Courtald Gallery - Touring Tuesday - Museum Mile

I am visiting all of the museums listed on the Museum Mile.  You can see a summary of each museum in one spot in this post.  Today I visited the Courtauld Gallery in Westminster.  It is located in the Somerset House, which is a beauty in itself.   This gallery has an affordable admission price of £6, and I was informed by the cashier that my ticket allowed for reentry to the museum until 6pm on the day of purchase.

Some research on the interwebs indicates that the Courtauld Gallery is one of the finest small galleries in the world.  I really enjoyed this museum for several reasons.  First it's not huge so the types of art were well balanced.  Let's be honest, you can really only see so many portraits of naked ladies eating fruit or religious artifacts & murals in the large museums before one looks similar to the next.    

The second reason I really enjoyed the Courtauld Gallery is because of the Impressionist paintings.  For some reason my heart beats a little faster when I enter a gallery of this genre.  I really got excited when I saw a painting by Georges Seurat on the wall.  The painting titled Bridge at Courbevoie depicts a young figure looking at the river from La Grande Jatte.  Be sure to click on the photos below for a larger look.  I had a particular affinity for this painting because Seurat's famous Sunday on La Grande Jatte is hanging at The Art Institute of Chicago (Do you remember Ferris Beuller's friend Cameron staring intently at this painting?).  I have immense love for that painting and Bridge at Courbevoie just adds to my appreciation of Seurat.  

It was a cozy space with great period details.  Even the air vents were classy.

The Courtauld Gallery is easily accessed by the Temple Underground Station on the Circle Line & District Line.  A myriad of busses also stop just outside the doors to Somerset House.

On a side note:

I have certainly increased my knowledge of different London neighborhoods/boroughs through my weekly adventures. Up until just a few days ago, many of the places I visit are self-contained units.  I never put together how incredibly close Leicester Square is to Trafalgar Square.  Oh my goodness, they are ridiculously close.    

My visit to the Courtauld Gallery connected two more areas for me.  The #13 bus took me from Somerset House straight through Trafalgar Square and good old Lord Nelson and his lion protectors.  Imagine the slack-jaw look on my face when this connected in my head.