jueves, 3 de febrero
Went for a run through Retiro this morning -- it's amazing how sunny and warm it is at 11am! Plenty of people are out in shorts.
For lunch, Consuelo made "acelga" (chard) with potatoes -- it's her grandson's (Sebastian) favorite dish and he came over last night for dinner (at 10:30pm) in between studying for his exams.
Walked to school to get my subsidies, and then headed over to the Sorolla Museum. The museum was actually the home & studio of Joaquín Sorolla (Valencia-born Impressionist) and after he died and his wife died, the family gave the house to the public as a museum in 1923. I had seen Sorolla's famous beach scenes before (ladies in white dresses at the beach -- lots of pale blues and pinks) but I didn't know his name. The museum did a great job explaining the transformation and evolution of Sorolla's painting styles over time. He started out doing very tight, realistic paintings with tiny brushes and extremely precise details of backyard scenes and Spaniards in traditional clothing. Then he started to loosen up his brushstrokes, doing more portraits and larger paintings, working with bigger brushes. He dabbled in social realism for a while, trying to illuminate the challenging living and working conditions of the underclass (eg. big painting of "the white slave trade"). After he went to Paris and encountered a bunch of different art movements (including french Impressionism and also the luminous works of Scandinavian and northern European artists) his paintings start to take on incredible experimentations with light.
Probably my favorite painting was "The Pink Bathrobe" (1916). It was painted in Valencia (!!) and is considered "the culminating work of his luminismo and beach scenes. There are several different sources of light in the painting -- from some skylight or windows on the right and also through some venetian-blind-style beach door on the left. The two figures are "dappled" in light and the assortment of white, lavender, blue and coral colors make you feel as if you're at the beach too.
"Seaside Stroll" (1909) hung in the main studio -- depicts a lovely young girl (his daughter) and his wife in white dresses that billows behind them in the sea breeze. These pictures remind me so much of Allie -- she also is so talented in capturing luminosity and her color palette is very similar to Sorolla's.
I also loved all the studies and paintings of Arabic gardens, particularly the Alhambra and Granada gardens.
In addition to the spectacular paintings, I loved having the chance to see his studio (huge room painted red with tall ceilings and skylights -- decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings, studies, statues and collected artifacts). The house was built in 1910 and Sorolla actually helped design some parts of it (he gave significant input about the studio). In the dining room, he painted Valencian oranges and Valencian harvesters -- it was cool I had just been to Valencia! The house also utilized lots of blue and yellow ceramic tiles, which are characteristic of Valencian decoration. Around the house were 3 beautiful gardens, also designed by Sorolla. One is a Sevilla-style garden, another is inspired by the Generalife in Granada (with some Italian accents -- like the statues). Sorolla actually brought some myrtles from the Alhambra and planted them in the garden. Below the house was a beautiful little Andalusian courtyard -- just like the patios we saw in Córdoba! Sorolla seemed to collect ceramics, and so they've been hung all around the kitchen area.
Afterwards, had Spanish class
Researched the Spanish political party "Izquierda Unida" (mostly dominated by the Spanish Communist Party) for class and made a powerpoint.
viernes, 4 de febrero
Run through Retiro
Adam Fuss exhibition:
1) daguerrotype of peacocks. Basically, the peacocks and their feathers look ghostly white -- almost like a skeleton of their bodies and their feather. Makes me realize that, aside from their beautiful coloring, the delicate shape and textures of their feathers are exquisite in and of themselves. Also, makes me think about all those old black and white photos -- how does seeing people in black & white change the way we view the image?
2) Photos -- looked entirely black at first glance and first examination, but when I walked away from them, I saw that there was the faintest image of a child staring at me! These four photos were very disarming.
3) Photos taken from underwater of a child in the water. The form of the child was entirely dark, but there were brilliant ripples in the water, surrounding the child like many halos. I love how the water had been tinted with a touch of blue or pink.
