Nacht der Museen, Saturday 26 April 2008
Around 50 museums and galleries opened their doors to the public from 7pm until 2am. A special ticket for the bargain price of 12 Euros gave you admittance to every single one of them if you had the stamina and resolve.
This was a great opportunity to do a quick whip around and find out which museums were worth a second more considerate visit in the future. Or so I thought.
Huge crowds, meant that long snaking rows of people crawled around from exhibit to exhibit at snails pace. Or the larger museums resembled over-excited ant hives as masses of visitors swarmed around. It was an incredibly lively occasion as far as museums go!
In the end I made it to five along Museumsufer (Museum Embankment):
1. Städel art gallery. Enjoyed a glass of wine whilst watching a live calypso band in the hall at the back. Did not witness a single artwork. They were actually operating one-in, one-out at the door. Never mind, I was here before, and the collection is extremely impressive.
2. Museum für Komunikation. Again very busy. A modern building with lots of glass. Got a great aerial view of the classical dance performance, from the third floor looking down to the large open floor at the bottom. Seemed a bit thin on exhibits. But an interesting exposition on diary writing and blogging, offered me some inspiration.
3. Deutsches Architekturmuseum. Models of human settlements through the ages. A little bit boring. Strange layout meant slow moving crowds. Blueprints displayed more like artwork, than technical drawings and little more than basic information offered.
4. Museum der Weltkulturen. World cultures? All I saw was a small wooden canoe and a stuffed crocodile!
5. Museum für angewandte Kunst/Museum of Applied Arts. Another modern building with lots of glass and spacious rooms with white walls. A lot on offer here. Vases, furniture, electric appliances, toys, kitchen implements etc. All practical yet 'arty' in their own inimitable ways. The special exhibition called 'FRAGILE' (pronounced as in Latin, with hard 'g') showed the best collection of Soviet Union porcelain I had ever seen. No, surprisingly, this was the museum highlight of the evening. The delicate cups with intricate proletarian designs, made my tea mug look stone age.
Every city with more than two museums should have an evening like this!
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
04 May 2008
19 February 2008
Henry Moore and the Countryside Exhibition
'Henry Moore und die Landschaft' at Opelvillen in Rüsselsheim from 7.11.07 to 30.3.08
Entrance: €6, €4 concs
Entrance: €6, €4 concs
On Saturday 16 February I visited the Henry Moore exhibition at the Opel Villa in Ruesselsheim about 30 minutes by train outside Frankfurt am Main. It was not what I had expected or secretly hoped for. Not for the first time, I was taken in by the advertising posters. These showed sheep grazing under a huge undulating organic metal form created by the Yorkshire lad. Forever the optimist, I looked forward to ambling about a huge green field dotted with such swirling forms and even the odd baaing sheep. Although pessimists enjoy immunity from disappointment, I still prefer revelling in my optimism while it lasts. At the exhibition my expectations gradually merged into the reality and, all in all, it was great to see some of Moore's works 'in the flesh' for the first time. So let's just focus on what was on view...
Around eight reclining figures were on display over the Villa's two floors, all of them so much smaller than the one with the sheep - indeed; they were actually smaller than a single adult sheep. And the numerous maquettes, small bone-like forms waiting to hatch like eggs into bigger things, were quite a bit smaller than lambs. Apart from that, I was mildly surprised to find the walls hung with dozens of two-dimensional artworks by the master sculptor. These were very abstract, for me, not as interesting as what they must ultimately have inspired; the three-dimensional forms themselves.
Moore explained that there are three basic positions for the human body: standing, sitting and lying. He saw that the reclining position afforded the sculptor the most freedom of form. Standing positions are limited and seated positions always require some sort of seat, whereas lying offers a countless number of possibilities - just try and count the times you readjust your body as you lie tossing and turning in bed one night and you’ll get what he means. I gleaned this information from one of the information posters – be warned that these were only in German!
You were allowed to touch the metal sculptures - run your hand along the smooth surfaces and explore the nooks and crannies. However, the two stone sculptures were off-limits. Now, I cannot recall the exact forms I saw in my head, they are not easily remembered like flat images, nor for that matter classical statues. The beauty of Moore's scluptures are that they change form and meaning as you circle around them. Wave upon twirl of raw lava flicker and cast shadows here and then there. You think you see a human resemblance and then you move on and you see the sheer face of a cliff.
