'Tell It with Pride' at the National Gallery of Art

Before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday week slips completely away, I do want to acknowledge the moving special exhibition at the National Gallery of Art called 'Tell It with Pride'.  It was one of many exhibitions mounted around Washington, DC in honor of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King's 'I have a dream' speech.

The National Gallery used their version of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' memorial to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as the centerpiece of an exhibit covering the formation and subsequent history of the galant African American regiment -- also depicted in the 1989 movie 'Glory' that starred Matthew Broderick (as Shaw), Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar for best supporting actor), and Morgan Freeman.

The 1897 bronze casting of the Shaw Memorial (below) sits in the Boston Public Garden.

'Shaw Memorial' by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, bronze casting, 1897, Boston Public Garden

The National Gallery's version (below), completed in 1900 is done in patinated plaster.  Beautifully lit, first glimpsed at the end of a long vista through several galleries it is a compelling, even sublime work of art. 

'Shaw Memorial' by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, patinated plaster, 1900, National Gallery of Art

It is on a long-term loan to the Gallery by the National Parks Service which has included the Gallery's restoration work. Saint-Gaudens created the 1900 plaster version so that he could make several 'refinements' to the sculpture.

Both versions show Colonel Shaw riding his horse beside a column of soldiers from the 54th infantry led by their 16-year-old drummer, Private Alexander Johnson, presumably marching into the battle at Fort Wagner in South Carolina. Nearly 50% of the 600 men were killed, captured, missing and presumed dead, or wounded in that battle.  An angel carrying a laurel branch hovers above the column.

The memorial is done in high relief with the mounted figure of Colonel Shaw nearly free-standing.  It must have been very difficult to cast in bronze for the Boston Garden.

The rest of the exhibition at the National Gallery included photographs of members of the 54th infantry and their recollections of how they came to join the regiment (they were all volunteers eager to fight for the Union side). Apparently many African Americans offered to fight for the Union at the start of the Civil War in 1961, but they were unable to enlist legally until Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on New Years Day, 1863.

In May of that year, the regiment was ready for battle and in June they were sent to the coast of South Carolina.  Although they were defeated in the battle to take Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863 and Shaw leading the charge was among the first to die, the 54th is remembered for proving that African Americans were as brave and committed to freedom as any in the Union Army.

In 1973 Lincoln Kirstein (the co-founder with George Balanchine of the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet) and Robert Benson published 'Lay This Laurel', a book of Benson's photographs of the Shaw Memorial in Boston Garden.  

Photo from 'Lay This Laurel' by Richard Benson, 1973

The book lead to subsequent efforts to restore and preserve the memorial.

Great All-Balanchine Program (on paper) disappointing (in fact) on Tuesday evening

First, let me say that New York City Ballet desperately needs a permanent music director.  The level of orchestral performances is gradually slipping from mediocre toward appalling.  They need to get very serious about attracting a first rate music director who can bring the orchestra back to a high performance level and inspire both the musicians and more importantly the dancers for whom they perform. 

Instead they spend an obscene amount of resources commissioning artists to disfigure their glorious Philip-Johnson-designed home with a misguided 'art series'. For the winter season, an artist known as 'J R' (I'd try to be anonymous, too, if I'd just desecrated Johnson's masterpiece) has been paid to cover the entire floor of the promenade with a photo-mural of company members in white tights lying in swirling patterns on a whitish background; to cover the facade with gigantic ballerina legs and feet; and to create ghostlike images of dancers stacked in piles for the corridors. Without passing judgement on the quality of this 'art' (actually it's probably pretty good), I do strongly object to using the company's limited resources in such a frivolous manner, far removed from it's mission.

Tuesday evening's all-Balanchine program seemed close to perfection on paper -- a balance of two contrasting neo-classical works, one to Bach, the other to Hindemith, plus a frothy show-biz classic:


TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 21, 7:30 PM
ALL BALANCHINE

CONCERTO BAROCCO: Kowroski, Mearns, *T. Angle [Guest Conductor: Ellaway; 1st Violin: Delmoni; 2nd Violin: Danielson]

pause

KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2: Krohn, Ramasar, A. Stafford, J. Angle [Guest Conductor: Ellaway; Solo Piano: Grant]

intermission

WHO CARES?: R. Fairchild, T. Peck, Reichlen, Bouder [Conductor: Sill; Solo Piano: Chelton]

With a raging blizzard outside, the marketed portion of the theater (the back of the fourth ring is apparently never marketed for repertory evenings) was still about two-thirds filled -- including many enthusiastic hardcore NYCB fans.

