NHM London: temporary Patagotitan exhibition - now updated with photos

[ceratopsian]

A temporary exhibition will be held at the Natural History Museum in London from next March, featuring a cast of MEF's Patagotitan, along with some fossils.  See the BBC's report:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63741208

It saves a trip to Trelew!  I had hoped at one time hoped to be there this autumn but it never came off.

[Flaffy]

Oooo! Increadibly exciting news.   Despite it's many, many errors, I've always wanted to see the 2016 mount in person. It'll certainly be a sight to behold. Hopefully NHM staff will at least try to give it a proper posture like in the Field Museum, rather than the AMNH mount.

I do wonder how they'll manage to squeeze the Patagotitan into the Waterhouse Gallery though, as that display hall is just about enough for "Dippy" the Diplodocus. I guess if they managed to make it work at the AMNH, however cramped it may be, they'll find a way at the NHM.




And I think it goes without saying that I'll be bringing my copy of the Safari ltd Patagotitan for a quick photoshoot. Not about to let this opportunity slide.

[Flaffy]

Facebook post from the official NHM account, I wonder if this means they'll be stocking Safari Patagotitans for the special exhibit? Would certainly be a step up from their usual sad Toyway BNM offerings. (It's still perplexing how some of the best museums can have the most pathetic gift shops imaginable)

Exhibit details: https://nhmlondon.org/Titanosaur

Not sure why someone on the PR team decided to photoshop phalanges on the forelimbs though

[ceratopsian]

My Patagotitan will also be going to the museum for a photoshoot, @Flaffy!  I fear the room will seem very cramped but I'm absolutely not going to miss this. Apparently it runs till early January 2024.

As for the shop - I'm not holding my breath! 

[Halichoeres]

Well, that's exciting. Having seen Máximo in both New York and Chicago, yeah, you'll want the Field's mount if you can fit it!

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I am hoping to go there next year at some point for my 30th birthday which is in January. I think I will definitely hold out to see the Patogotitan mount. I assume they will be selling the Safari Ltd Patogotitan there then.

[ceratopsian]

I've just booked an early morning Members' Preview for 3rd April.  I'm hoping the early hour will keep it relatively quiet!

[andrewsaurus rex]

Facebook post from the official NHM account, I wonder if this means they'll be stocking Safari Patagotitans for the special exhibit? Would certainly be a step up from their usual sad Toyway BNM offerings. (It's still perplexing how some of the best museums can have the most pathetic gift shops imaginable)

Exhibit details: https://nhmlondon.org/Titanosaur

Not sure why someone on the PR team decided to photoshop phalanges on the forelimbs though

probably thought they were missing......had been overlooked when the model was painted.  Clearly not a dinosaur enthusiast. 

[ceratopsian]

I duly queued outside the museum entrance in time for the 8.45am members' preview. It was sold out in advance and I wondered how packed it would be. But there were only about 20 of us in the queue and it never became crowded while I was in the exhibition. So ticket numbers must have been quite restricted. The doors were a few minutes late opening, and I was amused when an eager teenager pressed the doorbell a few times. The little boy behind me had been misled by the exhibition's official title "Titanosaur" and had failed to read the subtitle: "Life as the biggest dinosaur". When his sister asked if they were going to see biggest dinosaur ever, he frostily informed her "No, we're just going to see Titanosaurus and that was a relatively small sauropod." But I'm sure that he knew better once he'd finished the exhibition! I understand that "Titanosaur" was chosen because Titan conveyed the necessary impression of size, and Patagotitan is recognized only by dinosaur enthusiasts.

Once inside, I walked straight past the introductory panels into the cast room itself. Given that the exhibition preview was not busy, I thought I could walk back to them later and enjoy the cast all to myself.  This was a good call. I was alone with the cast for 10 minutes or so.

The cast was quite breathtaking. It certainly gave a spectacular impression of the animal's magnificent bulk and overwhelming length. The end of the tail runs outside the gallery and can only be seen from a certain angle. I was not a great fan of the weirdly purple/blue lighting which I found rather disconcerting. However, I'm sure it must have been chosen for dramatic effect. I thought all the information panels and little games were excellent for young children – or indeed adults who didn't know much about dinosaurs! But perhaps more could have been aimed at those who arrived armed with a good level of knowledge. My other concern would be the high cost of entry.  For me as a member it was free. But I believe the cost is £16 per adult, £10 per child.  I spent about an hour in the gallery inspecting every panel and game, and also just spending a lot of time sitting and looking at the cast or else walking slowly round it. But if you weren't very interested, I think it would take no more than 20 minutes to half an hour to go through the exhibition.  Not that this should be a problem for any one on this forum!

Some pictures to give you a flavour:















I did sneak in my Safari model, wrapped in two shoe covers to protect the paint while it was in my bag. Here she is meeting her full-size relative. 





As I was unaccompanied, I was reduced to asking a member of the public to take my photograph. They did not do a perfect job!



Given the strictures of the Waterhouse Gallery, the cast could be displayed only with a fairly horizontal back and neck. I noticed however that a graphics on one of their boards went for a much more upright posture.



The dedicated shop had nothing of any interest for me to buy.  But that is exactly what I expected, so I was not disappointed!

Here's a link to my Flickr album, if you want more or hi-res images:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69501171@N03/albums/72177720307294163/with/52795385242/
But the light was very difficult in the gallery and I only had my iPhone with me.  However I don't think I had done any better than anything else!

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I particularly like how the dinosaur is on same plane as the visitor, not on a base or plinth, so you can walk between its legs and underneath the ribcage. I suppose that was partly necessary to fit the dinosaur in anyway!

