Comments on In a Painter's Studio - page 1

Musical interlude

:O)

Musical interlude #2

hee

Bettie wrote: "Musical interlude

:O)"

Love that song!!

Themis-Athena wrote: "Love that song!!"


So do I dear TA, played it through 3 times backtoback whilst my mind did a back flip through time.

:O)

... and through space, to the South of France ... ;)

To the flats above Epsom Fire Station was where my recollections took me. lol

*le sigh*

Epsom Fire Station?

I had a spat with a brat about the merits of this song. The brat was him that I had convinced myself that I loved. Twasn't to be LOL

You found the picture that inspired the song. Van Gogh and Don Maclain ... that duet is heartbreakingly beautiful.

The version of the picture that I posted is actually a mural on a wall in Venice Beach, CA! :)

How can anyone not love that song? (Err, and that picture?)

I've just been reading a book about some people who hated such "degenerate" art - The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War.

Yes -- it's one of the most disgusting "side effects" of the Nazi period ("side effects" compared to the mass murder of Jews and other undesirables, that is). Particularly considering that while the Nazis were quick to condemn as "Entartete Kunst" (degenerate art) pretty much all art produced, say, approximately post-1870, they had absolutely no qualms about looting right and left, all they could get, in every single German-occupied country. The folks at the Louvre had to repeatedly change the hiding place of the Mona Lisa in order to safeguard it against being "confiscated"!

I saw there was an exhibition in Berlin of Entartete Kunst sculpture - they recently excavated for a car park in Berlin and found a câchè. Cant remember the name of the museum but it was where I visited Nefertiti - the building has steps up in front of a green (next to the opera house?)where H delivered some important speech. Let me see if I can re-find the details

ETA here we go http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/...

I wish I had the opportunity to go to Berlin to see this.

(Still missing out on the restored and enlarged Bode Museum and the restored Pergamon Museum where Nefertiti now resides, too, for that matter ...)

Oh TA give us a clue - we can both picture in the mind's eye the museum where we viewed Nefertiti (it was not her normal residence) but cannot get the name. I walked uo the steps where H gave his speeches and not enough rain has fallen to cleanse the shoes or mind.

As for visiting - throw a sickie and get yourself there - do it for yourself and your GR pals!

BTW - is Germany going to give back Nefertiti's bust?

As for the latter: Probably not before the BM, the Louvre and the Metropolitan relinquish their Egyptian treasures, too ...

Can't throw a sickie just now, alas, because all next week we'll be locked up in a conference room having a discussion (or hearing, rather) that we've been working up to for the past 3 years. (This, too, by way of an explanation in case I should drop out of the picture next week, which is highly probable.)

As for Mr. H's speeches, you probably mean Altes Museum near the "Lustgarten" park?

This one?

When I first "met" Nefertiti, she was residing here, btw: The Egyptian Museum (Ägyptisches Museum) in Charlottenburg, which was her home pre-reunification.

Themis-Athena wrote: "This one?"

YES! thank you thank you thank you - Christmas eve 2 years ago

The steps were slick with slush and it was dark and chilly but the plundering from the pottery site of ancient Armana was beautifully displayed. *sigh*

Can't throw a sickie just now, alas, because all next week we'll be locked up in a conference room having a discussion (or hearing, rather) that we've been working up to for the past 3 years

Are you in the arts?

Nope -- as prosaic as you can get, job-wise, alas. Just fascinated with Ancient Egypt ... and with a merry hodge podge cross section of the world's history of art, for that matter, including but not limited to medieval illuminated manuscripts, Van Gogh, Chinese ink drawings and Native American arts and crafts. ;) Which to some extent or another is probably true for a good portion of the folks on this site ...

Bettie wrote: "The steps were slick with slush and it was dark and chilly but the plundering from the pottery site of ancient Armana was beautifully displayed. *sigh*"

Yeah, Berlin in winter can be extremely dreary -- but I get the feeling you had a good time anyway!

Can you imagine the Place de la Concorde without the obelisque in its center? And to think that the clock which the French gave the Egyptians in exchange never even worked ...

[image error]

(Not that any other Western nation was any more charitable about this, either, of course.)

Themis-Athena wrote: "Nope -- as prosaic as you can get, job-wise, alas. Just fascinated with Ancient Egypt ... and with a merry hodge podge cross section of the world's history of art, for that matter, including but n..."

Chinese ink - I recommend The City Of Light: The Hidden Journal of the Man Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo. Don't cheat on the cheap versions as apparently the drawings are the first to go. Have a good lock-in; hope there is enough good crisp wine on offer.

:O)

The worst scenario was the Elgin Marbles - cleaned with brillo pads if you please OH NOES!

I was invited to Manchester to witness the first catscan done on an egyptian mummy - then shown how thay reconstruct faces using computer virtually, and clay/plastic in reality. We all take this tech for granted but 'back then' I was riding the wave.

the clock which the French gave the Egyptians in exchange never even worked

No!!!! lol. In an ideal world, all would be back in situ

Bettie wrote: "The worst scenario was the Elgin Marbles - cleaned with brillo pads if you please OH NOES!

I was invited to Manchester to witness the first catscan done on an egyptian mummy - then shown how thay reconstruct faces using computer virtually, and clay/plastic in reality..."

Wow -- that must have been truly fascinating!

(Bit flat-headed, King Tut, wasn't he? Go figure ...)

"Elgin marbles" and "Paris obelisque" are probably the catch phrases you hear most often in Egypt when it comes to the return of the country's treasures ... (brillo pads ideed!!) The guide we had (also on a trip 2 years ago, btw) was very philosophical about the whole thing -- though he DID tell the story about the non-working clock with obvious relish when we were visiting Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo (where the ominous clock is located) ... and of course in Luxor he pointed out the remaining obelisque and commented with a sort of deprecating grin: "So the French got the twin of this -- and in exchange they gave us a beautiful, completely useless clock ..."