The performance (opening night of the winter season) was a mixed bag.  Maria Kowroski and Sara Mearns are both lovely, talented ballerinas, but their styles, looks, and temperaments are contrasting rather than complementary.  Their pairing in 'Concerto Barocco', especially in the two outer movements seemed both jarring and off-kilter.  

Maria Kowroski & Sara Mearns in Balanchine's 'Concerto Barocco', photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

The central pas de deux was beautifully danced by Maria with Tyler Angle (making his role debut here) with the lovely eight-woman corps providing gorgeous framing for them (Faye Arthurs and Lydia Wellington particularly caught my eye among the eight beauties).

Tyler Angle & Maria Kowroski with corps in Balanchine's Concerto Barocco', photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

We have seen Maria and Tyler paired in several works recently. They look wonderful together and dance with great rapport.  Tyler is probably the company's best current male partner and Maria with her long slender limbs seeming to stretch to infinity is a ballerina to cherish.

The orchestra played Bach's familiar 'Double Violin Concerto in D Minor' competently, but with little spirit and no nuance. If the guest conductor, Scott Ellaway, is on the short list for music director, I vote emphatically  'No'.

The musical performance of 'Kammermusik No. 2' by Hindemith lead by Maestro Ellaway with Cameron Grant at the piano, seemed perfunctory at best.  It's a tricky, difficult score, but the musicians should rise to these challenges instead of  just getting through them.  

Balanchine reportedly felt that with 'Kammermusik' in 1978 he finally had confidence that the company's male corps was up to the challenge of a featured role.  The eight-man corps (a different cast in two photos below) here provided a spiky, angular frame for the two lead couples and proved to be the most interesting part of this performance.  Their execution of Balanchine's patterns and 'daisy chains' precisely mirrored the tense, edgy score.

Messrs. Applebaum, Scordato, Ippolito & Nelson in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik No.2'
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Men's Corps (an earlier cast)  in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik #2', photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Unfortunately, those lead performances seemed mismatched and out-of-scale. Of the four, Amar Ramasar came off best. He knows how to use this astringent music to shape and phrase his dancing in interesting ways.  Rebecca Krohn would seem ideal for this piece, but her dancing here seemed small-scaled and lacking in confidence.  Abi Stafford always looked eager to undertake these challenges, but was unable to connect individual steps into a coherent response to the score.  Jared Angle lacked  buoyancy and struggled to absorb the music into his performance. The pairings of these dancers -- Amar with Rebecca, Jared with Abi, Rebecca with Abi, Amar with Jared -- were also jarring, again proving more contrasting than complementary.

'Kammermusik' has never been one of my favorite pieces, but having seen it danced by its original 1978 cast (Karin von Aroldingen, Colleen Neary, Sean Lavery & Adam Luders) and by many fine casts since, we know that it is a better work than showed up on stage Tuesday night.

'Who Cares?' is a delightful romp through the Gershwin songbook.  It's joyous tribute to show business pizzaz seems to be immune to half-hearted performances, ugly costumes or merely adequate musical support.

The performance on Tuesday evening was uneven throughout.  Maestro Sills led these familiar tunes as if they were well -- just familiar tunes.  I've heard people knock the Hersey Kay orchestrations as being glib and facile, but under great conductors, I've always felt that it has charms that are enhanced by Balanchine's inventive choreography.

The costumes introduced last season are aggressively ugly. The corps and demi-soloist women wear dresses and do-rags that even with sequins and beading make them look more like washer-women than 30's era sophisticates. The colors on the 'ladies and gentlemen' of the ensemble are unpleasantly loud (see photo of men below).  The three principal women's dresses are better, but don't evoke the Gershwin era for me. Only the principal man's black costume seems restrained and 'of the era'  (Rob Fairchild has apparently discarded the beaded vest shown in his photos further down this post).

Ladies of the ensemble in new 'Who Cares?' costumes by Santo Loquasto, photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Demi-soloist men (Prottas, Scordato, Dieck, J.Peck, Alberda - an earlier cast) in new 'Who Cares?' costumes
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The five demi-soloist couples were a mix of matches and misses.  Joe Gordon oversold to a wan Erica Pereira.  Brittany Pollack and Andrew Scordato were nicely paired and danced with jaunty impact.  Statuesque Emily Kitka overwhelmed wiry Allen Peiffer -- both wonderful dancers but mismatched here.  Ashley Laracey seemed on, but Sean Suozzi seemed off. Lauren King and Devin Alberda looked great together and put a fine finish on 'Oh, Lady Be Good', concluding the ensemble portion of the ballet.

Tiler Peck and Rob Fairchild were wonderful in 'The Man I Love' pas de deux, with a strong romantic rapport (they're engaged after all) layered over superb technical facility.

Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild in 'The Man I Love' from Balanchine's 'Who Cares?', photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Tiler is a beauty with wonderful technique.  Though she lacks the pliancy and supple back of the roles originator, Patricia McBride, she has plenty of her own special charms to stake a strong claim on this role.

Tile Peck in 'Fascinatin' Rhythm' solo from Balanchine's 'Who Care?'; photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Rob is an excellent partner in all three pdd's and has the louche charm of a natural song-and-dance man in his 'Liza' solo.

Robert Fairchild in 'Liza' solo from Balanchine's 'Who Cares?'; photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Teresa Reichlen seemed uncharacteristically tentative and uncommitted in her solo ('I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise') and her pdd with Rob ('Who Cares?').  These are far from the best of Balanchine's efforts in this work, but they can be sold with confidence and brio. Tess is usually a bright light and it was a real shame to see her looking so wan -- maybe she had the flu or a bad cold.

Ashley Bouder has the technique and stamina for the difficult 'My One and Only' solo and looked good in her pdd with Rob to 'Embraceable You'.  Her incredibly fast series of single and double fouette turns were spectacular. If she could just resist her 'look at me' smugness, she'd be perfect.

The curtain calls seemed peculiar for NYCB.  The curtain stayed up for the first full cast call.  Then the curtain closed and reopened on the 10 corps women who took a bow and left the stage.  Then the five demi-couples came on, took a bow and left the stage.  Then the four principals came on for a bow -- first Rob, who then brought on each of the women in succession.  Usually the second time the curtain goes up on the just the corps and then they stay on stage as each successive layer of the cast hierarchy joins them.  The solo bows for the principals then usually continue in front of the curtain.  Maybe the company wanted to let the ensemble get home before the blizzard got any worse.

A final thought for management of the theater -- why don't you reverse the direction of the escalators after the performance so that the audience has a comfortable means of reaching the subways and garage without going out into the cold and snow (or heat and rain or whatever)?  Maybe 'who cares?' is the company's new motto.  

My Take on 2013's Movies

We've been going to several movies over the holidays in an effort to catch up on all of the ones that have received critical acclaim.  Here are my comments on the ones we've seen during the year in reverse order (from most recent viewing back):  

August: Osage County

This movie is shrill and pitched at such a high level of frenzy that it is uncomfortable to watch.  Meryl Streep plays the mesmerizingly vicious matriarch of a dysfunctional extended family gathered for the funeral of her husband -- Sam Shepard, who is mercifully allowed to commit suicide in the opening 10 minutes.  Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis play her three variously screwed-up daughters. Margo Martindale is memorable as her sister.  Most of the men are dispensable plot devices rather than full-fledged characters, although Chris Cooper has a memorable scene saying 'grace' at the funeral dinner.  

The movie is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, by Tracy Letts, who adapted it for the screen.  Most of the plot twists are the sort that play well on stage, but are hard to translate for film.  Avoid this movie if you're easily depressed, because it is certainly depressing.

The Wolf of Wall Street

We both enjoyed this movie and thought that the 3-hour length passed quickly, without stretches of boredom.  Every time that things in the world of down-and-dirty finance seem to be slowing down, someone or something comes bouncing along to reanimate it.  There's really nothing that you can imagine cutting.  It's based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort who amassed a fortune by buying low and selling high in the go-go penny stock market of the 1990's and lived the very high life of yachts and Hamptons mansions and trophy wives. The excellent cast (particularly Leonardo di Caprio as Belfort and Jonah Hill as his main partner-in-crime) really seems to enjoy the rollicking good times.

Lone Survivor

We both thought this was an excellent movie.  It deals with Navy Seals on a mission in Afghanistan that goes very wrong. The performances by Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and too many others to enumerate are wonderful; and the pacing and editing creates a wonderful feeling for the bonds of men in military combat, both at leisure and under duress.  And there's plenty of duress, as the squad of four loses contact with support, comes under attack by the Taliban, and deals with the harsh terrain.  If you can deal with the up-close-and-personal brutality of a war that we send our brave young people to wage, this is the must see movie in theaters right now.  

Inside Llewyn Davis   

This is the most overrated movie of the season.  It is long, tedious and boring.  It's the picaresque, episodic story of a very unlikeable folk singer, played by Oscar Isaac, wandering through a series of down scale 1960's urban landscapes. Spending two+ hours with this loser is depressing.  The grungy sets and costumes and the dark, dank atmosphere make you want to go home and take a long shower.  The Coen brothers have really done their reputation a great disservice by putting their names on this bomb.  And any critic who thinks this is 'the best movie' or 'one of the 10 best movies' of the year goes on our list of 'most out of touch with reality'. 

American Hustle

There are several wonderful performances in this movie -- Christian Bale and Amy Adams as the chief hustlers, Bradley Cooper as an over-eager FBI agent, Louis C. K. as his frustrated and bureaucratic boss, and Jennifer Lawrence as Bale's sexy wife. Unfortunately, there are just a few too many twists and turns in the convoluted plot and too many extraneous characters to sustain my interest over the length of the movie.  Eventually, you just kind of zone out about two-thirds of the way through.  The sets and costumes cleverly evoke the swinging 80's at their tawdriest.  

Nebraska

This is a black & white road-trip movie set on the route from Billings, MT to Omaha, NE.   Bruce Dern plays Woody, a scruffy old man who thinks he's won a million dollars from a sweepstakes (similar to Publishers' Clearing House).  Will Forte plays the loser son who indulges his dad's delusion by driving him to Omaha to collect the prize money.  Along the way they visit various relatives and friends in a small town Nebraska where Woody grew up.  June Squibb is memorable as Woody's long-suffering, opinionated wife.  They all did their best to make this premise interesting, but we all know that the ending is in the fine print and unless you know and love the wind-swept setting it's hard to care much about this kind of stupidity.   


Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaghey gives an indelible performance as Ron Woodruff, a hard-living, homophobic rodeo bull rider who learns he is HIV+ in the early days of the AIDS crisis (1985). Jared Leto almost steals the show as the drag queen, Rayon, who joins Ron in fighting the FDA and the medical establishment to get the drugs they believe can save their lives and those of other HIV+ people in Texas.  While the movie could use some better editing and smoother transitions, it is a convincing portrayal of the early, scary days of the AIDS epidemic.  

12 Years a Slave

I came away from this movie with very mixed reactions. Yes, it's an important film about the horrors of American slavery -- a sensitive historical subject that has been difficult for Hollywood to take on.  Yes, it contains several wonderful, courageous performances including Chiwitel Ejiofor as Solomon Northrup, Lupita Nyong'o as the slave Patsey, Michael Fassbender as the sadistic slave owner Edwin Epps. Yes, it depicts the dehumanizing institution of slavery in America with brutal accuracy.  

But, that very element -- turning humans into commodities -- makes it difficult to relate to the characters and follow the story through several different plantations over 12 years.  It is a fascinating dilemma -- how to differentiate the individual slaves sufficiently for a modern audience to identify with them while still accurately depicting the horror of human beings treated (often very badly) as property.  I don't have an answer for the filmmakers, but I do have a problem with the ultimately dissatisfying result.  

Gravity

I'm sorry that we missed it in IMAX, but we did see it in 3-D and thought it was wonderful.  Sandra Bullock is my candidate for best actress, even though she's not generally a favorite of ours.  Her performance as an astronaut trying to make her way back to earth from the space station is mesmerizing.  You really understand her fear and confusion and bravery. George Clooney is the only other character and he disappears fairly early in the plot after delivering some key plot point lines.  The special effects give you a great sense of what space flight must be like and what living on the space station might entail.  

Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks plays the title role, the captain of a large freighter passing along the western coast of Africa that is attacked and boarded by Somali pirates.  It's a movie filled with tension as Phillips negotiates with Muse, the leader of the pirates, played with wonderful ferocity and gutsiness by Barkhad Abdi.  The failure of this movie is in not providing the audience with an adequate sense of orientation to the spaces of the ship and its life boat where the high tension plot unfolds.  I was always wondering who was where as the action is happening, especially in the claustrophobic life boat.  

