On Tuesday 7th October, our 5th Form GCSE and A Level Art and Photography pupils embarked on a trip to London to visit three of the city’s most iconic art galleries: Tate Modern, Tate Britain, and the V&A Museum. The visit aimed to inspire creativity and provide pupils with first-hand experience of works that could influence their own artistic practice.
Upon arrival, A Level Photography pupils set off for the V&A to indulge in its expansive photography collection, whilst Art pupils, headed to Tate Modern. "It was brilliant to walk around the gallery and see pupils reading and talking about the artworks, taking photographs and creating drawings and sketches." commented Head of Art, Mr Field. "Best of all, students got to explore the highlights of the Tate Modern collection which included iconic compositions like Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych, Mark Rothko's Seagram Murals, and Henri Matisse's The Snail."
After spending a couple of hours looking at the works on display, pupils enjoyed lunch in the Turbine Hall before walking along The Thames to catch the Thames Clippers Uber boat to Millbank, arriving at Tate Britain.
Pupils were here introduced to new artistic idols through the impressive display of British art featuring masterpieces by J.M.W. Turner, William Hogarth, William Blake and Francis Bacon.
Mr Field continued, "We allowed students to take their time and explore freely, some even taking the opportunity to purchase tickets to see the major exhibition by the trailblazing surrealist photographer Lee Miller. We arrived promptly back to Kingham at 5:00pm, with newly inspired pupils and ideas ready to explore in the classroom. Pupils have commented on how much they enjoyed the experience and there have been some excellent gallery visit pages completed in their sketchbooks already, we can’t wait to see what outcomes they produce!"