Bird and Anchor: Tate Britain Fail

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
(John Singer Sargent)

The Oracle
(John William Waterhouse)

Lately I had a slight obsession with paintings and painters from the second half of the 19th century, the pre-raphaelite. It is my guilty pleasure as they are often disregarded, in French they are called "peintres pompiers" to sort of make fun of the style. But I like it, especially John William Waterhouse and Gabriel Dante Rossetti.

Quite a few of their paintings are at the Tate Britain and I couldn't wait to go. I visited the website and planned my visit. We went there on Saturday only to discover that most of the museum is closed for refurbishment. That wasn't pointed out at any point on the website. Anyway, I didn't lose hope right away and found the 1890 room. I right away saw the Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent but I was disappointed by how high it was hanged and by the light reflecting on the glass. I went around the room and found a Waterhouse, a very beautiful one, The Oracle. Same again, it was hanged very high. And then nothing else. I asked a museum attendant if there were any other Waterhouse and any Rossetti at all. Nope. All the Waterhouse and John Everett Millais' Ophelia are currently travelling around the world to go to Washington, Tokyo and Moscow and will be back in maybe 2 years time. As for the Rossettis, they were not on show but I'm not exactly sure what was the explanation.

I must say I was quite disappointed (also by the fact I couldn't afford any of the books I wanted in the museum shop). So here are the one I was hoping to see: