Sunday at London Art shows

I caught up with some London art shows today. I list them in my own order of merit, with my favourite first.
The Sacred Made Real show at the National Gallery was a delight. Polychromed wooden sacred sculptures from Granada, Sevilla and Toledo alongside paintings by Velázquez and Zurbarán, all shown in darkened galleries have a big impact. It is a must see for anybody with an interest in Spanish art.
Turner and the Masters at Tate Britain attracted bigger crowds but was the lesser exhibition for me. Interesting rather than thrilling. Turner was shown in lots of styles I had not seen from him before as he aped Rembrandt, Claude, Watteau or many others. Some of these were declared unsuccessful. So this was not "best of Turner".
Ed Ruscha at Hayward Gallery showed 50 years of putting lettering on simple paintings. Rew Shay seemed a bit of an arsonist.
Kienholz: The Hoerengracht (means whore's canal) back at the National was a reconstruction of Amsterdam's red light district. Not so much fun as the real thing.

Turner Prize 2009 back at Tate Britain was deservedly won by Richard Wright whose intricate gold leaf wall will be destroyed at the end of the show. We could only read about Roger Hiorns' house full of blue copper sulphate