Pablo Picasso and friends

I told you that I was in Vienna and once there, I must always, I mean 'always', visit the 'Albertina'.
One of the most invitingly beautiful art galleries, with large exhibition space, where even  the large paintings are given enough room so that, when you intensely look at one, the next one does not push itself into your view, by visually tickling you in the corner of your eye.

This time the Albertina featured two distinct types of artists:
The second floor featured Albrecht Dürer with his 'Hare', 'The Praying Hands' and others, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and many more of the 'classical periods'.

On the first floor were the modernists: Picasso, Renoir, Klee, Giacometti, Matisse, Kokoschka, Monet and many others. 
That's were I went.

I can almost hear some of my friends say: 
"What is Bert doing in a Gallery showing "Modern Art? Bert hates Modern Art!"

Well, you would be wrong. I do not hate modern art, but I do hate 'Charlatans', who slap some paint on a canvas,  place some high-falooten title beneath and hope that I, along with many more viewers will fall for this fraud.

The artists named above, however, cannot be placed into this category. Even Picasso, in any of his Periods, created works of abiding interest, and penetrating beauty.

Although I have spent many many hours wandering through art galleries, I do not, by any stretch of the imagination, think of myself as an expert. I am just somebody who really likes beautiful paintings.

Today I will post some of the modernists, which you could see in the original if you went to the Albertina in Vienna:

Pablo Picasso: ( 1881 - 1973 )

Pots and Lemon (1907)

There is probably not much to say about this painting,

except that the colour combination from a rust-red

to blue and yellow is pleasing.

Picasso : Stilllife with Guitar ( 1942 )

Living in occupied France, his paintings were

classified by the Germans as "degenerate Art".

Picasso, therefore, limited his output mostly to stilllives, 

but left some messages, which may be open to interpretation:

f.i. : In this Nazi controlled time, not even a mirror

reflected reality. The blood-red handle of the military sabre may indicate the brutality of the time. It also occurred to me
that this saber handle perfectly forms the letter
D for Deutschland !

Picasso: Mediterranean Landscape:

In 1948 Picasso lived in the South of France with Francoise Gilot.

At first glance, this view may convey an idyllic character - 

but the tight, angular lines creating enclosed, confining spaces mirror the unhappy relationship which existed between the two.

The view unto the Ocean and the sailboats are indicative of Pablo's desire for freedom and a new beginning.

Picasso:

Nude Woman with Bird and Fluteplayer ( 1967 )

The flute player may well indicate the artist himself, wooing his model. The dove, as a symbol of sexual lust emphasizes the erotic nature of this painting.

Oskar Kokoschka  (1886 - 1980 )

View of Vernet-les-Baines ( 1925 )

Kokoschka, on his way to Spain, was delayed for five days,

 waiting for his Visa.

So, what does a painter do to pass the time ?

He paints - a view from his hotel window.

Oskar Kokoschka:

"In the Garden" (1934 )

A young woman sits in a garden chair, 

pensively looking into the distance.

A friend holds a sea-shell to her left ear

and one wonders what it is she hears.

Oscar Kokoschka:

London, small Thames Landscape. ( 1926 )

Claude Monet: ( 1840 - 1926 )

"The Water Lilly Pond"  ( 1917 - 1919 )

The many modes of transport

  Besides 'walking' there is always the 'Fiaker' 

leading the parade, 

with everybody else at a respectful distance.

 a modern network of street cars and buses 

gets you everyplace you might want to go.

and finally, when all else fails

there is always

the

'Segway'

Vienna - bits & pieces

I was in  Vienna, but only for three days. It's not possible to do a city of this magnificence justice in such a short time. So, I just went here and there, hither and yonder, and photographed whatever turned me on.
One of the places I always go to is "the Hofburg".. formerly the residence of the ruling family of Austria, the Habsburgs.
The Habsburgs are surely not some of my favourite people, but one cannot think of  historical Austria without also thinking of the Habsburgs.
Their Winter Residence, in the middle of the City, is truly a magnificent building and I never fail to study, in some detail, the statues at the South Entrance, called "The Labors of Hercules".