The British Museum has always claimed that the sculptures were well cared for, but that is not the case. In the 1930s, they were cleaned, more or less with a Brillo pad and a wire brush, in the mistaken belief that they were originally brilliant white, and in doing so some of the residual ancient paint was taken off, as was the honey-coloured patina of ages.
The Parthenon cannot come to London. Reunification would be voluntary, and it would not entail ceding legal titles of ownership and rights. The new museum on the Acropolis opens on 20 June. It is on the same alignment as the Parthenon, slightly below it on the foothills of the Acropolis.

read more - http://www.dismore4hendon.com/180509-...

OK - I'm nosy/inquisitive - who is you

http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/i...

He is right, of course! But will any of this stuff go back to where it belongs any time soon? I doubt it ...

Sounds unlikely to me.

That museum Bettie saw the Nefertiti bust in - very National Socialist architecture!

Bettie wrote: "OK - I'm nosy/inquisitive - who is you

http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/i..."

Pretty darn well hidden! (Not behind the camera, though.)

2nd row of those standing, 3d from right

and

2nd row of those standing, 2nd from left.

Susanna wrote: "Sounds unlikely to me.

That museum Bettie saw the Nefertiti bust in - very National Socialist architecture!"

It isn't, actually -- it's neoclassical, built between 1823 and 1830 by Schinkel. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Mu...)

Ah - hah! seen you *hugs and bugs and rock and roll*

You have helped me a lot tonight dear TA and I thank you. What a good discussion, and if I dream tonight it will be filled with ,metal brushes, Egyptian needles. nefertiti's beauty and hitler's footsteps in the snow walking up steps.

Have a good week but first, have a fab weekend
xx

Themis-Athena wrote: "Susanna wrote: "Sounds unlikely to me.

That museum Bettie saw the Nefertiti bust in - very National Socialist architecture!"

It isn't, actually -- it's neoclassical, built between 1823 and 1830 b..."

Interesting. I can see why the Nazis didn't tear it down, though.

Bettie wrote: "Ah - hah! seen you *hugs and bugs and rock and roll*

You have helped me a lot tonight dear TA and I thank you. What a good discussion, and if I dream tonight it will be filled with ,metal brushes, Egyptian needles. nefertiti's beauty and hitler's footsteps in the snow walking up steps.

Have a good week but first, have a fab weekend
xx "

And the same to you!! :)

P.S. I'm wearing those socks every single day -- they got here just in time before winter hit us with snowfall and freezing temperatures!

Susanna wrote: "Themis-Athena wrote: "Susanna wrote: "Sounds unlikely to me.

That museum Bettie saw the Nefertiti bust in - very National Socialist architecture!"

It isn't, actually -- it's neoclassical, built b...

Interesting. I can see why the Nazis didn't tear it down, though."

(It's also a UNESCO World Heritage site -- has been since 1999 ... considered one of the world's foremost neoclassical buildings ... ;) )

Here's a shot from the 1880s:



and this one was taken from the former site of the East German parliament:

Goodness - you are such an interesting source. I need to get some shut eye but cannot stop myself refreshing and there you are with more scrumptious info about stuff I love.

So that was the e parliament - sheeeeit, and we have a piccie (somewhere) of me standing next to that waterway

ETA - Here is my photo of the building work on the castle/E German parliamentary site...

Ha - now I want to see that picture, too, of course! :)

Moi, a source? :P I disclaim any connections with Mr. Asange ...

The East Germans purposely built their parliament in the spot where once the Prussian kings' castle had stood -- actually pulled down the castle for the purpose in order to make a point ... now the parliament building has been razed in turn, in favor of a reconstruction -- of sorts -- of the castle! Talk about history coming full circle ...

Now be good to yourself and GO TO BED! It's bad enough one of us is still up at this hour ...

Themis-Athena wrote: "He is right, of course! But will any of this stuff go back to where it belongs any time soon? I doubt it ..."

Italy has most of the obelisks from the ancient world. They finally gave back the Obelisk of Axum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk_... , better late than never!

Thanks for the fab discussion, ladies! Wow!!

Here is me! - I detest personal photos so it is rare occurrence that you would get to see my front.

Hmmm ... (TA pulls out giant looking glass. :) )

I know how you feel about this, though! That's why I tend to hide in one of the back rows even in group photos ...

Hayes wrote: "Themis-Athena wrote: "He is right, of course! But will any of this stuff go back to where it belongs any time soon? I doubt it ..."

Italy has most of the obelisks from the ancient world. They finally gave back the Obelisk of Axum..."

Interesting, I didn't know that so many obelisks ended up in Italy!



Seriously, though, one would think that Italy might have a particular incentive to return "borrowed" treasures to their respective countries of origin. The number of Ancient Roman and historic Italian artefacts in museums all around the world must range in the (tens or hundreds) of thousands as well!

There's a better one at Newgrange



hahahahaha

I honestly don't think that I have a full face piccie of myself but am still trawling through the files.

At least we know your hair color now. That's a start! :)

Italy has a lot of obelisks because the Romans took them from Egypt.

Oh yes, of course -- that figures!

Themis-Athena wrote: "The number of Ancient Roman and historic Italian artefacts in museums all around the world must range in the (tens or hundreds) of thousands as well! "

The problem is that the art and artifacts that Italy has here are not being taken care of (see Pompeii: two structures have collapsed in recent days!) so the art is better off out of Italy. There are Caravaggios and similar works rotting in museum basements, Roman statues being stolen out of galleries and no one notices!

All the while half the sites you would very much like to visit seem to be "in restauro" at the precise moment you get there ... ;)