PICASSO, CEZANNE, MONDRIAAN

Tuesday I went to a new exhibition on paintings on Picasso, Cezanne and Mondriaan in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. An exhibition which received huge attention in the media and was opened by the Queen Friday a week ago. So I was curious to see what actually was exposed. I must honestly say that it was a disappointment; as a regular visitor of the museum I recognized a lot of the works exhibited, although some works of mainly Cezanne were added.

Cezanne, widely recognized as the first painter of modern art at the end of the 19th century, is not one of my favourites. Of course it is high quality painting and ground-breaking for the impressionist movement later, but it does not stick in my mind or touches my heart. Picasso is more to my liking, but the Picasso-exhibition of a few months ago was more impressive and more exhaustive. Mondriaan is very recognizable, but once I knew the philosophy behind his paintings in my modern art course (the search for the perfect composition), it became annoying.

The exhibition attracts a lot of people and I suppose for visitors who do not come to The Hague that often a lot of the works shown are new and intresting.

KRAPP'S LAST TAPE

Last Tuesday I have visited with a friend the performance of a play by Beckett called "Krapp's Last Tape". As most of Beckett's plays it is not a uplifting and sparkling song and dance. As an hour and a half monologue of an elderly male who looks back on his life by listening to tapes he recorded on each of his birthdays, it was very confronting and intense. All those missed opportunities and bad memories ! Somehow it was also very confronting and recognisable to me !

At first I thought it would not be a very good idea to go to a very depressing piece, but the recension in the newspaper that it was very well performed, highly confronting and absurdist / post-modern convinced me that it is a performance I would like. As such I love plays that are not down-to-earth or mainstream and it is not essential to understand everything. It should make you think what is in it for me and that is for everyone different.

And it is uncomfortable: long silences, no music, only one actor, slow pace. With the absurdistic elements and the outbursts of uncontrolled emotions a challenge ! But I thought Steven van Watermeulen as Krapp was very intense and convincing. Worth seeing. And personally I like to go to the Royal Theatre in The Hague; it is very festive and elegant.

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

I have been to the opera only three times in my life. The first time was a long time ago: in Warsaw, Poland in 1989. That was quite an event. Poland was still under communist rule and the opera and other cultural events were incredibly cheap. Because it was so cheap we decided with our group of law students from Utrecht University on a "study trip" to Poland that it was a good idea to go to the opera on the first evening after our arrival.

We had nothing suitable to wear and nobody had any Polish money; only I had changed illegally some Dutch guilders to Polish zlotys in the hotel lobby that afternoon (an unexpected talent of mine). Both clothes and money turned out to be no problem at all; the audience was dressed as if they just came from the supermarket and I had paid for all the 12 tickets. If I remember well it was only €0,16 per ticket !!

I do not remember that much about the performance. Only that it was a Polish composer and that there were a lot of people on stage (just like it should be in an old-fashioned opera). It was crowded and I still can see old ladies knitting as if they were sitting in front of the telly.

The second time was last year on my birthday, February 19th, when I saw with a friend "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" by Mozart. I am not a big fan of Mozart: It is too frivolous for me. But OK, Johan Simons was the director and he is the shooting star of European opera. So let's see what it is and it is always a nice night out. Unfortunately it was a disappointment, may be the expectations were too high. The opera was sung technically beautiful, but it simply was not my taste. We had good seats, but we paid also € 90, which could have bought tickets for 540 people back in 1989 in Warsaw !

Last time was last week when I saw Nabucco by Verdi in the Lucent Theatre in The Hague. They made a modern version of the storyline and it was now set in some Latin-American banana republic instead of Jerusalem. But the rest was in my eyes (I am no connaisseur) quite straight-forward opera: with a large choir, great bombastic music by Verdi, famous melodies, a rather sturdy diva, lots of melodrama, great lighting and decor (at least in my opinion; there were other opinions) and a standing ovation, which is these days unfortunately more rule than exception. Great for a saturday night out.

To end this I added a clip of the überfamous chorus Va Pensiero sull'Ali Dorate (the Slave Choir)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZSqtqr8Qk

UPDATE ON ART

After my job interview in Amsterdam last week I went to an art exhibition at the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) at Dam Square on religion in modern art. These are basically works from the Stedelijk Museum who are on display while the Stedelijk is closed for renovation.

