From Bankside to the City of London - the view from Tate Modern

St Paul's Cathedral from Tate Modern

8" x 10"pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This last week (see note at end) I've sat in the Tate Modern at Bankside twice and sketched the view it offers of the City of London on the north bank of the River Thames. Both sketches are as completed on site in about 45 minutes using a very basic sketching kit.

• On Tuesday I had lunch next to the window in the 7th floor restaurant and watched the tidal river retreat as I drew St Pauls Cathedral (and the cranes). It's currently undergoing stone cleaning and has a rather horrendous plastic covering at one end.
• Yesterday I sat a little further along next to the window in the Friends Room on the 6th floor - with Shirley (of Paper and Threads) - and this time drew the former NatWest Tower and the Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe) - and yet more cranes. Later on, as I walked down Cheapside - going east from St Paul's I began to realise why I could see so many cranes! They seem to be completely redeveloping this area.

The Nat West Tower And the Gherkin from Tate Modern Friends Room
8" x10" pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Note for Shirley - I've just found out that the former NatWest Tower has a bar called Vertigo 42 at the top (currently being refurbished)! Maybe we'll go for broke on aerial views on your next visit?

PS I may not post tomorrow as I'm out at two more exhibitions - this time with Vivien Blackburn. We're going to see the Pastels Society Exhibition at the Mall Galleries and Renoir's Landscapes at the National Gallery.

Note re Tate Modern - take from 'The Building' section of their website:

By about 1990 it was clear that the Tate Collection had hugely outgrown the original Tate Gallery on Millbank.....Tate Modern was created in the year 2000 to display the national collection of international modern art (defined as art since 1900).....An immediate problem was whether the modern art gallery should be a new building or a conversion of an existing building, if a suitable one could be found. As a result of extensive consultations, particularly with artists, it was decided to search for a building to convert. When the building that is now Tate Modern presented itself, it appeared something of a miracle. It was a former power station that had closed in 1982, so it was available. It was a very striking and distinguished building in its own right, by the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It offered all the space that was required. Not least, it was in an amazing location on the south bank of the River Thames opposite St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London. Plans were almost immediately formulated to build a footbridge to link the new gallery to the City. The fact that the original Tate Gallery was also on the river made a satisfactory symmetry, and meant that the two could be linked by a riverboat service.

Note: This is another post relating to travels with my sketchbook which was originally posted to Making a Mark on March 2nd 2007. An index for all London-oriented blog posts is being developed for and will be posted as a summary in the side column of this blog.

Links:

• Tate Modern
• St Paul's Cathedral
• 30 St Mary Axe (the 'Gherkin')
• Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street ( the former 'NatWest Tower')

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