In Brook Street, Mayfair there is an extraordinary couple of houses - turned into a museum. Numbers 23 and 25 were homes to two musicians 200 years apart; Jimi Hendrix in London and the house of George Frideric Handel! Handel House G F Handel was born in Germany in 1685. He moved to London age [...]
Tag: Arts
The Saatchi Gallery in London’s King’s Road
The Saatchi gallery is one of London’s premier contemporary art galleries. It is based in an impressive Grade 2* listed building opened in 1801 as a school for children of soldiers’ widows. From 1892 it served as the Duke of York’s Military School and in 1911 was re-named the Duke of York’s Barracks and became [...]
The Wallace Collection – an opulent townhouse and museum of art
Hertford House The Wallace Collection is a national museum of fine art. It is based in Hertford House, an original London townhouse from the 18th century and one of the best art museums in London, off the beaten track. The museum is situated in Manchester Square, just north of Oxford Street and has a stunning [...]
Highlights from the V&A Museum, British Galleries
The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London is a triumph of Royal patronage, government foresight and public sponsorship spanning back to it’s inception after the Great Exhibition of 1851. We recommend the V&A for its scale, privacy (in many galleries), great restaurants and the exhibits! The Great Exhibition (in London’s Hyde Park) was such [...]
Hampton Court Palace – home of England’s most famous king
Hampton Court Palace was the home of England's most famous king from 1529 until his death in 1547. With sixty acres of gardens and 750 acres of parkland, it was King Henry VIII's weekend and summer retreat from London. Successive monarchs also saw the appeal and the palace was occupied by monarch's of the Stuart [...]
The must-see exhibits at the British Museum (part 2)
Welcome to part two of the ‘Must-see exhibits at the British Museum'! Part one was published in Americans in Town on 1 November 2018 and explored the ground floor galleries. Part two starts in Room 61 and will work clockwise around the entire first floor. Room 61 Here we find artefacts from [...]
The must-see exhibits at the British Museum (Part 1)
In Bloomsbury, London is the world’s finest collection of historical artefacts under one roof - and even the roof is a world-class masterpiece! This article will highlight the must-see exhibits at the British Museum. If you only have time to visit one museum or gallery, you need look no further! The British Museum [...]
The Royal Hospital Chelsea – historical buildings and the finest gardens
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home to around 300 veterans of the British Army. Located on a large site in Chelsea, it offers fabulous walks in the gardens, beautiful art and architecture and an intimate view into the retired lives of the service men and women who live there. These former [...]
Style and grandeur at Chiswick House
One of London’s finest country homes is only a few miles west of central London. Chiswick House was the centre of highly select gatherings of the Earl of Burlington’s family and friends in the 1730’s. And around fifty years later it served the same purpose for the Duke of Devonshire and his sparkling (very ‘modern’) [...]
American art and literature in Tite Street, Chelsea
The district of Chelsea in the south west of London is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (royal owing to Kensington Palace). One particular street in Chelsea was almost an American enclave for artists and writers in the late Victorian period . These included John Singer Sargent (between 1885 and 1925), James [...]