Newsletter London for fun

Welcome to the London For Fun regular newsletter keeping you up to date with what's new in London`s events.

LONDON FOR FUN Newsletter: 19 January 2010 Issue No.189

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.londonforfun.com
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.) Top 10 London events
2.) Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries
3.) How to unsubscribe

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Top 10 London events
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1 - Turner and the Masters - Turner and the Masters presents a selection of magnificent paintings by JMW Turner (1775-1851) alongside related works by the old masters and contemporaries he hoped to imitate, rival and surpass. Bringing together around one hundred works of supreme historical significance from collections around the world this is the first exhibition to look at Turner’s work in the company of the greatest painters in the preceding history of western art. It reveals his debts and rivalries in exciting, even unpredictable, ways, and explores his reputation as one of the greatest painters of landscape in the European tradition. The exhibition pairs Turner’s works with major paintings by his predecessors, many brought together for the first time, including works by Canaletto, Claude, Cuyp, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Ruisdael, and van de Velde. There is also a pairings with paintings by Turner’s most important contemporaries such as Constable and Bonington. Until 31 January. www.tate.org.uk LAST CHANCE

2 - Verdi's Simon Boccanegra - Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Plácido Domingo makes history singing the title role in Verdi’s gripping political thriller, which is written for a baritone. Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, and James Morris are his co-stars in this moving and tragic story of a father and his lost daughter. 6 February. www.barbican.org.uk

3 - Design Real - Design Real is both a groundbreaking presentation of contemporary design and a unique insight into the mind of its curator, German designer Konstantin Grcic, one of the most influential figures in 21st-century design. Grcic has selected objects currently in serial, industrial production that push boundaries in form and function. The projects, all conceived in the last decade, range from items for everyday use, such as furniture and household products, to objects at the cutting-edge of industry and scientific development. The exhibition features an interactive space specially designed by Grcic where visitors can investigate how the designs interface with society. Until 7 February. www.serpentinegallery.org

4 - Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 - The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 presents the very best in contemporary portrait photography, showcasing the work of some of the most talented emerging young photographers, alongside that of established professionals, photography students and gifted amateurs. This year's competition attracted over 2,400 photographers who together submitted more than 6,300 images. The resulting exhibition of sixty works, includes the four prize-winners and the winner of the Godfrey Argent Award. Until 14 February. www.npg.org.uk

5 - Lucia di Lammermoor - The most dramatic of all Donizetti's operas — loosely based on Sir Walter Scott's darkly brooding tragedy — returns to ENO. Dazzling soprano Anna Christy stars as the childlike bride, tricked into a politically advantageous marriage by her abusive older brother, with bel canto tenor Barry Banks as the Byronic outcast with whom she falls desperately, madly, murderously, in love. Antony Walker, Music Director of Pittsburgh Opera and the first recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Award, makes his Company debut in one of the most richly lyrical, yet psychologically acute operas in the entire Italian romantic repertoire. From 4 February until 26 February. www.eno.org

6 - Irving Penn Portraits - Devoted to one of the greatest photographers of his generation who died recently, the exhibition will include over 120 prints from Penn's seven-decade career ranging from his early portraits for Vogue in 1944 to some of his last work. The exhibition is a survey of Penn's portraits of major cultural figures brought together from many international collections. Portraits include Truman Capote, Salvador Dalì, Marlene Dietrich, Christian Dior, T.S. Eliot, Duke Ellington, Alfred Hitchcock, Nicole Kidman, Willem de Kooning, Jessye Norman, Rudolph Nureyev, Edith Piaf, Pablo Picasso, Harold Pinter, Igor Stravinsky, and Tennessee Williams. From 18 February until 6 June. www.npg.org.uk

7 - Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 - Brit Insurance Designs of the Year has established itself as a leading showcase of the most innovative and forward thinking designs from around the world, supporting the critically acclaimed Brit Insurance Design Awards. A number of internationally respected design experts have been invited to nominate up to five projects, each of which in their view, represents the best or the most interesting designs produced or launched in the last year. The Brit Insurance Design Awards celebrate the best of design in seven categories: Architecture, Transport, Graphics, Interactive, Product, Furniture and Fashion. Until 6 June. www.designmuseum.org

8 - Quilts 1700-2010 - The V&A will present its first ever exhibition of British quilts, with examples dating from 1700 to the present day - a unique opportunity to view the V&A's unseen quilt collection as well as key national loans. Earliest examples include a sumptuous silk and velvet bedcover, with an oral narrative that links it to King Charles II's visit to an Exeter manor house in the late 17th century. Recent examples will include works by leading artists such as Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin and commissions for the exhibition by a number of contemporary artists including Sue Stockwell and Caren Garfen. From 20 March until 4 July. www.vam.ac.uk

9 - Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance drawings - A unique collaboration between the Uffizi in Florence and the British Museum, the display charts the increasing importance of drawing during this period, featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Angelico, Jacopo and Gentile Bellini, Botticelli, Carpaccio, Filippo Lippi, Mantegna, Michelangelo, Verrocchio and Titian. In 15th-century Italy there was a fundamental shift in style and artistic thinking in the use of preparatory drawings. What began as a means of preserving artistic ideas became the ideal way to perfect more naturalistic forms and perspective – a new approach by painters, sculptors and architects. From 22 April until 25 July. www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

10 - Henry Moore - Radical, experimental and avant garde, Henry Moore (1898-1986) was one of Britain’s greatest artists. This major exhibition will re-assert his position at the forefront of progressive twentieth-century sculpture, bringing together the most comprehensive selection of his works for a generation. Henry Moore will present over 150 significant works including stone sculptures, wood carvings, bronzes and drawings. Henry Moore will reveal the range and quality of Moore’s art in new ways – sometimes uncovering a dark and erotically charged dimension that challenges the familiar image of the artist and his work. Henry Moore first emerged as an artist in the wake of the First World War, in which he served on the Western Front. This exhibition will emphasise the impact on Moore’s work of its historical and intellectual contexts: the trauma of war, the advent of psychoanalysis and new ideas of sexuality, and the influence of primitive art and surrealism. From 24 February until 8 August. www.tate.org.uk

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries:

Events listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/events-in-London.htm

Theatre listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-theatres.htm

Museum listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-museums.htm

Galleries listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/galleries-in-London.htm

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Unsubscribe