A surprise around every corner Introduction. 1. National Museum Cardiff 2. One Kingsway Millennium Centre National Museum Wales Nereid TIME: 2.5 hours Start on Gorsedd Gardens Road outside Amgueddfa Genedlaethol From the Museum head down Ffordd Y Brenin until you reach the START: National Museum Wales Caerdydd, National Museum Cardiff one of several fine Welsh muse- office block, One Kingsway. Here you will see a thin, elegant figure FINISH: Cardiff Bay ums. This impressive building houses the first oil painting by Picasso holding a bird in her left hand, a little like Picasso’s famous dove of MILES: 2.6 miles ever to enter a Welsh public collection. Still Life with Poron was bought peace. This is Nereid (1996) by Nathan David, and that curved form by the museum in 2009. It was painted in Paris in 1948 and references she’s standing on is a wave, hence the fish at her feet. the hugely influential artistic style which Picasso developed 40 years This architecture and design-rich walk will take you through the Welsh earlier: Cubism. capital, from one of the best museums in the UK to one of the architec- Keep walking until you reach Queen Street and turn left. Continue tural wonders of the modern world. Along the way you will encounter Picasso was a powerful influence on British artists in the late 1940s. down Queen Street, and take the third right into Churchill Way. surreal giant fists, stunning futuristic buildings and a gigantic hidden Take a look at the works here in the museum by the Welsh painters egg. like Ceri Richards and you will spot the same spiky forms and frac- tured objects. You can access this walk via your mobile phone on, www.bbc.co.uk/modernmasters You will also find some fine Picasso ceramics here, as well as four works on paper, three prints and a drawing from his famous Blue Pe- riod. The highlight is the colourful Bullfight in Red and Yellow (1959), Or text the code ART WALK to 81010, and you’ll receive a which looks a lot like one of Matisse’s cut-outs but is actually a vi- link to the Modern Masters mobile site. Texts cost between brant Picasso drawing of a bull fight. If these are not on display then 12 -15p. they can be viewed by appointment in the Prints and Drawings Study Room. Download the audio version at www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/art-walks/birming- Also, have a look for a bronze sculpture by Matisse, Henrietta III ham/ (1929), as well as a room dedicated to the great 19th-century sculptor Rodin who was a major influence on Matisse. This is where the art works resided at the time of writing but if you want to double check that a specific art work will be there when you undertake your walk then phone ahead During 2010 and 2011 exciting new Contemporary Art galleries are to the Museums and institutions involved. You’ll find links on going to be opening up in the west wing containing artworks by Andy each of the pages. Warhol amongst others so do keep an eye out for them. bbc.co.uk/modernmasters 3. Helmont House 4. Bute Terrace 5. Callaghan Square Helmont House Altolusso Building John Lewis Water Towers All Hands Continue walking down the street and pretty soon on your left you A little further along Bute Terrace you will see the new John Lewis Keep walking along Bute Terrace which turns into Custom House will see Helmont House. Built in 1984, its memorable red and blue building. Incorporated into the design are sharp edges, smooth sur- Street, at the end of the road you will see a truly surreal sight: a pair exterior, along with the four small structures beside it, look so futuristic faces and geometric shapes combining to create the look of a mini- of gigantic fists clutching a piece of rope, otherwise known as All and striking that they were used as a location for BBC One’s Dr Who. malist and modern building. This is something that the famous archi- Hands (2001) by Brian Fell. Salvador Dali was the master of this sort tect Le Corbusier pioneered in the 20th century and his work owes a of sculpture which uses sheer scale for maximum impact, as well as And yet, this angular look was inspired by an art movement that’s great deal to Picasso and Cubism. Picasso admired Le Corbusier too, the well-known surrealist trick of putting objects in new and surprising now more than a hundred years old. In 1907 Picasso and fellow art- once even visiting him on a building site in Marseilles. situations to shock the viewer. The inspiration for this sculpture grew ist Braque decided to experiment with the way we view objects