The incoming light

Booijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam...

To me, the incoming light through two windows in the museum seem
to evoke the same sentiment as the painting of Hammershoy.

A walk along the river.....

The large port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands is situated on the "Nieuwe Maas" (New Maas) The city has some impressive bridges.

This is the (new) Willemsbrug a bridge for normal traffic. In the back is the famous "De Hef". You can see it is open. De Hef was a bridge for trains. Now there is a tunnel for the trains and the bridge has become a monument. The new Willemsbrug was completed in 1982. Before there was the old Willemsbrug, a bridge that was built in 1878 for trains. Going south in a train you first would pass the Willemsburg and then De Hef.

This was what the old Willemsbrug looked like.

And this is the new one.....

When you are under this bridge you start to think "what is hanging there...?"

 



















But when you get further down the quay you discover it is an artwork. The "Maasbeeld" (Maassculpture) is made by Auke de Vries. It is 182 meters long......  The people of Rotterdam, always in for a joke,  call it "The Clothesline"....

It is so nice to spend some time along the banks of the river....

Especially when there is a such a beautiful bridge to look at.

More blogs about bridges.....

An elegant bridge

Amazing bridges

An elegant bridge

The Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam is a magnificent example of bridge architecture. Finally we were there on a beautiful day. A blue sky with white clouds.

The best view you get from the “Kop van Zuid” (a good place to have a coffee or something else). The complete bridge with the sun shining on it. On a dark day the scenery is much more gray.

All sorts of traffic go over the bridge. Pedestrians, bicycles, motorbikes, cars, busses, trams….. 

The train used to have its own bridge “De Hef”. It has been memorized in a movie "De Brug" by the famous movie maker Joris Ivens in 1928. Now there is a tunnel for trains underneath the river. (sorry for the balustrade of the bridge in this picture, but it was impossible to cross the street.)

The other side..... as behind a curtain.

The structure is very elegant. 

But still there are some people who think it is just a fancy bicycle stand.....

Amazing bridges

Bridges are fascinating. In Holland we have all kinds of bridges. Beautiful small old bridges over canals…. When the sun gets low in the evening the light might even come under a bridge.

The bridges of Paris are famous… Like the Pont Neuf (nothing new there, it is the oldest bridge of Paris – 1578-1604). 

And the elaborate Pont Alexandre III (Art Nouveau style – build for the World Exhibition in 1900).

Now the smaller bridges are  easy to catch on camera, but larger bridges are more difficult. The famous Charles Bridge of Prague took two shots…. 

The same with the bridge in Rotterdam.

Look at the little elegant Tango dancing sister in Buenos Aires… The Puente de la Mujer.

For taking a picture of an extremely large bride I need luck. In Turkey I tried to take a picture of the famous bridge over the Bosporus. On the boat trip it was raining. When driving over, there was a truck in front of us…..

In most cases it is forbidden to walk on large bridges. You cannot park a car near enough anyway. I remember trying to take a picture sitting in the back of a car while driving over one of the large bridges in Denmark years ago. When I saw the pictures I wondered about the lines… I hadn’t realized there was the heating in the rear window.

Flying over the Bridges in Denmark in freezing weather was a great opportunity.

Finally a portrait of two glorious bridges in full length.

This is the bridge in Denmark between the islands of Fünen and Sealand....

And this is the masterpiece between Denmark and Sweden over the Öresund. 

 Yes I was very lucky!

Bridge in Rotterdam

The Museum Quarter

It was because a friend gave us a theater coupon. When you want to use the coupons you have to go and collect the tickets at the theater, some days after you have ordered them.

There we went to Rotterdam. The weather was bad, so a good day to see an exhibition of works of Edvard Munch in the Kunsthal.

Rotterdam as I see it, is always “under construction”. In the Second World War Rotterdam was bombed. After the war rebuilding went on for many years. And now they are renovating the Central Station in a big way. One day I have to make a separate blog about the architecture of Rotterdam.

Coming out of the station there were many puddles to cross. The big highway in front of the station was effectively blocked. No waiting for traffic lights. Only the trams and bicycles. We got our tickets and walked on in the rain. 

Passing the “Boijmans van Beuningen” museum we thought we were stuck. Building going on ahead. Rounding some gates there was a little hidden “path”. A big sign told us go there to the “Kunsthal”. Skipping over puddles, wading through mud, we arrived wet and cold at the museum.

I am sorry but Munch doesn’t appeal to me. I was more entertained by the exhibition of international realism on the upper floor “Feest der herkenning”

Paintings that look so much like pictures, but had this eerie kind of lighting. Huge detailed landscapes and city scenes. Beautiful portraits like this sitting family (“Flagrant”) by Eugene Buland. Very weird when you see the super realistic sculptures of Duane Hanson and John de Andrea. Some years ago in Museum “Arken” (Copenhagen – Denmark) there was a big exhibition of works of Duane Hanson. I remember a sleeping baby in a buggy. We had to look very close to see if it wasn’t a real sleeping baby.

All this realism makes you wonder about what you “really” see.  

Very realistic was the dried out little plant on the plinth of the room. We noticed because there was a spotlight on it. It made me think of my Christmas piece that I just threw into the garbage bin that morning. What a waste.

Going back to the station through the persistent rain. We discovered some fantastic graffiti works in the real world. 

And what about this exiting red zebra…..