At the Courtauld, London

 Bill and I love London's Courtauld Gallery.

It belongs on the short list of galleries of even the most time-pressed art lovers.

It is situated in the elegant Georgian Somerset House which was built in the 1770s.

 The first room you enter is filled with precious early Renaissance paintings like this Bernardo Daddi from 1348.

Photography is allowed so we had fun taking pictures of art we wanted to remember.

Like these two panels by Borghese di Piero Borghese from The Story of Saints Julitta and Quiricus,1448

Bill and I went with our friend Shelley Savor. This is The Assasination of Saint Peter Martyr, 1509, from the workshop of Giovanni Bellini.

We had all the time in the world. It was fun to plop myself down and just gaze at that Rubens over the fireplace.

The Courtauld is famous for its outstanding Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pieces. This unfinished work is Lady with a Parasol by Edgar Degas, c. 1870.

We're always pleased to see a Chaim Soutine. This is his Young Woman in a White Blouse, 1923.

Shelley and I looked for a long time at one of the gallery's highlights

Manet's The Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1881-82.

Do you find that the people in galleries are often as interesting as the art?

Bill and Shelley scamper up to the third floor galleries.

Shelley and I between two exquisite Paul Cézannes.

The paintings on the right are Cézanne's The Card Players and Man with a Pipe.

Detail of Man with a Pipe.

Vincent Van Gogh's stunning Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, 1889.

I loved Paul Gauguin's opulent odalisque,  

Nevermore, O Tahiti, 1897.

If you need any more convincing to visit the Courtauld we'll leave you with these two little George Seurat studies: Man Painting a Boat

and The Angler, both 1894.