The South Entrance of the Hofburg

HERCULES FIGHTING; and, of course, DEFEATING 

THE 9 HEADED  LERNEAN HYDRA:

HERCULES FOUGHT  HYPPOLITA; THE QUEEN OF THE 

AMAZONS TO BRING BACK HER BELT TO EURESTEUS

HERCULES

HERCULES DEFEATS THE INVINCIBLE NEMEAN LION

Vienna

At the moment I am in Vienna, spending a few days with friends.
Yesterday I walked from 9 AM to 4 PM, with some few rest pauses, and took many many pictures.
I look forward to sorting them once I am back home and posting some of the more interesting ones on this Blog.
I spent 2 hours in the 'Albertina' and viewed works by Albrecht Duerer, whose 'hare' and 'praying hands' were hung with several others. There were also drawings and painting by Michelangelo, and quite separated from these ancient masters, there were paintings by Picasso, Chagall, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, and many more.
The works of these 'modernists' are stunningly beautiful, although, if you look for realism, you won"t find it. You will find, however, works of Art which spellbind you and almost hobble you to the spot.

Bertstravels looks forward to the next coupla postings.

THE S O U L

The discussions I get myself involved in are truly astonishing and challenging.
I mean, what do I know about a "Soul"? Not much! In fact, next to nothing.
So I reverted to my trusted source: Wikepedia on Google.
"What ?", you exclaim in astonishment, "how can you find your Soul in Wikepedia ?"
Well, I wasn't looking for my Soul in Wikepedia, just what people say about it:
1.) Does it exist ?
2.) Is it something cosmological, three dimensional, or is it a psychological, ethereal phenomenon ?
3.) Is it there, inhabiting our body from birth? or did it find entry at a later stage ? Where, in our body can it be found ?
4.) Does God ( if he exists) have a Soul ? 
5.) Does my dog ( called: doggy-dog-dog) have a soul ? Or is the human being so arrogant that he firmly believes that only HE has a soul ? I understand that way back when in history, Man believed that Woman does not possess such a thing. (can one call it
"a thing?")

Well, the above are probably only the tip of the iceberg as far as questions go.
You may believe me that I spent many an hour reading up on the subject until I came to my own tentative conclusions: 
Nobody knows ! Everybody guesses! And the guesses range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

1.) Does it exist ?  All religions believe that a Soul exists. But each has different versions. Even the multitudinous branches (Sects) of Christianity cannot agree, and have slightly differing ideas about this subject. 
Most Philosophers express their own opinions. Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Philosopher, for instance taught that all beings have a Soul, but only the Soul of Humans is immortal.
The Stoics recognize 8 different parts of the Soul, ascribing different jobs to each part.
Epicureans determined (how?) that the Soul consists of the finest grained atoms in the Universe. Finer even than the Wind or Heat.
In 1901 Dr. Duncan MacDougall placed persons about to die on a "very sensitive" scale and noticed a weight loss at the time of death. Since this "experiment" could never be duplicated,  it is considered as "scientifically worthless"

The concept that Human is endowed with a Soul, in all its multiple variations, goes back into ancient history.
The Greeks referred to it as 'Psyche', the Romans called it 'Anima', the North American Indians called it something else.
But it all was and is the same: Man's desire for immortality. To satisfy this wish, something better had to be found than the three dimensional body for which it was difficult to make such a claim.
2.) Does it have matter, or is it an Ideal ? Dr. MacDougall certainly thought it had matter and therefore had to be three dimensional. Other, more serious Philosophers also believed that the Soul is cosmological and not just an ethereal idea.
3.) The discussions as to 'when' the soul enters the body was also never ending... and quite frankly, I believe that this is the most unimportant question.

The Believe or Disbelieve in the existence of a Soul is much like the Believe or Disbelieve in the existence of God..

I suppose then, that 
Bertstravel
will just have to remain an Agnostic

.

JAZZ IN THE BRAUHAUS

From Poetry Readings to Comedians to Music from Senegal, to the 

TERENCE BLANCHARD QUINTET, (USA)

the cultural calendar of Bleiburg has it all.