The most interesting sketches for me were a series of details of an elephant skull. Taken as a whole an elephant skull is a complex feat of nature, but focusing on individual sections, as Moore does, only increases the wonder. A single curve on the cranium could be an old bent tree trunk. Moore was certainly dealing with the forces of nature and what more mighty and symbolic than an elephant.
Finally, there was a twenty minute film in which Moore discusses his work. Opel Villa does not seem too concerned about catering for non-German speaking visitors: the film was overdubbed in German. Even so, there were breaks in which Moore's Yorkshire accent could be heard uninterrupted. He came across as a very amiable and wise old gentleman. It was from 1981 when Moore was 83, so a little dated, but it was interesting to hear from the sculptor himself (he died in 1986). You saw him driving around his field of sculptures in Perry Green! And in his workshop surrounded by old bits of wood, stones and boney parts.
But where did Moore really learn how to sculpt such curves, oh! such curves? Well, his mother suffered from rheumatism and she gave her seventh child, young Henry, the privilage of rubbing oil onto her back. Ten-year-old Henry was a little embarassed, but he sure did learn from the top. What is more curvaceous than a woman's shoulder blades and the long sweep down to her round buttocks?
The exhibition certainly whetted my appetite for Moore. I look forward to seeing some of his really huge works. Of course, Sheep Piece at Perry Green, Hertfordshire, England, is the top of my list.
Around eight reclining figures were on display over the Villa's two floors, all of them so much smaller than the one with the sheep - indeed; they were actually smaller than a single adult sheep. And the numerous maquettes, small bone-like forms waiting to hatch like eggs into bigger things, were quite a bit smaller than lambs. Apart from that, I was mildly surprised to find the walls hung with dozens of two-dimensional artworks by the master sculptor. These were very abstract, for me, not as interesting as what they must ultimately have inspired; the three-dimensional forms themselves.
Moore explained that there are three basic positions for the human body: standing, sitting and lying. He saw that the reclining position afforded the sculptor the most freedom of form. Standing positions are limited and seated positions always require some sort of seat, whereas lying offers a countless number of possibilities - just try and count the times you readjust your body as you lie tossing and turning in bed one night and you’ll get what he means. I gleaned this information from one of the information posters – be warned that these were only in German!
You were allowed to touch the metal sculptures - run your hand along the smooth surfaces and explore the nooks and crannies. However, the two stone sculptures were off-limits. Now, I cannot recall the exact forms I saw in my head, they are not easily remembered like flat images, nor for that matter classical statues. The beauty of Moore's scluptures are that they change form and meaning as you circle around them. Wave upon twirl of raw lava flicker and cast shadows here and then there. You think you see a human resemblance and then you move on and you see the sheer face of a cliff.
The most interesting sketches for me were a series of details of an elephant skull. Taken as a whole an elephant skull is a complex feat of nature, but focusing on individual sections, as Moore does, only increases the wonder. A single curve on the cranium could be an old bent tree trunk. Moore was certainly dealing with the forces of nature and what more mighty and symbolic than an elephant.
Finally, there was a twenty minute film in which Moore discusses his work. Opel Villa does not seem too concerned about catering for non-German speaking visitors: the film was overdubbed in German. Even so, there were breaks in which Moore's Yorkshire accent could be heard uninterrupted. He came across as a very amiable and wise old gentleman. It was from 1981 when Moore was 83, so a little dated, but it was interesting to hear from the sculptor himself (he died in 1986). You saw him driving around his field of sculptures in Perry Green! And in his workshop surrounded by old bits of wood, stones and boney parts.
But where did Moore really learn how to sculpt such curves, oh! such curves? Well, his mother suffered from rheumatism and she gave her seventh child, young Henry, the privilage of rubbing oil onto her back. Ten-year-old Henry was a little embarassed, but he sure did learn from the top. What is more curvaceous than a woman's shoulder blades and the long sweep down to her round buttocks?
The exhibition certainly whetted my appetite for Moore. I look forward to seeing some of his really huge works. Of course, Sheep Piece at Perry Green, Hertfordshire, England, is the top of my list.
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