A friend was in the area, and we took him to Rust for dinner last night. How lovely it was sitting out in Rathausplatz listening to the clacking sounds of the storks! We really enjoyed the contrast to the busy atmosphere later in the season. If this weather keeps up make a point of a quiet day on Neusiedlersee now.
It looks like a very good season for storks, so take your cameras!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Arik Brauer at Dom Museum
The current exhibit at the Dom Museum is of the Biblically inspired works of Arik Brauer. If you aren't aquainted with the „Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus", I can only recommend that you get to know their work, and Brauer is a good place to start. I find them fun to look at, and there is always more to get out of them. You could just look at pictures on the web, or in books, but that would be a shame. The real paintings are so much more!
Most of the pictures are readily recognizable by anyone with basic Biblical knowledge My friend and I checked the catalog for a few works that we hadn't recognized, and the quotes for those were all from the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon). There are only German titles, but if you bear that in mind, and that 'Job' is written 'Hiob' in German, you should be fine.
No question - the most impressive work in the show is 'Moses and the Burning Bush'. The fire glows so intensely that you begin to think that there is a light behind it. Luckily the picture is so positioned that you can see it through the doorways from a distance while walking back out of the exhibit.
While many of the pictures seem to just depict the Biblical scene, others speak to our times. 'Worship of the Golden Image' shows how we idolize technology (and the almighty CAR in particular). There is also a moving crucifixion scene: Hakenkreuzigung. 'Hakenkreuz' means swastika, and 'Kreuzigung' crucifixion.
I particularly enjoyed seeing how Brauer has used some of the Bruegel works in the KHM as basis for his interpretations. I wonder if you will see the ones I did. Brauer's works are in no sense copies of Breugel, but the very basis of their styles is related, and he obviously knows Bruegel well enough that he can incorporate elements of Bruegel's painting into his own without losing his own individuality.
Don't miss Brauer's personal collection of posters of his exhibits in the room at the top of the stairwell. There is a Seder depiction there that I covet.
I've got to go back. I have got to see it all again.
Most of the pictures are readily recognizable by anyone with basic Biblical knowledge My friend and I checked the catalog for a few works that we hadn't recognized, and the quotes for those were all from the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon). There are only German titles, but if you bear that in mind, and that 'Job' is written 'Hiob' in German, you should be fine.
No question - the most impressive work in the show is 'Moses and the Burning Bush'. The fire glows so intensely that you begin to think that there is a light behind it. Luckily the picture is so positioned that you can see it through the doorways from a distance while walking back out of the exhibit.
While many of the pictures seem to just depict the Biblical scene, others speak to our times. 'Worship of the Golden Image' shows how we idolize technology (and the almighty CAR in particular). There is also a moving crucifixion scene: Hakenkreuzigung. 'Hakenkreuz' means swastika, and 'Kreuzigung' crucifixion.
I particularly enjoyed seeing how Brauer has used some of the Bruegel works in the KHM as basis for his interpretations. I wonder if you will see the ones I did. Brauer's works are in no sense copies of Breugel, but the very basis of their styles is related, and he obviously knows Bruegel well enough that he can incorporate elements of Bruegel's painting into his own without losing his own individuality.
Don't miss Brauer's personal collection of posters of his exhibits in the room at the top of the stairwell. There is a Seder depiction there that I covet.
I've got to go back. I have got to see it all again.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Spring in the Danube Wetlands
We went to the Schloss (Orth) Insel today for the first time this season. Next Sunday, April 19 is their Spring festival. The new thing there this year is a colony of ground squirrels. (German: Ziesel; Latin:Spermophilus) Their new home has been prepared with deep walls, and the animals are to be moved in next week. They should be interesting to watch this summer. (Visit the Schloss Insel on the web, too.)
On the way home we stopped in Mansdorf and bought asparagus. Closer to Vienna it doesn't seem to be ready, but they had both the white and the green out there.
On the way home we stopped in Mansdorf and bought asparagus. Closer to Vienna it doesn't seem to be ready, but they had both the white and the green out there.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Apricot blossoms in the Wachau
It's Spring! After the long winter, the sun is back and the flowers are coming out! Having heard that the apricot blossoms were out in the Wachau, Jerry and I decided to drive out to see them.
The Wachau is the section of the Danube between Melk and Krems. Unlike most of the Danube in Austria, the river actually flows freely here, passing between hills covered with vineyards and apricot trees, castles and churches. The most famous castle is the ruin of Duernstein where Richard the Lion-hearted was kept prisoner.
We prefer to visit the town of Spitz a bit further from Vienna. This is the church tower of Spitz with vineyards behind and apricot blossoms in front. We stopped there to take pictures and eat in one of the excellent restaurants. I bought some apricot kernel oil for salads.
The Wachau wines are well known, and if you want to get to know them better, May 1-2 is a good time to do it. During The Wachauer Weinfrühling over 100 Wachau vintners present their wines.
Of course, the classic way to see the Wachau is from the river. The Danube passenger ships start up again on Saturday, and the stretch Krems-Melk is spectacular.
If you prefer to spend less time on the water, just take one of the many ferries across. This is the one at Spitz.If you go to the Wachau on the 18th or 19th of April, be sure to stop at the ruin Aggstein for the medieval festival.
Jerry and I prefer the somewhat lighter wines of the Kamptal, and we were running out of some of our favourites, so we headed to Langenlois after lunch. At Ursinhaus we picked up some wines, and some apricot vinegar to go with the oil. Then we crossed the Danube to buy two rose plants in one of the nurseries around Tulln. A lovely day!
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