How can a small town, and Bleiburg is indeed a small town of about 6000 inhabitants,  attract such internationally renowned artists, and how can it afford their appearances ?
It is all due to a small group of enthusiasts who, during Carnival Time put on the most fantastic, the funniest show imaginable. The ball room of "Bresnik's Brauhaus" is jam-packed to beyond its legal capacity, with visitors coming from near and far. These lay performers, co-lead by Arthur Ottowitz,  freely give their considerable talents. The profits from these Carnival nights, about 15 in number, as well as some sponsorships go to paying for these professional artists. 
Last night it was the above mentioned "Terence Blanchard Quintet."

In 2010 Terence Blanchard, borne in New Orleans, was awarded a "Grammy"  for 
               "The Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Performance"

Listening to Terence Blanchard sometimes makes you think of Miles Davis, and in his rarer thoughtful ballad like segments, particularly in the low register, Ruby Braff may come to mind.

Here is the Band:

Fabian Almazan (Piano), 

Terence Blanchard ( Trumpet ), 

Joshua Crumbly (bass)

Brice Winston (Tenor Saxophone), 

Kendrick Scott (drums)

Fabian Almazan, comes from Havana Cuba. 

He backs the band with the most wonderful rhythmic riffs

and shows his driving strength during his solos.

Joshua Crumbly, a graduate of Julliard, plays a marvellous bass

in a straight forward, no-nonsense style. His Solos were simply brilliant.

Bryce Winston's hard driving tenor sax competes with Blanchard

 for attention with intricate improvisations

What can you say about Kendrick Scott ?

Here is a drummer Bands or Orchestras dream about:

Gentle brush work underpins the slower, balad style compositions

while hard driving sticks and intelligent use of cymbals

lets us relish his rhythmic patterns.

But his Solos: In these masterpieces of rhythmic imagination

he keeps his audience spell bound.

             That this evening had to come to an end,

was seriously regretted by

Bertstravels !

THE ALMOST PERFECT ILLUSION:

At first the illusion is almost perfect:

Seemingly endlessly rolling, forested hills,

high mountains in the back ground, and

four wild horses feeding in a natural meadow

deep in the valley. 

Then a closer look !

The horses are not wild.

They wear halters

and, if you look carefully,

in mid frame there is a single wire fence.

Illusion destroyed.

Damn Telephoto lense.

The Little Church

The weather has really not improved.
It's still windy and on the cool side.
But sitting around home is also not the ideal.
So I drive up the "Hemmaberg" ( The mountain of Holy Hemma )
It's really not a "mountain" but rather a good sized hill.
On the way down the other side you can see, in the distance, 
through the trees..
a little church.

Someday I must tell you about "Hemmaberg".
The Celts had a settlement up there and then the very early Christians.
There are excavations of Pilgrim Churches,  houses and graves dating about 2000 years back. ( When was it that the Celts roamed around here ? )
And there is a spring, issuing clear water without interruption.
Not just any water !
It's "right turning water" !
What ? You don't know the difference between water, Right turning water and Left turning water ?
Where have you been since the Celts took their healing and refreshing baths here ?
People come up to this spring, drink to the fullness of their thirst,
then they fill plastic buckets and take them home to drink and to wash their faces.

Wait a minute! 
Bring me the "right turning water"

Bertstravels is thirsty.

      
In the centre of this picture, the little church can hardly be seen.,
unless you click on the picture.

Daisies and Poppies

Just driving around the country side, aimlessly, without a plan. Taking the smallest roads we can find, unpaved, can one really call it a "road"? It's more like a rutted track. Here an old farm, there a barn.
Meadows change place with barley fields. Here is a rabbit hopping through the tall grass. A discussion ensues whether it's a rabbit or a hare ? I have to simply Google "Hare" to find out. I tell Christin that "hares" have longer ears than "rabbits". But I have no idea if this is true...
And then... almost beyond belief... there is a whole field of poppies and next to it a field of daisies.
Heavy clouds overhead, the sun breaking through just for a moment here and there..
At the sight of the poppy-field I remember the poem: "In Flanders Fields the Poppies Blow".
Having read the circumstances of the creation of this short poem an undefinable sadness descends.
We stop the car and I start to photograph these two fields. A snow covered mountain in the background.
Everything is too beautiful for words.

Here are some of the photographs I took.

                     In the background : The still snow covered Petzen, our                                                      house mountain

A Bio-Farmer tells us that, for fourty years, he has only used natural fertilizer on these areas and has not interfered with Nature.

