19 June - National Museum Cardiff

Now that Taylor Swift and her minions were either out of town or leaving it was safe to venture back into the city, so we headed to the National Museum Cardiff. It was a lovely walk, passing my favorite sign (please tap on window),

past an obelisk with the seal of Great Britain and the Welsh dragon,

past a marvelous statue

past some wonderfully ornate buildings

and arriving at the National Museum Cardiff, itself a grand building.

There was a special exhibit called "Art of the Selfie". It was in fact, an exhibition of self portraits, the featured portrait being by Van Gogh. I suspect the title was meant to be a way of bringing younger visitors to the museum.

It was quite a small exhibition, but I loved it.

Human Being by David Jones 1931:

Self portrait by Angus McBean, 1939:

Bard Attitude by Bedwyr Williams, 2005:

Self Portrait on Garnedd Dafydd by Brenda Chamberlain, 1938:

Study for Self Portrait by Francis Bacon, 1963:

Self portrait by Cedric Morris, 1919:

Direct Gaze 1 by Shani Rhys James, 1997:

Self portrait in a velvet cap and plume, with embroidered dress

by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1648 (etching)

Self Portrait as a Girl, 1900 & Self Portrait, by Edna Clarke Hall, 1920:

Blod by Anya Paintsil, 2022:

Just outside the selfie gallery was the pottery collection which was extensive and covered hundreds of years. I was particularly fond of some of these more modern pieces:

Out of One's Depth by Ruth Barrett Danes, 1996

Armchair Struggles by Alan and Ruth Barret-Danes, 1979:

Predator Pot 2 by Alan and Ruth Barrett-Danes, 1978:

This old guy made me smile. Uncredited, Nottingham, about 1750:

There are so many wonderful paintings in this museum and the best part for me was that so many Welsh artists are featured.

Sick Boy with a Cat by John Bowen, about 1950s:

Girl with a Siamese Cat by Brenda Chamberlain, 1951:

Running Away with the Hairdresser by Kevin Sinnott, 1995:

I'm not sure if artist David Shoosmith is Welsh, but his subject certainly is.

Tom Jones by David Shoosmith, 2017:

Chapel and Tip by Denys Short, 1960:

Storm, Port Cwyfan by Kyffin Williams, 1995:

Beech by Moonlight by Merlyn Evans, 1933:

In one of the galleries there was a wall of paintings whose subject was coal mines and miners. (Not all of the artists were Welsh.)

Ben by Jack Crabtree, 1978:

Miners Returning on a Wet Evening, (version III) by John Elwyn, 1953:

Colliers by Colin Jones, 1960:

There were wonderful galleries of Impressionist art in the museum too, and Dutch masters as well, but there's rarely a chance to share art by artists who are essentially unknown outside of the UK and, in some cases outside of Wales, so that's I've chosen to do. Hope you enjoyed it.

In the park just outside the museum I found this sweet little sculpture called Merch (which is Welsh for girl) by Welsh sculptor Robert Thomas.

This was going to be my last day visiting Cardiff, so I had to complete my quest for Welsh foods and I knew just where to do it: Cardiff Castle Cafe. I ordered cawl and the woman at the counter, noticing my American accent, double checked to be sure I knew what it was. I said that I did and she told me to have a seat and she'd bring it right over.

Cawl (pronounced Cowl) is a Welsh soup made with lamb. My cawl arrived and it was delicious. Unlike a typical stew, it had a lovely, light broth and was filled with vegetables; big chunks of potatoes, turnips, carrots, celery and onions. A big crusty roll and butter was served alongside. I honestly didn't think I was hungry, but the cawl was so good that I finished it.

On my way back to the bus, I cut through one of the shopping malls and caught sight of a dragon being escorted to a children's party.

Poor thing couldn't manage the stairs so he was being led down a ramp.

Tomorrow will be a "clean up and pack" day, so this was my last day in the city of Cardiff. How appropriate that a dragon was the last thing I saw before I made my way back to my lovely digs in Wenvoe.