Apps
Contact
Seminars
RSS FeedAugust 23rd, 2010
The Sunset Song at Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden
The “Su
nset Song” at the Hirshhorn Sculpture garden consists of two superimposed versions of the “Banks of the Ohio” sung by Susan Philipsz, one from a male and one from a female perspective. (Listen to the Olivia Newton-John’s version at YouTube.)
The song creates such a poignant and doleful impact that it can even transform a sunshine filled day and sunshine filled young man into a contemplative figure. The song is located right next to the beautiful “Lunar Bird” sculpture by Joan Miro, the famous Catalan
sculptor.
Here, you can find the same young man next to the Lunar Bird, away from the Sunset Song, and you can see the increase in sunshine, as if the clouds have suddenly parted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Mir%C3%B3
December 12th, 2009
Cornelis de man
One of the first rooms that you see as you enter Rijkmuseum contains paintings and other objects of art about the 17th century trade in the Netherlands. One of the paintings “cornelis de man” is quite interesting. Whaling, even as far as the arctic, had been perfected 400 years back. Also, interestingly, the flag in that painting looks very much like the modern Indian flag. Top horizontal color appears more orange than red, and the the bottom bar more green than blue. In the center of the white bar, there seems to be an object, not entirely clear.
Digression in vexillology aside, certainly the kitchen maid, the little street and the n
ight watch are some of the best paintings in this museum. About the kitchen maid (sometimes also called the Milkmaid): this is really a fascinating painting. Just about everyone (like myself) may have seen the painting in print, but once again, the original painting seems to be way beyond any of the high resolution images.