Every year these fields produce more and more beautiful plants and flowers.

I will come back when the sun shines.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes, that's what it is: Happy Birthday to me.

Born on the 12th day of May 1932

Makes me 82 today... (for all those for whom Arithmatic is a foreign subject.)

And believe me: You are as old as you feel. 

I do NOT feel 82 ....    I do NOT feel Old...

Who feels like a youngster ?

"Bertstravels" does!

BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT PARTY GUEST

For a Change of Pace

Well, here I've been writing about my take on Religion, about my worries concerning the political mood in Austria, about the non-observance of what I consider to be the most important day in modern history and Goodness knows what else.

When I should have just told you about how  beautiful the days are, how blue the sky and how white the little clouds, making the sky interesting
AND
our Swimming Pool.

It needed cleaning in the worst way. After a long Fall and bad Winter, the pool looked green. Greener than Green. Dark Green... so dark, you could not see 2 inches below the surface.
Christin thought that our gardner should clean the pool.
I thought that I want to do it, because I would appreciate the result so much more, if I can look at it, dive in, and say:
"I did that!"

So, I spent an entire morning and half the afternoon, all in all I estimate about 6 backbreaking hours, maybe more in cleaning the walls of the pool. 
When it was done, it took about 36 hours to fill it with two hoses.

Here it is Now....  
Aren't you just a little envious ? 
If you promise to clean the pool next year all by yourself, you may come and jump in.

Right now, it's the domain of

Bertstravels

above and below:

taken from our balcony you can still see the snow atop the Petzen

and also the Swimming Pool, inviting us to a quick dip.

Water temperature today: 15 C

above: a quick shot taken from my studio

below: taken from ground level...

ain't that a joy ???

approximate dimensions of Pool:

7m x 3.5m x 1.7m

Dimensions of sky: Unlimited

This is unbelievable :

Today is the 8th day of May 2014.
Today, exactly 69 years ago was the day on which the Second World War officially came to an end.
On this day the killing stopped, after about 56,000,000 victims on both sides.
Of this auspicious day there is not a single mention in the Newspapers, nor did I hear anything on this morning's Radio News.

Can you imagine ? The most brutal dictatorship known to modern man came to an end, Concentration Camps in which millions were brutally killed were opened and the pitiful survivors were tended.
Surviving soldiers on both sides slowly started for Home and the reconstruction of a devastated Europe began.

If this is not an important day in the history of Mankind, in particular in the history of Europe and quite specifically in the history of Austria, I don't know which day should be designated as such..

There is, however, not a single mention in today's morning paper. There are of course other Morning Papers and maybe one of them might make a passing mention. I doubt it.

Another interesting study conducted in Austria finds space in 
"Die Kleine Zeitung" of the 8th day of May 2014.

"Austrians with a Tendency to Authorities: 
The result shows that the desire for a "strong leader" (Quotation signs are mine) has increased.
Of more than 1000 persons questioned, 
29% expressed the desire for "a strong leader who does not need to concern himself with Elections or a Parliament." 
Over 50% wanted to have an end of the discussions concerning the Holocaust.
Only 50 % of those questioned were of the opinion that National Socialism has brought 'only' or 'mostly' bad things. 
36% believe that the Nazis brought good as well as bad things.

I fear.that somehow this survey and the lack of any mention of the end of WWII are sadly indicative of the thinking of by no means all, but a worrysome portion of Austria's population.
When 29%, that's almost a third of all Austrians want to have a return of a dictator, "a strong leader who does not have to worry about Elections or Parliament",
then, I believe, it is high time for all good Austrians to show concern. 

Are you not worried ?

Bertstravels is.

WAS IT REALLY 69 YEARS AGO ?

