329 BRITISH MUSEUM by JASON BROOKS

Illustrations from London Sketchbook by Jason Brooks

 I am breaking my rule of only showing images of art works I have seen in the flesh, as it were.  These images are of book illustrations. But the quality of the drawing, and the chance to depict some of the places housing art I have written about, mean that I do not hesitate to include them

The British Museum by Jason Brooks. The Great Court at the British Museum, Bloomsbury, is one of London's most spectacular public spaces. If you are here, seek out the Enlightenment Room – the ultimate Victorian cabinet of curiosities.

 'The Great Court is one of London's most  stunning public spaces, with incredible light and that extraordinary glass roof. I love the confident and simple way the space is arranged, so I wanted a very symmetrical view across a double page'. Jason Brooks

It's a drawing which captures the breathtaking spaciousness  and freedom which greets the visitor walks. Of course glimpsed from the entrance at ground level (and being perhaps one of a record-breaking  6,701,036 visitors in 2013) the initial impact is lively and a little confusing. But not for long. It is impossible to stand in that space and not appreciate what feels like limitless opportunities to go this way or that, up or down, to ponder one work or to march briskly through  a continent.

The Saatchi Gallery by Jason Brooks

'I love the cavernous white spaces: they make me imagine what I would like to create and display here. It's always an inspiring place to visit'  Jason Brooks

 A private gallery in Chelsea, white as snow, with numbered rooms and lifts and stairs which offer you  your own private journey. If the British Museum favours ancient art, the Saatchi gallery will present to you art with the paint hardly dry. You turn a corner or glance through an open door and a new artist, a new movement seems to turn too greet you.

Tate Modern by Jason Brooks

'Monumental art that generates great public awareness' Jason Brooks

This magnificent entrance invites children and the young at heart to skip or run or roll down the slope. And there the adventure continues. This space has another important function too: memory. Here stood Louise Bourgeois' huge poetic and terrifying spider; Rachel Whiteread's sculpture of 14,000 plastic boxes(Blog 52) and above all, Al WeiWei's carpet of over one hundred million sunflower seeds (Blog  11) , each individually crafted and hand-painted. I was one of the fortunate few who walked as the artist intended on this magic carpet just before it was declared out of bounds by health and safety regulations.

London Sketchbook, part guide book, part illustrated journal, is by Jason Brooks and was published by Laurence King Publishing in January 2015   
 www.laurenceking.com/

www.jason-brooks.com/