Off to Paris!!
Went for a run through Retiro this morning -- it's amazing how sunny and warm it is at 11am! Plenty of people are out in shorts.
For lunch, Consuelo made "acelga" (chard) with potatoes -- it's her grandson's (Sebastian) favorite dish and he came over last night for dinner (at 10:30pm) in between studying for his exams.
Walked to school to get my subsidies, and then headed over to the Sorolla Museum. The museum was actually the home & studio of Joaquín Sorolla (Valencia-born Impressionist) and after he died and his wife died, the family gave the house to the public as a museum in 1923. I had seen Sorolla's famous beach scenes before (ladies in white dresses at the beach -- lots of pale blues and pinks) but I didn't know his name. The museum did a great job explaining the transformation and evolution of Sorolla's painting styles over time. He started out doing very tight, realistic paintings with tiny brushes and extremely precise details of backyard scenes and Spaniards in traditional clothing. Then he started to loosen up his brushstrokes, doing more portraits and larger paintings, working with bigger brushes. He dabbled in social realism for a while, trying to illuminate the challenging living and working conditions of the underclass (eg. big painting of "the white slave trade"). After he went to Paris and encountered a bunch of different art movements (including french Impressionism and also the luminous works of Scandinavian and northern European artists) his paintings start to take on incredible experimentations with light.
Probably my favorite painting was "The Pink Bathrobe" (1916). It was painted in Valencia (!!) and is considered "the culminating work of his luminismo and beach scenes. There are several different sources of light in the painting -- from some skylight or windows on the right and also through some venetian-blind-style beach door on the left. The two figures are "dappled" in light and the assortment of white, lavender, blue and coral colors make you feel as if you're at the beach too.
"Seaside Stroll" (1909) hung in the main studio -- depicts a lovely young girl (his daughter) and his wife in white dresses that billows behind them in the sea breeze. These pictures remind me so much of Allie -- she also is so talented in capturing luminosity and her color palette is very similar to Sorolla's.
I also loved all the studies and paintings of Arabic gardens, particularly the Alhambra and Granada gardens.
In addition to the spectacular paintings, I loved having the chance to see his studio (huge room painted red with tall ceilings and skylights -- decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings, studies, statues and collected artifacts). The house was built in 1910 and Sorolla actually helped design some parts of it (he gave significant input about the studio). In the dining room, he painted Valencian oranges and Valencian harvesters -- it was cool I had just been to Valencia! The house also utilized lots of blue and yellow ceramic tiles, which are characteristic of Valencian decoration. Around the house were 3 beautiful gardens, also designed by Sorolla. One is a Sevilla-style garden, another is inspired by the Generalife in Granada (with some Italian accents -- like the statues). Sorolla actually brought some myrtles from the Alhambra and planted them in the garden. Below the house was a beautiful little Andalusian courtyard -- just like the patios we saw in Córdoba! Sorolla seemed to collect ceramics, and so they've been hung all around the kitchen area.
Afterwards, had Spanish class
Researched the Spanish political party "Izquierda Unida" (mostly dominated by the Spanish Communist Party) for class and made a powerpoint.
viernes, 4 de febrero
Run through Retiro
Adam Fuss exhibition:
1) daguerrotype of peacocks. Basically, the peacocks and their feathers look ghostly white -- almost like a skeleton of their bodies and their feather. Makes me realize that, aside from their beautiful coloring, the delicate shape and textures of their feathers are exquisite in and of themselves. Also, makes me think about all those old black and white photos -- how does seeing people in black & white change the way we view the image?
2) Photos -- looked entirely black at first glance and first examination, but when I walked away from them, I saw that there was the faintest image of a child staring at me! These four photos were very disarming.
3) Photos taken from underwater of a child in the water. The form of the child was entirely dark, but there were brilliant ripples in the water, surrounding the child like many halos. I love how the water had been tinted with a touch of blue or pink.
Off to Paris!!
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