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Published: June 13th 2008
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Wow, I haven't had the time to write in a while, and now I'm daunted by the thought of having to write about everything that has happened.
I made it through Basel. It was a wonderfully overwhelming experience. I went to some interesting lectures and panel discussions on the art market today and important things to consider when collecting contemporary art. I saw a plethora of amazing works by well known modern and contemporary artists, as well as number of beautiful and/or intriguing pieces by people I had never heard of before. I made an effort to write every name I was interested in down so I can start to follow their carreers. I also kept track of pieces I would want to buy if I was a Russian oligarch, such as a magnificent piece by Morris Louis, and several works by Sam Francis.
Saturday evening I made it to Fondation Beyeler to see their amazing collection housed in a fantastic building by Lorenzo Piano. The grounds were lovely with a black Calder mobile stabile and a white Ellsworth Kelly curve sculpture. There was a Ferdinand Leger show up with interesting juxtapositions with Rauschenberg and a number of other
artists. They also had a room installed with only Barnett Newman and Amadeo Giacometti paintings and sculptures, a very beautiful and thought-provoking comparison. Then downstairs was a Sarah Morris show, which included some of her video work that I had never seen before. I loved the comfortable feel of the space; in several spots there were couches set up across from the works. There was one positioned on the opposite wall from a huge Monet Waterlilies, which was absolutely stunning. Not only was the painting beautiful, but it was juxtaposed against the pond and waterlilies that were seen through the large glass window at the end of the room.
Sunday I had a four hours in Basel before I had to catch a train to Cologne, so I ran through as many museums as I could. I started at the Kunstmuseum to see the permanent collection as well as a Chaim Soutine show and a Delaunay exhibit. They had some really incredible pieces from Hans Holbein to Clyfford Still and a lot of the in-between. I then moved over to the Kunsthalle Basel to see two small but nice shows by Ahmet Ogut and Aleana Egan. Then I ran
Beyeler Grounds
Kelly sculpture seen through the Calder mobile stabile up to the museum of contemporary art, which overlooked the river. They also had a lovely space, which was not overcrowded with works, but nicely arranged. I was running low on time, so I almost had to run through the different rooms on the three levels to just take note of everything that was there. Luckily I took a few seconds to run to the roof terrace to see the lovely view of the city along the Rhine. Though I wanted to get to Schaulager, I didn't have time, and had to sprint through the Bahnhof as it was. I got on a train that traveled right alongside the Rhine, so I had a lovely tour of the quaint towns, incredible vineyards, and old castles that created the landscape.
When I got to Cologne I met up with Christine, her father, and friend Harter. They were in Germany working for Xerox at Drupa, the largest print media trade fair, which actually takes place in Dusseldorf. I was able to procure a ticket for the next day and experience the craziness that was Drupa. It was HUGE! Who knew that there were people who dedicated their lives to making creasers
for printers? There was actually an ad that read "If it isn't creased, it isn't finished". I had to leave Christine to her work, so I went into Dusseldorf and just walked around to get a feel for the city. I went to the Rhineturn to get a spectacular bird's-eye view of everything, and was very excited to see sheep around a bridge right in the city. Since Dusseldorf was practically razed during the war, much of it is very modern. There is a whole area called the Neuer Zollhof with contemporary buildings, including three by Frank Gehry, which were gorgeous. I had to return to Cologne after that to get ready for a Xerox Disco party that Christine got me into. It was wild with provided fro wigs, hippy mustaches, and John Lennon glasses. We had so much fun!!!
On Tuesday I went all around Cologne. I started at the Dom, and climbed the 500 some steps to the top of the tower to get a great view. I also walked back to see the reliquary holding the bones of the three Magi. I went across the way to the wonderful Museum Ludwig, which had a fantastic collection
from Picasso and Monet to very up-to-the-minute works. This may have been one of my favorites so far. Then I made it to the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, which had a great show on Impressionism: how it started, what it meant, more technical aspects and questions while also looking at some incredible examples. This was followed by the Schokolade (Chocolate) Museum, which sounds silly but was terribly interesting. Not only does one learn about the process of producing chocolate and its history, but they have examples of Olmec and Aztec artifacts that relate to cocoa, as well as silver and porcelain that were specifically made for the consumption of chocolate. Then you get to actually see them make tasties. And, they have created a greenhouse that recreates the tropical conditions needed to grow the cocoa plant: 40 degrees Celsius and 80-90% humidity...kinda miserable.
Wednesday was both a success and a failure. I started out at the Cologne Sculpture Park to see a work by Jenny Holzer for my thesis. The garden was absolutely beautiful with more works by Anish Kapur, Rosemarie Trockel, David Smith, di Suvera, and Cragg among others. Unfortunately, the Holzer was gone. It has been moved to The
Hague for a couple of months. At this point I decided I needed to see another Holzer work instead, so I jumped on the train to Aachen (Aix-la-Chappelle) to go to the Ludwig Forum. After getting on a bus going in the wrong direction, I had to wait at a bus stop in the middle of the forest for about 30 minutes before the bus actually came. When I made it to the museum I was about to enter when a woman stopped me and said that they were closed for a private event that day. I was obviously upset, so she said I could come back at 4 for a special opening event with Peter Gabriel. So, I walked around a bit, saw the Dom and Rathaus from Charlemagne's time, and made it back to see an interview with Peter Gabriel about his collaboration with an exhibition called Big Blue Ball/ Across the borders. Unfortunately, he did not play anything himself, but he did bring some music that he produced, ant there was a flutist from Beijing who played the most beautiful and soulful melody. There was also one of the best contemporary dance performances I have ever seen.
Neuer Vollhof
View from Rhineturn But most importantly, I got into the museum to see the Holzer work and take some pictures. They also have a number of other incredible pieces; I loved a Gerhart Richter piece composed of four canvases in increasing size with seemingly random color blocks.
All in all, things have been going very well. I drove with Christine, her father, and Harter today to Amsterdam where we are staying in a hostel for the night. Christine and Harter head off tomorrow to travel around Ireland for a few weeks, but I will soon be accompanied by Leslie who arrives on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to seeing The Netherlands, and can't wait to tell you all about it. Hopefully, I can write on here more often so I don't have to have such long messages!
Love to you all!
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Eugene Roberts
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Cards and Letters
Keep those cards and letters coming! Fascinating to follow in your footsteps. Dad