Tiger, Tiger…..

Very uneasy…. When you enter the room in the Kröller-Müller Museum with 9 Tigers revolving in extreme agony, you feel at least uneasy. And I still feel very uneasy when I look at these pictures.
The excess of arrows, the rolling, the theatrical scenery makes you identify with these tigers. They are not dead yet and you are part of the process, part of the suffering as the artist says somewhere; “part of an ongoing tragedy”. Where the rabbit in “Watership Down” (Richard Adams) defines being as “Life is here and now”, I would say this installation  makes you feel like “Death is here and now”.
The installation “Inopportune: Stage Two (2004) of the Chinese born New York artist Cai Guo-Qiang depicts his reaction to terrorism, cultural and religious conflicts, violence of war and extinction in relation to heroism (The Tigers – man made - refer to a Chinese story about Wu Song a brave man in the 12^th century who killed a man-eating tiger with his bare hands to save his fellow villagers.)

Trying to understand this / his work I quote his words from an interview:

“My idea of making this work is not to do any criticism or replication but to focus on what it means for sculptors to create realist sculptures in the time the work was created. ...The end goal is not to make perfect sculptures and have them exhibited elsewhere and then have them collected somewhere. The key is to focus on the process of fabrication of these artworks, to pay attention to the process of the artists making these sculptures, rather than where these sculptures will end up and how they will look in the end.”

His large drawing Myth: Shooting the Suns: Project for Extraterrestials No. 21 (1994) Produced by detonating gunpowder (suns) on paper. The continuing search for balance between mankind and the shifting universe.

More information:

Cai Guo-Qiang interview with Ellen Pearlman

Of Terror and Tigers: Reflections on Cai Guo-Qiang’s Inopportune

By Robert Pogue Harrison

Kröller-Müller Museum

Sintra National Palace: “For the best” (“por bem”)

 

To get the best view of the National Palace in Sintra you have to climb the ancient ruins of the Moorish Castle on the mountain nearby. Down below, in the middle of the old town, lies the palace.

The most striking feature are two enormous chimneys, that stick out over the roof of the palace. More or less the shape of the tower of the hop kilns (a building designed for drying hops as part of the brewing process) in Kent. The chimneys are (in) the roof of the kitchen. When you look up from the kitchen you can see the hole where the fumes go out. 

Originally the palace was built as residence for the Moorish governors of Lisbon. From 1147 onward it became the residence of the Portuguese kings until the monarchy ended in 1910. It is obvious that is was a place of splendid entertainment. While there, the Swans' room was full of people. It derives its name from the painted ceiling; covered with white swans wearing little golden crowns around their necks. 

In another room the ceiling is covered with magpies. The magpies hold ribbons in their beaks with the motto of the king: "Por bem" (For the best). It is the first known private "antechamber".

Everywhere in the palace (as everywhere in Portugal) are tiles. Different rooms have different tiles with different images, mosaics, forms. The vine pattern of the tiles (in King Sebastião's room) is unique.

The palace is a result of building efforts of many kings. The Arms room represents the centralised power of Manuel I. The ceiling in its heraldic glory. From this room the fleets going to or coming back from Brazil, Africa or India could be seen.

The most strange part tough are these two towering chimneys. The wind – straight from the Atlantic Ocean - blows over the openings and makes a howling noise in the kitchen. 

Alongside the palace are small but lovely gardens. When the cold ocean winds are gone, this friendly grinning lion would love to talk with you about all the kings and queens that kept him company before.... 

Tulips from the Gulbenkian Museum

When in Lisbon the Gulbenkian Museum is a must. Calouste Gulbenkian (1869 – 1955) was a British entrepreneur of Armenian origin. All his life he collected a wide range of art objects. Ceramics, ancient Egyptian art, paintings, furniture…. 

At first (part of) his collection was kept in his house in Paris. But when the Germans invaded France he fled to Vichy with the French Government. Later in 1942 he went on to Portugal. For a long time it was not sure where the collection would be housed. Some of it was in the British Museum,. Later on part went to National Gallery of Art in Washington.  

Finally 14 years after his death the unique fact happened that a museum was especially built to house a collection. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum opened in 1969.

All sorts of art object to be seen in the museum. Here I would like to show some of the Iznik pottery from the 16^th century that shows tulips. Under the patronage of the Ottoman court the Iznik pottery “flowered”. After the Persian city of Tabriz was captured by Sultan Selim I, he brought local artists from Tabriz over to Iznik to work in the ceramic industry.

During the 16^th century colours were added to the initially Blue-White porcelain. First turquoise, later pastel shades of sage green and pale purple. In the middle of the century a typical red (bole red) replaced the purple and the sage green became emerald.

In Iznik of today they still produce tiles with the beautiful floral patterns.

Read more about the town of Iznik and Iznik tiles

Read more about the collection

Queluz….. what a light…..

If ever there is a name for a palace that is more fitting than this one. “Que luz” is Portuguese for “what a light”. There is light coming in from the outside. There is light from chandeliers. And what light there is, is reflected by mirrors everywhere.

 

Queluz is rightly called the Versailles of Portugal. It is a Barok / Rococo palace built in the 18^th century by prince Pedro and his Maria. A last dream palace before the French revolution changed the rules.

Passing through the ballroom…..

Into the throne room…..

As you walk there through these rooms you 

might even think you were back in the past. 

Two young people reflected into a door...

No it is not real. It is a mere reflection of the past. 

The kings and queens have left. 

The mirrors are worn by age. 

But what a light!