Enough Said

James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus play Albert and Eva, two divorced parents facing loneliness as their daughters leave their respective nests, who hook up.  Their performances are both touching and funny.  Katherine Keener is the fly in the ointment (Albert's former wife and Eva's new massage client and friend).  This is a beautifully balanced and poignant movie and one of Gandolfini's finest performances (also his last).  

Elysium

The ultimate 'tale of two cities', set in 2154 with Matt Damon as the champion of the lower classes who are forced to live on a desecrated Earth and Jodie Foster as the leader of the ultra-rich who live on a floating space station called 'Elysium'. Certainly not a great movie, but Damon gives an earnest performance.  Foster is just icy.

Lee Daniels' The Butler

We found this movie too long and yet not long enough to encompass the African-American experience from the Jim Crow south in the 1920's through the election of the first African-American president in 2008 as seen through the eyes of Cecil Gaines -- a White House butler who serves seven presidents from Eisenhower through Reagan.  Forest Whitaker gives an excellent performance as Cecil and Oprah Winfrey plays his alcoholic wife, Gloria.  There are several wonderful supporting performances, although the presidents and their families are more caricatures than real performances.  Cecil and Gloria and their family and friends are witnesses and participants in the major civil rights events of the entire period.  But in trying to encompass the huge sweep of this history Daniels is forced to make major leaps forward, which leaves the viewer more confused than necessary.

Blue Jasmine

Cate Blanchett is brilliant as the pampered wife of a major embezzler (a la Bernie Madoff) who has left her virtually penniless when he is sent to prison.  She seeks refuge with her lower middle class sister and her husband in San Francisco (a la 'Streetcar Named Desire').  Except for Blanchett's incredibly touching portrait of a woman undone, this movie is a mess.  Woody Allen hasn't so much written and directed this film as assembled pieces from much better sources.  Bravo Blanchett, boo Woody.

Fruitvale Station

This incredibly subtle and heart wrenching movie is based on the true story of Oscar Grant III who was killed by a BART police officer at Fruitvale Station in Oakland on New Years Day in 2009.  Michael B. Jordan plays Oscar as he goes through the day leading up to his death -- it's a moving performance that deserves award recognition.  You watch Oscar make bad decisions that put him in the wrong places at the wrong times, but you also watch him connect with those he loves and who love him.

Happy Saint Sebastian Day!

Since January 20th is the 'saint' day for Saint Sebastian, I thought that I'd take advantage of the occasion to look at the depictions of Saint Sebastian that I encountered on my recent visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington.  It seems that in the Renaissance many artists were drawn to the subject of Sebastian's martyrdom -- perhaps because it gave them the cover of Christian mythology for painting or sculpting the nude male figure.  On our travels around the world we've found his martyrdom to be a frequent subject in almost every art museum we have visited.

Here are the five depictions of 'Saint Sebastian' currently on view at the National Gallery in Washington (there may have been more that I missed):

'Saint Sebastian' by Matteo Civitali, painted terra cotta, c.1492, National Gallery of Art 

As we see here, Saint Sebastian is normally depicted bound to a tree or post and shot with arrows.  According to the Christian legend, Sebastian was a captain of the Praetorian Guard, the elite soldiers that guarded the Roman emperor. He had been raised as a Christian near Milan, but the Guard commanders and the emperor were unaware of his religious beliefs.

As a Praetor, he had occasion to counsel two imprisoned Christians prior to their martyrdom, keeping them steadfast in their Christian faith.  While doing so, he converted the official in charge of the prison and several other prisoners, all of whom then fled Rome with the aid of the prison official. His Christian proselytizing brought Sebastian to the attention of the Emperor Diocletian, who ordered him to be tied to a stake and shot by archers.

Matteo Civitali sculpts Saint Sebastian (above) tied to a tree with several arrow holes in his nearly nude body, looking toward heaven for divine support.  The cock of the hip and the bent knee seems quite fey, at least to modern eyes.

'Saint Sebastian' by Amico Aspertini, oil on panel, c.1505, National Gallery of Art

Aspertini paints the same event (above), showing three arrows piercing Sebastian's arm, torso, and legs.  The tree has become a column and he appears to be supported by a balustrade with a relief showing pagan Romans celebrating at a feast.  Aspertini's pose makes the saint seem almost casual about his martyrdom, leaning on the balustrade with one leg crossed over the other with no blood spurting from the arrow wounds.

