Showing posts with label Gustav Klimt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gustav Klimt. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Pass the Time, Pass the Stop, Pass for the Bus

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What could be better on a hot day than go to a museum? The Fine Arts Museum is hosting the Egon Schiele exhibit from Vienna. Since Ron docents there, he usually goes to all the temporary exhibits by the time I even notice them in the subway stations. With my Press Pass, I get in for free, so I get to museums more often than when I had to calculate the cost enjoyment ratio.

Schiele was born in 1890; his father died when he was young. Neither his mother nor the uncle who was his principal financial supporter wanted him to become an artist. It turns out Schiele had substantial mother issues that became evident with much of his work. She was a cold woman who never should have had children. We are grateful she had him.

What impressed me the most was the way he created faces, but more specifically, his choices of color. Two portraits in particular used shades of oranges and turquoise not only around the complexion, but in folds by the nose of each. One was the self-portrait that identified the show.

Egon, an Austrian, was a protégé of Gustav Klimt after he showed the famed artist some of his sketches to evaluate. Klimt became his friend, but later in Egon’s life he moved on with his own style distancing him from Klimt’s work. Interestingly, he had numerous pieces completed, both sketches and paintings, but the artist died of the Spanish flu at the age of 28 years old.

Leaving the museum, it seemed like a short ride to Kika, home decorating store where sheets were on sale. I have been hunting down a drip coffee cone for a single cup of coffee everywhere without luck, so thought I may get lucky there and kill at least two birds. Right outside of the museum is the bus that to go there. Looking over the four bus routes, all stop at Robert Karóly where Kika is located. Bus number 30 arrived; I jumped on.

Six stops later, I could see Kika in the distance, but still too far to walk. Ten stops more; I realized this was a serious mistake. According to the bus route sign, one stop marked Deák should have been where tram 14 stopped. However, it was the stop before, but I had already missed it. Bus 30 does a circular route so if I stayed on, I could have returned back at the museum in time for dinner. I decided the next stop would be my last, but then realized that the bus stops in the return direction were not across the street. They are on other streets, explaining the strange little arrows on the route sign. Three stops later, there was a stop where I could cross the street to retrace my trail.

Finally, Kika at last. It was like finding water on an oasis. Before any shopping commenced, I had to hydrate. First stop was the restaurant for a soda. When I found the sheets advertised as being on sale, they were not the sizes we needed. They didn’t have the coffee cone either. The trip was a waste of time. As I rode around the city in districts I never actually wanted to venture before, I was so pleased with myself for having a transport pass. With it, I can ride the wrong routes until the line stops for the night and still not have to worry about buying another ticket.


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Saturday, October 16, 2010

A Disproportionately Fulfilling Afternoon

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One summer about five years ago, I had a personal mission to visit every museum in Budapest. At that time, there were forty-five. I made it to thirty-six. I have yet to make it to the Ambulance or Police Museums. I enjoy museums, but one of the inhibiting factors is the cost.

Recently, I received my new membership card from the European Press Association identifying me as a veritable journalist. Having heard that this authenticity gives free passage to sail through the doors of Budapest Museums, without once disturbing my pocket anchored wallet. Yes, I had been more than anxious to test this theory. Anxious in both senses of the word: excited, yet nervous. I hate being embarrassed in public.

The Fine Arts Museum currently has a double extended exhibition: Botero and Klimt. Being a fan of both, I the cravings were gnawing at me, so Ron and I decided we needed to go yesterday. This was my chance to test my pass.


Two ticket offices open, I chose the one with no one in line. This would reduce humiliation if there were to be any. As I walked up, she put the closed sign down while waving me across the hall. A party of five were already confusing the ticket seller in Spanish; others were lining up behind me. Stand tall, hand over the pass, ask if it provides a discount. With a cheery smile, the attendant states "For you it is free." "Yes" I mutter like an unappreciative child, "but I want to see Botero and Klimt." Again she smiled "It is all free for you. Enjoy!" Enjoy? I am already ecstatic. This has just saved me 3,500 Huf or $18.00 or 13 euros. Ron gets in free since he is a docent. What a wonderful day!

The museum is missing 120 pieces of their regular collection. They are all on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Knowing I can return any time and having been here dozens of times already, I wanted to see Botero. We 'discovered' him into our lives when we were in Portugal years ago. There was an exhibit of replicas of his paintings, but they did have some sculptures too. 

His trademark is creating out of proportion. This is his version of the Mona Lisa. Notice the facial features. We were overjoyed to be able to drink in over 3 dozen of his paintings. In addition, they had a documentary playing about his life and work. Though we intended to only watch a small portion, we stayed for the entire ninety minutes. For once I was satisfied with not having my camera. It would have been a distraction. To read more about Botero, click here.


After more than 3 hours soaking up Botero genius, we ventured to the Klimt exhibit. Vienna, of course has the largest collection of Klimt and we have been to that museum. This exhibit generously encompassed the Secessionist group of which Klimt was the first president. None of the paintings for which he is best known within popular culture were on exhibit. In fact, most were from his band of brothers, Klimt just lending his name as the ringer. Closing the museum, we went for dinner. It was an exceptionally good day.

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