No Need to Fly “Across the Pond” to See London’s National Gallery

This is a post by Abby Popper, JBFC Public Relations

You can sit, not stand in line, avoid crowds, AND have the best tour ever both in front of and behind the scenes of London’s National Gallery in this richly detailed film by the great documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (Crazy Horse, Titicut Follies, Boxing Gym). Not only can you tour the great artwork of Holbein, da Vinci, Stubbs, van Gogh, J. M. W. Turner, Rubens, Rembrandt, and many other old masters, you will sit in on art classes, lectures by experts, watch restorers and conservationists at work, listen in on staff meetings where they discuss fundraising and marketing issues, and be a guest at the opening night of a Turner exhibit – sorry, no champagne will be served, but you can buy popcorn. (By the way, the movie Mr. Turner is now playing at the Burns!). Who could guess that you can do all of this and never leave Westchester?

Wiseman, who was trained as a lawyer and taught law at Boston University’s Institute of Law and Medicine before becoming a documentary filmmaker, has won numerous film awards, as well as Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships. He produces and directs all his films and primarily studies social institutions (hospitals, police departments, high schools). His style is often referred to as “observational” by others but he feels that he edits his films so that they have a dramatic structure. He feels that the term “observational” connotes just hanging around. National Gallery definitely has drama.

So sit yourself down here at the JBFC on February 23 at 7:00 pm and go to London for a few hours. Tickets are on sale now!