First question: why do museums always have to close their doors for years and years for renovation ? Of course they want to do it thoroughly and they want to have it look nice and usually they manage to do so. But if you have your plans ready, the contractor chosen and the finances arranged you can start and do the job, or am I naive ? The costs usually get completely out of control , questions are being asked, decisions to be reconsidered. In the meantime Amsterdam's reputation as a tourist magnet is deteriorating.

Second question: which marketing genius has decided that both the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum have to be renovated at the same time ? People come from all over the world and want to see these museums (usually after they have been to the Vincent van Gogh Museum); very frustrating if they get to the museum and have to read that they are closed. I have experienced that myself several times I was abroad. Luckily the Rijks has been able to display the star pieces in a small wing of the museums.

OK; back to the Nieuwe Kerk. I was curious to see what the influence of religion on modern art was. In my opinion modern art is a sort of rebellion against the dogmas and conservatism of the small-mindedness of the civil society, which includes religion; is religion now becoming a protest ? It started with a room with ironic and humoristic protests against the influence of religion on modern society. In my opinion also the most interesting room. I like art that has a message, without being too moralizing and leaving some room for interpretation.









GILBERT & GEORGE - SHITTY
JEFF KOONS - USHERING IN BANALITY

These two pieces I really liked. Not because they are so beautiful or nice to watch, but because these are pieces that have something to say and lead to mixed and fierce reactions (although certainly with Jeff Koons you need some explanation before you get the meaning). The church as mass hysteria that refuses to keep up with time.

The rest of the exhibition did not stick into my mind and with some works I thought the link with religion was too far-fetched. In my opinion it is not spiritual, transcedental or religious simply because there is a cross somewhere in the picture. Some of them are also successors of the religious paintings of the past, which are usually vague, with pastels and dreamy atmosphere. I like pictures to be big, confronting and with bold colours. How come ?!

привет!

привет!

Hello ! What is this ? My blog is in English and this is not English. You are right; it is time for some Russian.

For a long time Russia has my special interest now. When I studied law in the late 80s Russia, or better the Soviet Union as it was called then (remember ?!), was the big enemy and in first instance the relationship between East and West (military, politically and economically) was my main subject of study ... until Reagan and Gorbatsjov thought it was necessary to change it all and my study of international relations changed overnight into a study of modern history. I did not let it happen and switched to the European Union as subject of study.

My fascination for the communist era remained. I read books of Marx and books on Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev and visited every country in former communist Eastern Europe except Romania. A special experience was the first and only time I went to Moscow; to stand there on Red Square in front of the Kremlin and to visit Lenin's tomb (bizarre !) was something I never forget.

Let me get this straight. I know of the horrors of communism and I am lucky I did not have to suffer under the rigidity of the regime, but it still is fascinating that people developed a system that worked totally different from the ones before. It also helped us in the West to rethink the rough edges of capitalism.

Besides the Russian classic works of literature, I also like Russian propaganda posters. This is one of the reasons why my blog is called "Red Star"; a simple and powerful symbol. Below is a picture of the propaganda poster which is hanging in my office at home. Although original posters from the period before WWII are valuable this one is not worth stealing: it is a copy. The text on the poster reads "1918 - 1948 HAIL TO THE GLORIOUS SOVIET ARMY !". Very nice for such a peaceful guy as yours truly.














Now I have decided to take my interest for Russia one step further. As a follow up of my course in American History of last year I have now decided to do a course on Politics and Culture of Russia at the University of Leiden and to refresh my knowledge of the Russian language. It starts in February and more on that later.

THE ART OF THE XX-CENTURY

In my introduction you could read that I am a lover of art, especially modern art. Everything that surprises me or starts me thinking is a source of inspiration; beautiful or ugly does not matter. At this moment only an inspiration for my mind; although I would like to find some kind of artistic outlet, I can not decide which form to choose. Wait a minute ..., a weblog is also a kind of artistic outlet !

OK. Earlier this week I went to see an exhibition with an overview on the art of the XX-century in the Gemeentemuseum (Municipal Museum) here in The Hague, mainly with works of the museum and all the big names: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Mondriaan, Bacon, Stella, Warhol, Paik, Richter and so on. I had seen them all before, but if you look at them in a chronological order, you see the developments more clearly and as usual, the lay-out of the exhibition is always special at the Gemeentemuseum; by the way - the architecture of the building is very special too. To be seen !!!



The Gemeentemuseum is a museum of international standard with an outstanding collection of works of modern art (mainly first half of the 20th century). The link to the website of the museum:



http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/index.php?id=1&langId=en



Be sure to spend some time relaxing in café Gember next to the museum with a large terrace overlooking the pond. One

of my daytime-favorites!