Annie is with us this weekend, so on Thursday, when she arrived from Hull, I took a ride up to a wet and windy London to meet her at the Courtauld Institute. It currently hosts an exhibition of Cézanne's card players. Just one room, but as well as the famous card player paintings, there's also a good collection of sketches, studies and finished portraits of the workers on his family's estate who modelled for the more famous pieces. Delightful collection. Annie is a frequent visitor to the Courtauld, but it was my first time there. The feel of the places is intimate, since it's on a modest scale as art collections go. And it's strange to turn a corner in the permanent collection to find yourself facing a world famous piece like Manet's Déjeuner sur l'Herbe or Renoir's Bar at the Folies Bergères. (Having made a major mistake with a reflection in a piece I've just put in for framing, it's nice to see that Renoir wasn't above playing fast and loose with the laws of physics.) The Courtauld also has a good collection of Degas bronzes of dancers and horses. So go if and whenever you get a chance. I certainly shall.
It's a comforting factor of advancing years that these little trips attract the odd concession or two - £3.60 off the train fare, £1.50 off the gallery entrance and free rides on the buses. (My bus pass finally arrived last weekend, to mark my 60 years, 3 months and 15 days. The age at which one qualifies for a pass is being moved back in line with movement in the female state pension age.)
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