London in the Company of Artists

From an artistic perspective, London is the center of various styles and directions. It appears both as a new Rome and as a bourgeois amusement park in the style of Impressionism, as well as an external manifestation of inner turmoil in the spirit of Romanticism. It reflects the grim truth of life, a terrible waking nightmare. All this exists here and does not interfere with each other, since London, with its size, age, and legendary stature, encompasses all these different versions of itself.

This album contains numerous images of London captured by artists over the past four centuries. The text is structured as a description of a route from west to east along the Thames, both on the northern and southern banks of the river, where we will visit the most famous and some lesser-known places. Such a journey can be made in space, but in time it is only possible through works of art. You will be presented with views of Buckingham Palace, gradually changing its appearance over its centennial history, and a close look at the frozen Serpentine of the 1960s will transport you to a skating scene painted nearly 200 years ago. You will see how great buildings turn to dust, while great monuments rise from the ruins. Coronations and uprisings, summer days and winter fairs come in turn. Views of peaceful London and war-torn London are revealed. You will see works by the world's most famous artists—Turner, Monet, and Canaletto—as well as those whose names history does not even remember. Yet the entire album is filled with the unique spirit of London. And, of course, it all begins on the Thames…