So it has now been a long time since my last post and I am sorry about that. A lot has happened since I last wrote something so I will fill in the details with a couple separate posts.
The last time I wrote we were in Umbria on the vineyard. We left there on the 15th of March to go to Venice. Venice was very nice but it was not like I remembered it from my first visit. In my memory it was much prettier and less crowded. The Venice we saw was filled to brim with people and was, ultimately, only a so-so experience. I suppose that the novelty of canals in place of streets wears off after the first visit. At any rate it was still fun to go. We also visited two of the surrounding islands, Murano and Burano, of which Burano was a real highlight.
The colors of Burano.
Burano is about 45 minutes away from Venice meaning that less tourists visit it. Thus, its economy relies on fishing and lace making rather than tourism. What was particularly charming about the island was that all the houses where painted with bright and different colors.
In Venice we also visited the Peggy Gugenheim Collection which is a modern art museum. I thoroughly disliked it, but am glad that I went. Even though I do not like modern art very much I like looking at it sometimes. Every now and again I will find something that I enjoy. I do not have very sophisticated aesthetic tastes. A painting either pleases my eye or intersts me with its meaning (in that it tells a story or is in some way allegorical). Modern art generally fails these two tests as far as I am concerned. That it does so was made even more clear to me given the great variety of beautiful and meaningful art that we have seen (such as in the Sistine Chapel, the Accademia, and more recently the Geldamagalerie). I don’t want to disparage modern art too much, however. Some works, such as one by Dali that I can not remember, are good despite not appealing to my tastes.
Anyway, on the 18th of March we left Venice behind on a night train for Munich. It was a rough ride. We did not realize that we would have to take a night train because trains during the day seemed as though they would be available, however all the seats on them were taken when we tried to make reservations. We were left with the night train as our only option. The only reseravations we could make were for seats not beds which, at the time, did not bother us. Sitting, though, when you want to sleep is not a ton of fun. It was tolerable though and we arrived in Munich early the next morning where my cousin, Christiane, and her boyfriend, Derrick, picked us up. It was very nice to get to see them and others from the Kenter side of the family during our eight days in Munich. Along with Herbert, Sylvia, Phillip, and Simone, we saw Gabi and her son, and Dorothea and her husband and children.
A few sights really stand out. For one, we visited a salt mine in the South East of Bavaria and learned about the production of salt which is much more complicated than I would have guessed. The process involves locating sodium desposits, pumping water into them so dissolve them and create a brine solution, then pumping the brine out, and then evaporating it. Anyway, it was interesting to see. I really enjoyed visiting the Alte Pinakotek as well. There I learned that I really enjoy the paintings of Rubens. One that I really liked was a scene from and ancient Greek myth about a satyr’s belwilderment at what he took to be the irrationality of humans. In the myth, the satyr first watches a farmer in the cold blow on his hands to warm them. Then, inside, the farmer blows on his hot soup to cool it. The saytr thinks it is absolutely crazy to perform the same action while trying to bring about different results. Actually, that is not irrational at all, but it was a nice painting. Rubens also had a nice Last Judgement painting. I always enjoy Last Judgement paintings because the artist’s depiction of heaven and hell is fascinating to me and the figures are generally symbolic which I like trying to figure out.
Our hearty German meal at the Hofbrauhaus.
While in Munich we also visited the Hofbrauhaus with Phillip, Simone, Christiane, and Derrick. After eating Italian for a month, it was really nice to eat some wurst, brotchen, and sauerkraut. It was also fun to try the beer there which was served in one liter glasses! After trying a few different varieties, I have decided that the Weissbier is my favorite. But, don’t worry Keith, I still like Guinness too!
We had a very nice time.
3 Comments
1 Mama wrote:
I didn’t realize you had seen Gabi and Dorothea too. Philipp didn’t mention it either. I doubt you remember Dorothea’s visit here years ago (I’ve forgotten how many). That was nice that you were able to see them.
Did you see Durer’s 4 Apostels? How about all the still lifes with dead animals draped across tables full of food? I have a Rueben’s print here, a head study of his young son. It’s really nice, remind me to show it to you. It’s been in the closet since I don’t know where to put it….
I’m glad you had a good time in Munchen.
Mama
2 Doug Stalker wrote:
I was just getting into abstract art, as in painting fully abstract works, when you were packing up my paintings in Newark. For the past four years or so, I have pretty much done, by dictate, abstract paintings. I wanted to switch to that style and the best way was to make myself do it, confine myself to painting such works. I must have 20 up in the main rooms of the house and hallways, if not 30 now. We must work on your appreciation for modern, indeed abstract, art. You are still looking at a painting as a photo, a story telling medium and nothing else. Is that the art part of a painting, the story? Or is that the narrative part, something extra art? To put the point another way, if you only like paintings that tell a story, why think that abstract art does not do that? Perhaps the story is one that you don’t read well, or know the “language” of? You look at all of the religious art and see the point because you came to those paintings knowing the story in advance, from outside the painting, by knowing Chrisitanity etc. Why think that you can come unlearned to modern art and get anything from it? Enough of lecturing. Just look at more of it and one day it will make a lot of sense, and have a story, too, perhaps.
3 Keith wrote:
Hah! AKP I thought my tour of some of my favorite sections of the Philly Art Museum prepared you for modern art. Perhaps not. Weissbier is quite delicious and one of my favorites down at the German bar on my street.