Tiger Seen on Shaftesbury Avenue : The National Gallery's Grand Tour

In June 2007, full-size color reproductions of forty-four of the National Gallery's most famous paintings were hungcomplete with frames and wall textson pub walls and in alleys throughout London. From Titian'sBacchus and Ariadneand Holbein'sThe Ambassadorsto Seurat'sBathers at Asnieresand Monet'sThe Water-Lily Pond, these masterpieces presented the public with a "Grand Tour" of the collection, inviting them to consider the meaning, power, and subtlety of art. This delightful book documents this exhibition and viewers' effusive reactions to it. Organized into three sectionsSoho, Covent Garden, and Chinatown to Piccadillythe book features images of the paintings taken by passers-by, including Rousseau'sSurprised!on Shaftesbury Avenue, along with insightful and witty comments from Londoners, tourists, and museum curators alike. Also included are reviews from theObserver,Independent, andGuardian Unlimitedwhich declared theGrand Tourthe Gallery's "best show ever"that together capture and convey the excitement of this unique project.

Andrew Graham-Dixon is an art historian, writer, and broadcaster.