It is hard to believe. 
It was, indeed, 69 years ago, on the 8th day of May, that the Second World War, colloquially referred to as WWII, came to an end. 
The World had a right to breath a gigantic sigh of relief and to celebrate the defeat of the Nazi Regime and the Liberation of Europe, including Germany and Austria.
It is further hard to believe that there are still people hereabouts who cannot accept that they were "liberated" and not defeated. 
The Nazi Regime was defeated!
The People were liberated, even if many of them did not and apparently still will not understand this.
Now, Austria celebrates the 26th day of October, because on this date in 1955, the last of the liberating forces, ( USA, Great Britain, France and Russia ) left the Country.
It is true that Russia did not behave much like a liberating force, but, having contributed substantially to the defeat of the Nazi regime they must be considered as such. The fact that they systematically plundered the Country, while the USA pored billions into a reconstruction fund, is quite another story and would deserve some careful analysis of those historical facts.
A country, which from 1938 to 1945 was but a Province of Germany, called 'die Ostmark' and which only due to the actions of the Allied forces was able to call itself by its ancient name 'Österreich' again, should not forget who gave them back this independence. 
And yet, the people here, do not celebrate the anniversary of the day on which the ultimate tyrant was defeated and on which they regained their Country, but they do celebrate the day on which the last 'Russki', 'Ami', 'Brit' and 'Frenchi', crossed the border to return to their respective homes. This was the 26th October 1955.
I believe that there cannot be much argument what Russia would have done, had the other three countries withdrawn their forces prematurely. Russia would have done to 'Österreich' exactly what it did to Poland, Hungary, East Germany and so many other of its Satellite States. All of Austria would have become a Communist occupied and directed Country and its recovery would have been as slow and painful as the recovery of East Germany.
Let us therefore not blame the other "Three in the Jeep" for holding out until the Fourth Power could be persuaded to also leave the Country.
So, dear Austria, do not forget the 8th day of May 1945, but celebrate it with all the political speeches, with all the dancing around the Maypole and with all the memories of your true Liberation.

What happened on the 30th day of April 1945, the 8th of May of this same year
and many months later is well remembered by

Bertstravels.

PRAYER ?

One of my friends here in Bleiburg lost a close relative and asked me to pray for his soul.
He smiled at me, knowing that prayer and I are not the closest of relations.

This got me to thinking: Why do people pray to and ask for favours from a God, they consider "All Loving" and "All Just"?

The rules are very simple: If you die, having been baptized, confessed all of your sins and having received absolution, your soul ( some believe -and your body- ) after a short stop over in Purgatory, will go to heaven to exist in eternal happiness.
If, however, you die with an unconfessed and unforgiven "mortal sin" on your record, you will have to spend the rest of time, for all eternity, in the place called "Hell" under the rule of Satan who fans the fires and pours the Sulphur, and no amount of prayer will get you out of there.

1 John 5:14 tells us: "and this is the confidence we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to his will, He heareth us.
The operative phrase in here is "according to his will"
Many of the victims who died in Nazi Concentration Camps, or in the Russian Gulag, or in so many other dictatorial imprisonments must have prayed to Him and asked for Salvation -- and yet, they died horrible deaths. So it must have been His Will that they all, innocent and guilty, forgiven and unforgiven - all of them, shall die. Most of them without confession and absolution of their mortal sins are now roasting in Hell and will do so forever more.

If people pray for a departed soul, an action either superfluous or useless, then many will also pray for 
Peace On Earth Everlasting.
Are these prayers heard ? Nevermore, says the Raven. 
God steadfastly ignores these prayers and allows the death of multitudes in numerous wars.
"But God gave Man free will", some will say. But the inmates of detention camps and the foot soldiers of both sides of such conflicts, had no chance to exercise this Free Will.
Allow me to repeat: The death of the suppressed (despite the prayers) must have been God's will.

It should be, it seems, impossible for a thinking man to know of all which has happened and is happening and still believe in an 
"All Loving", "All Powerful" deity who is aware of every 'sparrow which falls.'

Therefore, if you must believe in some sort of  "intelligent design", a Designer - Creator - God, for God's Sake, be a Deist - believe, if you must in a Creator, but in one who does not care about the well being of his creation. Look at him as a willful child, who grew tired of his Lego set, slammed shut the lid of his toy box and went on to play new games on her I Pod.

The Second Day of May

I'm not sure if I should write on my Blog today.
Today, as every year on the 2nd May is a lonely day for me. A lonelyness I could share only with my children.
Therefore, maybe, I should just write them an e-mail, or better still, say nothing and just let this day go by.

          IN MEMORIAM. GLADYS PEARL IRVING - REITTER:

Bertstravel
was and is one lucky guy.