[ceratopsian]

Being able to get so close certainly enhanced the experience @DinoToyForum. As you say, given the room dimensions, not much else was possible! Touching the cast is encouraged but there were warnings that an alarm would sound if we climbed on it. I didn't risk trying to balance my little model anywhere on the cast as it would've been mortifying if I'd set off an alarm at my age! We are so used to "do not touch" commands that it felt unexpectedly transgressive to lay my hand on the mount.

I should've said somewhere in my account that there are some genuine Patagotitan limb bones in the exhibition – safely ensconced behind glass

[postsaurischian]

 Thank you @ceratopsian for the beautiful pictures and insight. I absolutely love the figure-next-to-feet pics .

[Flaffy]

I've just come back from a quick trip to London, and of course had to see the Patagotitan special exhibit at the NHM! @ceratopsian 's amazing walkthrough in April made me very excited to witness the full sized cast in person, but the lead-up to "Maximo" himself was equally as facinating!

I did not expect the NHM team to have brought in any real fossils of the titular titanosaur for the exhibit, so I was incredibly surprised and impressed that they managed to borrow an entire femur for display, the real deal, all 2.38 meters of it! Honestly this alone justified the £12 (student discount) entry fee. The sheer size and girth of this singular bone alone put into perspective how dimmunitive we humans are, you really have to see it to believe it, online images DO NOT do it justice.



We're then greeted by a cast of the forelimb elements. While nice, I feel that the space should've been used more productively for something more unique for the exhibit. We already have a fully assembled cast of the dinosaur in the next room, so this felt like it was retreading over similar grounds... but worse. Notice the outdated horizontal scapula position of this cast, an error the full skeleton somewhat corrects. The space could've displayed the diversity of titanosaurs instead, from the tiny island dwarf Magyarosaurus, the pot-bellied Saltasaurus, the armoured Ampelosaurus, the bizarrely proportioned Isisaurus etc. Missed opportunity IMO.



Plenty of interesting tid-bits and infographics along the way. Plenty of activities for the kids too. An easy hour long exhibit if you're not rushing through things.




And finally we get to the big guy himself, and my god what a sight to behold. I appreciate that they've corrected a couple of things glaringly wrong with the ANHM mount. It looks to be consistent with the Field mount instead, though I feel the London NHM team could've heasily gotten away with positioning the neck a bit higher for a more impressive posture.



Now the ugly parts of the exhibit...
1) Dodgy animations: Glaringly incorrect forelimb anatomy on the animation model. Bending in places where it shouldn't be bending (seems to me they applied mammalian anatomy). I suspect the Clay Interactive team phoned these in and called it a day, but I'm more surprised no one on the NHM team caught this issue. It's not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, but I expected better from a world class museum.


2) Stolen assets... in two parts:
2a) The model they used for their "Tyrannotitan" animations were clearly royalty free stock models off sketchfab. Highly reminiscent of the (commonly) stolen Primal Carnage Tyrannosaurus design, 2 fingers and all.


2b) Unauthorised use of artwork. The Patagotitan skeletal they used throughout the exhibition was made by the paleoartist randomdinos (Henrique Paes). However, there was no mention of the artist in the credits. A quick conversation with Henrique all but confirmed that he was not in fact aware of the use of his skeletal in the exhibit, nor did he give persmission to do so. Left: Skeletal used in the NHM exhibit, Right: Skeletal made by randomdinos


The crediting of Scott Hartman leads me to believe that they had intended to use Hartman's skeletal for the exhibit, but mistakenly used Henriques skeletal instead. Still, the two skeletals are very clearly different, and any competent curator would've been able to double check the material used before approval, especially for an institute as large & prestigious as the NHM.

[ceratopsian]

The artist should write to the curator of the exhibition @Flaffy.

 On reflection, maybe the head of department.

[Flaffy]

So... rather than make a special exhibit exclusive tie-in toy that's accessible to the masses, especially the younger target audience... The NHM in all it's wisdom chose to parter with Dunelm to make a heavy, fragile, teracotta garden ornament of Patagotitan?? And they didn't even bother stocking this in the post-exhibit gift shop. Very perplexing.

Link: https://www.dunelm.com/product/patagotitan-dinosaur-ornament-1000213756

[Halichoeres]

Thanks, @ceratopsian and @Flaffy, for all the photos. I feel very lucky to have the cast mounted a mere 25-minute bike ride away, and I'm glad others are able to enjoy it too.

As for that lawn ornament, I briefly considered ordering one when I first saw a photo of it, but shipping terracotta across the Atlantic sounds like a great recipe for gravel.

[ceratopsian]

I investigated online as there is a local store. But it was marked as out of stock. I guess it was made to accompany the start of the exhibition so it's already old news. 

[Flaffy]

Thanks, @ceratopsian and @Flaffy, for all the photos. I feel very lucky to have the cast mounted a mere 25-minute bike ride away, and I'm glad others are able to enjoy it too.

As for that lawn ornament, I briefly considered ordering one when I first saw a photo of it, but shipping terracotta across the Atlantic sounds like a great recipe for gravel.

You're welcome! And yeah it's a damn shame they wasted the tie-in for a garden ornament... Could've had something nice like the Bristol Pliosaur (still hoping for a collector's edition to be released after all these years, never forgave them for dumbing down the original's magnificent headsculpt for something so cartonish); or the Dakotaraptor & Tyrannosaurus from the Dinosaurs in the Wild event.

I investigated online as there is a local store. But it was marked as out of stock. I guess it was made to accompany the start of the exhibition so it's already old news. 

Someone on Facebook actually found one yesterday in person!

Credit: Rajvinder Phull

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Making it a terra cotta statue was definitely a weird choice. What's interesting though is that it matches the style of the NHM toy dinosaurs.

[BlueKrono]

I see it for sale on the site, but it says they don't do delivery.