The Sound of Music
This delightful tour takes place in England’s first purpose built gallery, and focuses on the paintings in which music plays a prominent role. From St Cecilia at her organ to Gainsborough’s double portrait of the two musical Linley sisters and Gerrit Dou’s paintings of women playing a harpsichord and a virginal, we listen to different types of music and see how these two arts are interwoven through the ages.
The Pre-Raphaelites: Fairytale & Fantasy
The Tate Modern boasts some of the most popular and beautiful of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Known for their anti-establishment views and battling against 19th century industrialisation, the Pre-Raphaelites yearned for what they saw as the simplicity of the medieval world; an idyll peopled by flame-haired women and knights, where rural life and love triumph over modern, urban mores. This tour invites viewers into the subversive worlds of William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Turner. We also see the dappled, sunlit spaces of John Singer Sargeant, delving into his 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' and Lady Agnew of Lochlaw. This is an uplifting journey through some of Tate Britain's most iconic nineteenth century works.
The Impressionists: Art & Modernity
One of the world’s most loved art movements, this tour introduces the vibrancy and luminosity of the Impressionists’ paintings. From Monet’s shimmering waterlilies, his frosty snow scene to Renoir’s bustling Parisian scenes, and Morisot’s shady gardens and dappled light, discover the immersive qualities of these works and what makes this group of artists quite so radical.
Treasures from a Private Collection
Once a private home this incredible collection is now ours to explore. It is hard not to be drawn in by the scrumptious and opulent surroundings but we will find time to discover the Laughing Cavalier and Fragonard's Swing, as well as Chinese treasures from the Summer Palace, Madame du Pompadour’s tea service and exquisite examples of medieval armour.
From Picasso to Pop Art
Spanning more than 100 years of work, this tour includes historical names like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, as well as other contemporary pioneers such as Leonora Carrington and Anish Kapoor. We celebrate the incredible treasure trove of art housed in this former electrical sub station by focusing on some of the stand out pieces in this world-class collection.
Pack Your Passport.
No need stress about catching your plane on time, skip those airport queues and holiday vaccinations, just come on a whistle stop tour of the world and it's treasures at the Victoria and Albert Museum. With over two million artefacts that span thousands of years we will focus on our favourite art works to give a snapshot of this incredible collection.
Barbie
The V&A's base in Bethnal Green, this Victorian Pump Station is a light-filled, beautiful and newly renovated space repurposed with children at its heart. The Young V&A specialises in objects for and by children. On this tour, children can practice their phonics through an A to Z of objects ancient to modern, and encounter Joey, the horse puppet from War Horse along with exclusive videos of the puppets at auction. This is an interactive tour, where children can crawl through Alice's Looking Glass, dress-up and perform on stage and walk through a magical stage set of dollhouses. There is soft play amongst board games your Granny would recognise and of course, the history of Barbie in all her forms.
Clerkenwell Architecture Walk
This walking tour is a deep-dive into the fascinating history of Islington's most creative district. We compare the sites of medieval mystery plays with Sadlers Wells, Amin Taha's controversial limestone exoskeleton building, opposite St James' Church where Pocahontas' son was married and the site of a Protestant Martyrs' Memorial. We wander through Exmouth Market stopping for coffee or something stronger en route, via a Byzantine inspired church on the edge of a now playground with a murky past, a Post-War estate with wall-fixed drop-down ironing boards for ease of household chores, and finish in one of London's most lovely Georgian Squares for more refreshment. Perfect for an after-work treat. One free drink each is provided to couples on a date! This is available as an adult tour only.
Taste the Rainbow
A new, exciting tour where children discover seven objects, one of each colour of the rainbow, ranging from a red lacquer Qing Imperial Throne to an Art Deco indigo bracelet. Children have the chance to design a piece of jewellery themselves and engage in role play and drawing. We also encounter an 18th century robotic tiger and learn the origins of the phrase 'sleep tight' and see a Jacobean four poster bed which slept four couples at once (apparently!).
Monarchs and Miniatures
This tour explores some of the most famous faces in British culture from the 8th century to today. The National Portrait Gallery's recent refurbishment brilliantly showcases the best of their collection which we explore in this tour. From royalty to rock stars and politicians to poets, we meet these characters and learn their stories in portraits, drawings, miniatures and sculpture. This is glamour, power, war, the ugly and mundane through the looking glass of portraiture. The National Portrait Gallery is unique in owning four portraits of the six queens of Henry VIII, and also the earliest full-length portrait of an Englishwoman. This tour includes a deep dive into the miniature tradition, its techniques and history. These portraits were created to be held in the hand or carried on the person, to keep absent friends or lovers literally close to the owner's heart. The English miniature tradition is world-renowned and these tiny portraits reflect the ideals of the Renaissance owner in a unique way.
The Dinosaur Trail: How the T-Rex Got His Teeth
What did a T-Rex sound like? How big were his teeth? What did a Triceratops use his frill for? And why did some dinosaurs have feathers?
We'll meet a sleeping psittaocosaurus and see the most complete Stegasaurus skeleton in the world. This tour will also highlight some of the Natural History Museum's most precious treasures: a dodo skeleton, a fragment of moon rock, and the oldest item in the collection- a 4.6 billion year old meteorite. Above them all soars Hope, the so-named Blue Whale skeleton. Proto-museums exhibited the weird and wonderful of the natural world in 'cabinets of curiosities': this tour inspires children's curiosity and wonder with the incredible collections of this world-class museum.
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Once you have purchased your ticket(s), please be in touch with us at info@mamamonet.co.uk to choose an available date and time for your tour, if you have not already done so
