The National Gallery

I walked by this lovely institution t’other day. Promised myself that I must go again, and rather like so many of London’s famous landmarks, realised that I probably wouldn’t ever get round to it.

So back at the office I thought I’d hunt down some of the actual paintings I will never find time to go and see properly. First port of call, The National Gallery website. Ok, so we have some photos, some commentary on the picture, the ability to send the photo to my mobile, and… erm, well, that’s about it.

But I wanted to comment on the paintings I really liked or really hated, I wanted to share these photos with my friends, add to this blog or my Facebook profile, add information on the artist or an interesting anecdote relating to the history of the piece. I wanted to ask questions and have responses from people with a genuine interest. I wanted the whole thing to be housed on Flikr, or Facebook, or another form of interactive social platform where people like me who knew nothing could talk, understand and learn about this crazy classic art nonsense.

More than anything I wanted to be persuaded that, actually, a visit to the gallery itself was worth a few hours out of my day. That when visiting I would know the paintings I wanted to see up close and personal, understand what motivated the artist when he created his piece, understood more of the social context behind the imagery, been provided informative answers on my ignorant questions which would improve both my understanding and desire to explore the matter further.

But a visit to the National Gallery website does none of this. So I probably won’t get round to going anytime soon – my loss, you may say. But the technology is available, the audience willing, but I wonder if proffesional snobbery will always resist taking art from the gallery and onto the net. I hope i’m wrong.