A Visit to the British Natural History Museum

Central Hall: Stitched Photo; Darwin Statue; Diplodocus; A Monkey Looks Down on Darwin


The Natural History Museum in Kensington has always been a must-visit museum for us, so when we finally got to spend a few days in London, it was at the top of the list of things to see. And, it did not disappoint. Entering the central hall and walking around the diplodocus is worth the price of admission alone (oh wait, it’s free to enter). Be sure to climb the stairs and get as high as you can to get great views of the hall. From on high, you can really appreciate the details of the construction and design including some 78 monkeys climbing three of the arches, some looking down into the hall and at the statue of Darwin. And, look up because there are plants on the ceiling! The ceiling panels “show plant species of economic importance in Britain, such as tea, coffee and cotton.”

The museum opened to the public in 1881, but the museum collection goes back to 1753, when Sir Hans Sloane (1660 – 1753) left his collection to the nation. It was Richard Owen (1804 – 1892) who took charge of the collection and persuaded the Government to fund the current building. It was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (1830 – 1905) in the German Romanesque style, with substantial input from Owen. On its opening, the museum was hailed as ‘a true temple of nature’ and ‘the animal’s Westminster Abbey’.

The statue of Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) – for now – sits serenely watching over the central hall, glowing in white marble. Richard Owen, who opposed the theory of evolution by natural selection, stands in dark bronze in an out-of-the-way location under a stairwell. I believe the statue of Owen was facing that of Darwin’s bulldog, Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 – 1985). No rest for poor Owen. Richard Fortey, in Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum, says: “Oddly, the dark bronze of Owen seems more out of place, as if its metallic heaviness were symbolic of the arguments lost to the presiding genius of Darwin, beatified in marble.” The statue of Owen looks like a statue of Darth Vader on first glance.

Right: A Group Poses Next to Darwin, Girl Sneaks a Peak at Darwin; Right: Statue of Richard Owen Looking Like Darth Vader
 


But one can’t stay in the central hall forever as there are many things to see. In our 6 hours of meandering around, including a break for lunch, we hardly scratched the surface of the museum. To help you organize your visit, the museum has a color coding scheme of blue, green, red, and orange zones, each representing a theme. It’s worth consulting the floor plans before visiting so you can make the most of your time there. Some things we saw and recommend:

Green zone

• Central Hall - discussed above.
• Minerals - Wow. The room is overwhelming, but is a good look at how the museum appeared to the first visitors in 1881. From the information board in the room: “This gallery houses the Museum’s scientific collection of minerals, which is one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world. Some 12,600 specimens are on display here, representing over 2,000 of the 3,700 known mineral species.” Be sure to go all the way through to the end of the room to reach The Vault, which contains rare and beautiful specimens.

Blue zone

• Mammals (blue whale) - The centerpiece of the room is the blue whale model. I think I read somewhere in the gallery that the model is considered to be a bit wider than a normal blue whale. Still, very impressive.
• Dinosaurs - I found this room a bit confusing, hot, and claustrophobic. The museum has constructed a one-way path that culminates with an animated T. rex. It felt a little contrived, like being in a big dinosaur-mambo line, a big tease to the beast. I suppose it’s the only practical way to control the flow of people. And, you just have to go to this room if you visit the museum.
• Speaking of dinosaur, Sir Richard Owen coined the term meaning “terrible lizard”.

Orange zone

• Darwin Center – An eight-story, cocoon-shaped structure that houses working spaces for staff conducting research and museum space. Go up to the top to enter the cocoon. It doesn’t have the immediate impact as the blue whale or the T. rex, but does have beautiful exhibits and intriguing spaces when you take the time to explore it.

Red zone

• We whizzed through this part because we were running out of time. We would not recommend starting with these galleries if you are on tight schedule.

Mammal (Blue Whale) Gallery: Both Ends


Left: Ceiling Panels Depicting Plants;  Right: Central Hall with Diplodocus


Left: Red Zone; Right: Blue Zone - Dinosaur Gallery



The Mineral Gallery and Information About the Layout
 

More Photographs of the Central Hall of the British Natural History Museum: Monkeys, Beams, and Arches
 

 

London Graffiti and Street Art Tour

Left: Paul Don Smith; Center: Pure Evil “Keith Haring”; Right: Steam 156 Sticker
  
We took the London Street Art and Graffiti Tour a few weeks ago while in London for a few days. The tour provides a fascinating glimpse into a fascinating aspect of London culture. We highly recommend the tour. Our only regret is that we didn’t sign up for the longer tour. We only did the two hour tour and we never made it over to Brick Lane (and we’ve been kicking ourselves for it ever since).

We met the tour guide Frank (aka Steam 156) at Old Station near coffee shop in Shoreditch neighborhood neighborhood of London. At the end of two hours, I’m not sure we were really grokking the subtle difference between street art and graffiti, but we were loving it anyway and we were able to start telling different artists styles.

Artists we saw on the tour – and, by not means, at all complete are shown below. Enjoy!

Ben Wilson [UK] – you’ll never look at gum on the sidewalk the same way again.

Ben Eine [UK] – It’s all about the lettering. “Worth More”

Paul Don Smith [UK] – stencil-based work, that is everywhere when you start to look. For an explanation of the black banker silhouette image that he uses as a tag, see interview London Art Spot: Paul “DON” Smith at the Little London Observationalist (great title).

Teddy Badden – Like dogs? Check out his work.

Conor Harrington* [Irish] - historic and hypermodern work. Bio.

Gregos [French] – sculpture, faces.

Andy Seize [UK] – bright colors, superheroes, cartoons.

Otto Schade* [Chile] – surrealist images.
Mobstr – It’s all about the words.

Banksy – We did not see any Banksy work on the tour. It was either removed or blocked from view.

Endless [UK] – cultural references. Left: Shoreditch; Right: Soho

Invader [French] – pixelation with tiles.

Stik [UK] – Well, stick-like figures.

Left: Cityzen Kane [UK] – sculpture, interview, YouTube channel.
Right: ROA [Belgium] – black and white animals.

Left: Phlegm [UK] – monochrome images of elongated creature in fantastical settings.
Right: Pez [Spain] – happy, smiling fish. www.el-pez.com and Lily Mixe [French] – patterns, sea creatures.

Left: C215 [French] - stencil work.
Right: Jana and JS [Austria/French] (partnership) – stencils, people.

Alice Pasquini* [Italy] - people, and to my eye, it’s about the eyes.

Swoon* [USA] - life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of human figures.

Bortusk Leer - happy monsters on newspaper.

Pure Evil – aka Charles Uzzell Edwards - Crying pop stars, nightmare series.

Left: RONE [Australia]
Right: Mysterious Al [UK] – street franks (Frankensteins).

Left: Scatterugly (aka Mala influncia) [Mexico] – the not-so-pretty side of life? See this interview.
Right: Faith47 [Cape Town, South Africa] – urban image, human condition.

Left: 616 – reminds me of fish.
Right: Burning Candy Crew - UK’s most prolific nonconsensual painters and decorators. Composed of DSCREET , SWEET TOOF , CYCLOPS, TEK 33, LL BRAINWASHED, CEPT, GOLD PEG, MIGHTY MO and ROWDY.