and out of its location, the site of the former Glamorganshire Canal. The the space around them. It was a movement which became known as hands are a reminder of the once busy canal and the efforts of the workers as they pulled their boats along. Cubism and it would revolutionise European painting, sculpture and architecture. Head down towards the railway bridge, through to Callaghan Square. Take care crossing the road over to the centre of the roundabout. Here Carry on down Churchill Way, taking the first right into Bridge Street. you can see Amber Hiscott & David Pearl’s luminous Water Towers At the end of the road turn left into Mary Ann Street. (2000) close up. This is the second version of this sculpture. In 2005, the artists were asked to come up with a more durable design after When you reach the main road, otherwise know as Bute Terrace, the glass-based towers were vandalised. They came up with these head right. There in front of you is another very striking and somewhat beautiful sapphire blue aluminium structures, laser cut with zigzags surreal landmark. It’s called the Altolusso building and it’s the tallest to evoke the spray of splashing water. The towers demonstrate the residential block in Wales. Situated on the site of a Victorian college, impact that pure colour and shape can have on those who look at it’s retained a grand old façade whilst adding 23 floors of soaring mod- them. Henri Matisse’s innovative ideas about how colour can change ern architecture behind it. It’s just one more remarkable building in a the way we feel are used here to magnificent effect. city full of them. Cross the paved section of Callaghan Square and head towards Lloyd George Avenue following it along to the right, towards the sea. bbc.co.uk/modernmasters 6. Lloyd George Avenue 7. The Millennium Centre 8. Cardiff Bay Looking Both Ways The Big Egg Millennium Centre Craft in the Bay Gallery Merchant Seafarer’s War Memorial Soon, on the left-hand side, you will see a sculpture called Looking Now backtrack onto Schooner Way and head down towards the Bay, As you walk on towards the seafront, take a look at William Pye’s Both Ways (2001) by David Kemp. You can see Picasso’s influence via Hemingway Road. huge mirrored Water Tower. Pye developed a fascination with water here in the simple and uncomplicated lines, the same kind of look also when he played in a stream as a child, and it’s featured in his sculp- used by Matisse in his cut outs. Just before you reach the spectacular Millennium Centre, take a look tures ever since. Pye is renowned for his use of abstract, geometric at the Craft in the Bay Gallery. This refurbished Victorian dockside shapes and the elegant simplicity of his sculptures. Like Matisse, he is Continue down Lloyd George Avenue and turn left into Glanhowny building is home to the Makers Guild in Wales. As well as featuring concerned with using simple, clean shapes with minimal detail. Close. Make your way between the two futuristic lampstands into the some of Wales’ most interesting designers, it also hosts regular ex- To end this art walk head down past the red brick Pierhead Build- small park up ahead. You’re now entering a secret little area of sculp- hibitions. Anything from ‘animated ceramics’ to flowers made from ing, built in 1897, and Y SENEDD (National Assembly Building), con- ture, rarely seen by anybody but the local residents. recycled bottles. structed a little more recently in 2006. There in front of the railings you will see the Merchant Seafarer’s War Memorial by Brian Fell (1996). Those slightly sinister brick figures laid out in a circle are by Gwen Continue along Lloyd George Avenue where you can finish this It was a memorial for the many merchant seamen that died caught up Heaney and they’re called Rhiannon Seating (1999). So feel free to walk admiring the magnificent Millennium Centre. Opened in 2004 in armed conflict. sit down and take a rest before moving on to the next sculpture, The and known locally as the Armadillo, this building is closer to art than Big Egg (2000) by Irish sculptor Rachel Joynt. architecture and is one of the country’s leading music and perform- Pressed into the ground, this looks like the giant face that should ac- ance venues. The building was designed by Welsh architect Jonathan company the giant fists in the sculpture All Hands, also by Brian Fell, To reach the egg, walk straight up Barquentine Place, crossing over Adams and all the materials used to build it are local. In keeping with which you saw earlier.