'Saint Sebastian' by circle of Hubert Gerhard, gilded bronze, early 17th century, National Gallery of Art

Over a century later, Gerhard sculpts the same moment (above), except there don't appear to be arrows or wounds on the body, perhaps an 'archer's-eye' view just before the arrows were let fly.  It is certainly a graphic display of male nudity and also an arresting image of the body tied to the tree and writhing in discomfort.

'Saint Sebastian' by Tanzio da Varallo, oil on canvas, c. 1620-30, National Gallery of Art

Now comes the interesting part of the legend.  Saint Irene of Rome went to collect and bury the body of Sebastian after he had been shot by the archers and left for dead hanging on the tree or post or column.  She found him still alive and nursed him back to health.  Tanzio da Varallo depicts the two saints and an angel (above) as they remove the arrows and tend to his wounds. It is in the late Mannerist style -- which preceded the Baroque -- using extreme light and shadow, foreshortening of the bodies and several vivid colors in the robes of the three figures.

After Sebastian's recovery, he stood in waiting for Diocletian and berated the emperor for his persecution of the Christians.  The affronted emperor then ordered Sebastian to be clubbed to death and had his dead body thrown into the Roman sewers. This second martyrdom, of course, is much less picturesque and has seldom been depicted by artists.

'Saint Sebastian' by Francois Coudray, bronze, 1712, National Gallery of Art

This final sculpture by Coudray (above) is in full-blown Baroque style with swooning arcs and a carefully arranged agony.

The legend of the young soldier martyred twice by the anti-Christian emperor has been the inspiration for many artists through the ages.  Much of this art is homoerotic in the eyes of those of us so inclined.  For others, it illustrates the steadfast belief of an early Christian martyr.  For whatever reason you chose to celebrate this myth, it's Saint Sebastian Day!  So celebrate the patron saint of archers and athletes.

Gloucester Cathedral on my desktop

In November, I used this picture of Gloucester Cathedral as my desktop image:

Gloucester Cathedral from town, 9/1984, Blomme/McClure

It's not just a wonderful photo with a dramatic autumn sky over a town scape illuminated by a late afternoon sun.  It also presents the Cathedral as a textbook example on evolving English Gothic style.

The nave on the left is mostly in the Norman (Romanesque) style, except for the westernmost bay and west front, which was added or remodeled later, presumably to complement the very fine Perpendicular Gothic central tower.  You can also see the distinct change in height between the Norman nave and the Perpendicular Gothic choir on the right.

Here's a photo of the west front and the top of the central tower which shows the stylistic relationship between the two:

West Front & Central Tower of Gloucester Cathedral from WNW, 9/1984, Blomme-McClure

While the west front is in relatively squat Early English Gothic style, there are definite intimations of the Perpendicular style of the 15th century tower in the strong verticals of the composition.

Here's another photo of the central tower, which rises above the crossing, but on the exterior also marks the transition in height from the relatively low Norman/Early English nave to the soaring choir in Perpendicular Gothic style:

Central Tower & South Transept from SW, 9/1984, Blomme-McClure

Note the diagonal buttress that braces the tower across the outside of the transept.  Another diagonal buttress emerges from the roof of the nave to support the weight of the tower. 

Inside, that buttress crosses down through the nave, as shown in this photo taken from the north side aisle of the nave:

View of  Tower Buttress from North Aisle of Nave, 9/1984, Blomme-McClure

Here's a view of the nave from the crossing which shows the heavy Norman arches in the foreground changing to the Early English Gothic arches of the final two bays.

Gloucester Cathedral Nave viewed from Crossing, 9/1984, Blomme-McClure

Also note in the clearly defined Early English Gothic vaulting that was added above the Norman arcade, springing from brackets attached at the triforium, which also changes to a later, more elaborate style in two Western-most bays.

The lierne vaulting in the soaring choir is a much more elaborate example of Perpendicular Gothic:

Gloucester Cathedral Choir & East Window, 9/1984, Blomme-McClure

The east window contains much of the cathedral's surviving Medieval stained glass.

The fan vaulting in the cloisters dating from the second half of the 14th century is particularly fine.  It was used as a Hogworts corridor in several Harry Potter films.

Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters with Fan Vaulting, 6/1971, Blomme-McClure

We've visited Gloucester Cathedral twice.  In 1971 on our first driving tour of Great Britain we thought that it was a run-down dilapidated mess.  By the time we returned on our 1984 driving tour, the cathedral had been extensively cleaned and repaired.