Mozart – National Art Gallery!

We all had such an amazing time at the National Art Gallery in London today! The children were so excited to visit, and we were very impressed with their great behaviour throughout the day.

When we arrived at the gallery, we were immediately taken on a tour. During this tour, we discussed and took a closer look at three paintings, one of which was ‘A Shipwreck on Stormy Seas’ itself! The children were clearly so excited to see this painting in person having been learning about it in depth over the last few months. I was also very impressed with how enthusiastic they were about answering questions and debating the meaning behind each of the paintings. What a great start to our visit!

After this, we went and had some lunch, before then heading to the Creative Hub. To our surprise, there was a stormy soundscape playing in the background, so the children could imagine that they were on the shipwreck themselves! In this hub, we were informed of our next task – to draw a figure to attach to the gallery’s whole school installation. So, we revisited one of the rooms in the gallery and spent time looking at one painting in particular, before the children were asked to have a go at replicating the characters’ poses in small groups. They used this, as well as a discussion about how the characters’ in the picture might be feeling, to then have a go at drawing their own figures to cut out and add to the installation.

We then went and had a look at the Take One Picture exhibition, which was fantastic! It was amazing to see so many different schools’ projects (some from Northampton!), and many of the children expressed hope that the suitcases they have been creating will be a part of this exhibition one day.

Finally, we took our sketchbooks and sat in front of the oil painting ‘Bacchus and Ariadne,’ ready to choose our favourite parts of the painting to sketch. The children really enjoyed this part and produced some lovely sketches using the different techniques they have developed this year!

Well done Mozart for being brilliant, as always. I hope you all really enjoyed your experience at the gallery today!

See you tomorrow,

Miss Robson