Florence, 1997. “Of the impossibility of photographing the Duomo”. One of the prettiest cathedrals in the world. (Milan’s not bad either.) The Duomo in Florence is a delicate work of white and black marble. A masterpiece really. But houses are so close to it you never really can get a comprehensive view. (Analog photo. One…
Sacré Coeur, by Maurice Utrillo. Mid-30’s. Musée Montmartre. Utrillo (1883-1955) was Susanne Valadon’s son (see a previous “virtual museum” post). Montmartre, where he lived all his life, was his main source of inspiration. The church in the foreground would be the small Église Saint-Pierre, one of the oldest churches in Paris. Built in 1147, a…
The “Double me”. San Agustín, Colombia. 1983. We’d left our two year-old daughter in the care of her grandparents in Bogotá and set off with our friends to the lost valley of San Agustín in the Colombian Andes. Around 3300 BC, this precolumbian culture, started to occupy the region of San Agustín (obviously a post…
The thinker, 1902, by Rodin is one of his most well-known works. The Rodin museum is one of my favourite museums (musea?). Situated near the Invalides, in Rodin’s old house, in the middle of a huge garden by Paris standards, it has long been one of our favourite strolls. The B&W pictures I took in…
Beach police? Seriously? The FBI wasn’t invented yet. But bureaucrats were alive and kicking. I wonder whether this beach is on the Potomac, in D.C. See the obelisk in the background? (Source unknown) Beers of the world series. Colombia, a while back. Loos of the world series. Tandoor restaurant, Mexico city. Last time we had…
1937. Civil war is raging in Spain. Volunteers from all over the world run to Spain to enlist in the International brigades. War is sinister. Civil war is “sinisterer”. Friends against friends. Neihbours against neighbours. Brothers against brothers. On April 26, 1937, the little town of Guernica in Spain, between Bilbao and San Sebastian, is…
“Garnier, have you seen Lakshmi?” “No, Doudart,” I said. “I haven’t. Who is Lakshmi?” “How can you possibly not have seen her?” Doudart asked. “She walks the compound all night. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!” “Doudart, my friend, Lakshmi is an Indian name. We’re in China, in Yunnan. Don’t you remember? This…
A portrait of Frida Kahlo at Diego Rivera’s house in San Angel, Mexico city. Study in yellow, Diego’s house. Sculpture by Alberto de la Vega, 1966. Hmm. Rivera died in 1957, so what is that doing there? Portrait of Dolores Olmedo by Diego Rivera. 1955. Dolores Olmedo (1908-2002) was a Mexican entrepreneur and patron of…
I could start with a small Renoir. Emil Bührle collection at the Maillol museum. 2019. Claude Monet in his workshop at Giverny. The workshop has remained very much the same. The paintings have been replaced by – very good – copies. Most of the originals are at Orsay I believe. “Love your world”. Latin quarter,…
Angkor Vat means, in Khmer: “the capital that became a Buddhist monastery”. The temples of Angkor are a blend between Hinduism and Buddhism. The faces carved out everywhere? I am not sure whether they represent Brahma or Buddha. Or one then the other. A good example of Asian capacity of “Fusion”. The jungle reclaims the…
