in Blue and God: Valparaiso (1865-74) and Nocturne: Blue and Gold – St Mark’s, Venice (1880). Runs until 27th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

• The story of London’s continuously cultivated gardens – Lambeth Palace Garden – is being told in a new exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library. Over the wall charts the garden from its origins in medieval orchards to today’s landscapes and displays items from the library’s collections connected to that ongoing story. Entry is free. Runs until 22nd July. There’s a special Lambeth Palace Garden open evening being held tonight – prebooking is essential. For more, see www.lambethpalacelibrary.info/exhibitions/over-the-wall/.

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10 (more) historic London garden squares…10. Fitzroy Square…

by exploringlondon

This Georgian square, like the nearby (and famous) Fitzroy Tavern, Fitzroy Street and Fitzrovia itself, owes its names to the FitzRoy family who owned the land on which it was built.

It was Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton, who had the area developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the aim of creating a desirable location for aristocratic families to live.

It was completed in stages with residences along the eastern and southern sides built first – from the 1790s – by Robert and James Adam (the southern side was destroyed in the Blitz but has been rebuilt).

The Napoleonic Wars then interrupted construction and it wasn’t until the late 1820s and early 1830s that the northern and western sides were completed.

Notable residents included painter James McNeill Whistler (number eight), Sir Charles Eastlake, first director of the National Gallery (number seven), Prime Minister Lord Salisbury (number 21 – now home to the High Commission of Mozambique), George Bernard Shaw (number 29 – later also briefly home to Virginia Woolf), and artists Ford Madox Brown (number 37) and Roger Fry (number 33)

In more recent times, the square has been home to the likes of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell (number six), and novelist Ian McEwan (number 11 – he made the square the main location for his 2005 novel, Saturday).

The garden was first laid out in about 1790, initially just for the use of residents. Monuments now include Naomi Blake’s View, erected for the Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The square was largely pedestrianised in the 1970s and upgraded in 2008.

PICTURES: Top – View of Fitzroy Square from the former BT Tower (Rain Rabbit/CC BY-NC 2.0/image cropped); Below – View (James Stringer/CC BY-NC 2.0/)