The major autumn gallery shows end in the begging of January and last week I had a lot of catching up to do. On the bank holiday we went to the Tate Modern to see Paul Gauguin, Maker of Myth. A big mistake – not only the end of exhibition, but also a bank holiday means an immense amount of people. A queue to see every painting and by the time you reach the last room you don't really care what's on the wall. All you want is to escape. That could be my New Year's resolution – not to leave until last minute to see exhibitions. Anyway, back to Gauguin. His paintings are pleasant on the eye but none of them struck me as masterpieces. Actually, I wouldn't hang them on my walls. His praised paintings from Tahiti tell a false tale of contemporary times as they illustrate pagan rituals and myths, although at that time Tahiti was already a Christian country.
At the V&A the last days of exhibition on Diaghilev's talents also draw in massive crowds. When Diaghilev started his celebrated Ballet Russes in Paris in 1908, he transformed the world of dance. The exhibition features the costumes, the brochures, the sets and everything looks so luxurious and exotic even to today's audience eyes. The impresario worked with the biggest names of those days – Stravinski, Chanel, Picasso, Satie. After the Great War, when the dance company struggled financially, their annual summer residence in London would provide enough funds for new productions. The crowds at the V&A prove that the British are fascinated with the Russian culture now as much as they were in Diaghilev's days.
Deathtrap is also ending its run at the Noel Coward theatre and I am so happy I managed to get tickets for this comedy thriller with as many twists as laughs in it. The laughs were provided by the magnificent Simon Russell Beale acting and the twists by Ira Levin's writing.
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