My hubby loves London. He says it is home and so when I found an exhibition about the City I decided to take him to it. Set in the majestic Guildhall Art Gallery it was all about cityscapes through the years. We took the underground to Bank and we walked alongside the vaults where gold ingots are kept ( 310 tonnes to be exact) and gold statues feature above. Perched atop the cupola surmounting this dome is a gilded bronze figure called Ariel, by Charles Wheeler after the spirit of the air in The Tempest. We saw modern towers in between the heritage buildings and admired the grand Guildhall.

The earliest painting was dated 1688 where there is little beyond the banks of the Thames.

This painting is attributed to Johannes Vorsterman in 1678 and it is a painting of London from Greenwich Hill. The view from One Tree hill. This is a stunning painting but I think the frame enhances it even more. My friend Suzy has shown me how to appreciate these frames.

This picture shows the river pageant when Alderman William Pickett became Lord Mayor of the city of London in 1789, painted by Francis Wheatley and Richard Paton. That was quite an occasion but this pageant was abandoned in 1857 –

This shows the Big City in another light, that of the council estates and the graffiti all over the walls. This big scape was done by David Hepher. “I wanted to paint something that everyone could relate to, nondescript ordinary high rise towers.”

As the years progress these scenes evolve. Can you see St Paul’s in the shadows? The chaos of the big city below. Some in realism and some in more abstract forms but all with the city as a focal point.

And when you have had enough of the art a restaurant awaits around the corner complete with artificial flowers and blankets for the customers brave enough to sit outside!