After another very good / intensive week at school, during which I learned so much and steadily progressed on my concept for one of my trimester paintings, it was time for a change of scene. So on Saturday, I had a night out on the town. Actually, it was more than a night – I left home at 1pm and didn’t come back until 1am, walking most of that time. Oh, but was it ever worth it. 
In the afternoon, I joined 25 local photographers to participate in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk, an annual event, and at night, I joined thousands upon thousands of both locals and tourists for the Lange Nacht Der Museen (Long Night of Museums) – 130 museums open from 6pm until 1am with 1 low-priced ticket (13 Euros = ~$18 Cdn). Of course, I didn’t get to 130, but I did manage to do 10 of the 11 on my carefully researched list. This was a very well organized event, with a comprehensive booklet (also available in English), free public transportation, including 5 special shuttle routes, and a huge crew of staff and volunteers. I was impressed! The one museum I didn’t manage to do only had 800 tickets available, all of which had been snatched up before I could get there at 7:30pm – oh well, I might just pay their usual 12.60Euro entrance fee and go another day.
Here’s a summary of my day in both words & photos.
Donau Kanal Worldwide Photo Walk:
When I got the email from my old camera club in Newfoundland about this year’s Photo Walk, I decided to Google Scott Kelby’s website to see if there were any groups participating here in Vienna. There were 2, one downtown where I spend most of my days, and one along the Danube Canal, which I hadn’t visited yet. So I joined online and got to the meeting point an hour early (no surprise there) to sit on a bench, and people/dog watch while the weather turned from an early Fall afternoon to a cold and windy wintery type day. Fascinating! When group members arrived, I tried my best to stick to German, but it’s so easy to switch to English when folks use it to talk to me. For the next 2 hours, we slowly walked along the canal, where I mostly focused on the graffiti – fun! I had purposefully not brought my tripod so that I wouldn’t have to use the cloak rooms at the various museums (which would have slowed me down considerably), so I had to shoot at over 1200 iso it was so dark. That’s one reason I decided to have fun with zooms and pans. (Note: click on any photo to see it larger.)
boat designed by Hundertwasser
*I have to choose 1 photo from this walk to upload to the group – I’ve got it narrowed down to 3. What’s your favourite photo?
Long Night of the Museums:
We ended our walk at the Design Tower by architect Jean Nouvel, where our group leader had arranged for us to go up 18 floors to The Loft for a complimentary drink and the start of a guided tour. At 7pm, as the group was getting ready to go have dinner, I was more than ready to take off as the Long Night of the Museums was already one hour underway. The Design Tower was a participating venue, and I was glad to have seen it, especially the breathtaking views on the city, but I had so many other places on my wish list.
Stop 2: Kunst Haus Wien – Museum Hundertwasser:
If you’ll remember, I really resonate with Hundertwasser’s buildings that I shared with you on my first week here – both this museum and the public housing complex a few blocks away. I had never been inside, though, or seen any of his paintings. I loved the colours and harmonious use of spirals and squares – although very different from Klimt, these elements are present in both their work (and mine)…. The energy here was very good for me and the place wasn’t too crowded as this museum, about 10 minutes walk from the Design Tower, wasn’t centrally located. I took a couple of pictures before learning that photos weren’t allowed. While there, I also walked quickly through a photo exhibit by Linda McCartney, but it didn’t capture my attention.
Stop 3 & 4: Upper and Lower Belvedere:
From Kunst Haus, I hopped on the free Line 1 shuttle that brought us back to the central Meeting Point in front of the Hofburg Palace, where I jumped onto the Line 2 bus which took me to the Belvedere (remember those lovely garden photos with a large square body of water in front?). In the Upper Belvedere, I saw Klimt’s “The Kiss” and other of his works, some of which I totally didn’t resonate with and others that I loved. I also found a large digital photo screen of a black panther and a marble sculpture with a different interpretation of Amor & Psyche than the one I fell in love with as a child in Paris at the Louvre … all three of these will help me refine elements of my trimester painting. Great! I was glad to also go through the Lower Belvedere as some of the soul paintings from 1900 touched on themes of mysticism and myth in a way that I enjoyed. Of course there were lots of other rooms full of paintings / old portraits that never spoke to me – I remember being bored by them as a child and although I do have much more of an appreciation for them on an intellectual level thanks to all I’ve learned at school in the past 3 weeks, I still don’t enjoy them.
Hofburg Palace
An amazingly talented bottle player…
Lower Belvedere
Stop 5: Secession:
I rarely spend much time in museums, but I was in and out of this one so quickly, it’s quite funny. I had a purpose – to see Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze in the basement. I glanced in 2 other rooms on the way, but it was modern stuff that totally didn’t speak to me, and so I decided not to waste my precious time that the bus rides had already cut into. The frieze was worth it and I do like the outside look of this building – don’t you?!
Stop 6: The Vienna Butterfly House at the Burggarten Palmhouse:
I had been wanting to visit this since my first days in Vienna – I have such wonderful memories of photographing butterflies in various greenhouses in Canada. I’m glad I didn’t pay the usual entrance fee for this one. There were hardly any butterflies, none of which were flying around at this time of night. Part of the reason I didn’t get much out of this experience, however, was probably that I waited about 20 minutes in line and the crowd inched its way through the space as one slow line – no way for me to get out any faster. Still, it was nice to be among greenery, but nothing very spectacular in that realm either.
Stop 7: The Albertina:
This palace is one of the most famous art museums in Vienna. The line wasn’t too long, and I quickly made my way up to the “Matisse and The Fauves” exhibit. I liked the purple walls and some of the art, but I didn’t spend too long in front of anything. Still, I was thrilled to have an idea of the space and grateful for the splashes of colour. This step away from what other painters of the time were doing was not well received by critics of the day, but now look at where they’re hanging. It’s really truly important to create according to our own inner callings – not what the world wants or expects from us. Still, I’m sure they had to pay the rent and eat too…
Stop 8: Austrian Film MuseumI had been curious about this museum as it’s quite close to my school and I am a big movie fan. The museum basically consists of the screening room and lobby. I only had to wait 10 minutes for the next screening – this one a 20-minute compilation of “tension” (the volunteer said there wasn’t really a word for it in English) in 4 films throughout history. Sitting down in the dark, especially during the third and the longest/ most tedious art film clip I’d seen in a long time, my body recognized that we were already past my usual bedtime. Still, I got to experience the space, and for that, I am grateful.
Stop 9: Natural History Museum:
It was now 11pm and I only had 2 more museums on my list, so I slowed down a bit to walk the full circle of exhibits on both floors. This building is a mirror copy of the Art History Museum across the courtyard/gardens, where my class goes on Thursdays to draw. It was neat to notice the similarities and differences in the interior decorations – great ceilings and wall friezes in both! This one, however, is filled with minerals and animals of all kinds – 30 million specimens … and lots and lots of people. I can see how it would captivate museum lovers for hours on end… but unless I need to come back to practice drawing something, once was enough for me. Lifeless specimens behind glass don’t really do it for me. Or perhaps this is like libraries and videos stores – simply too much visual stimulus that leads me to feeling overwhelmed, choosing to leave for quieter surroundings instead. Have you figured out yet that I’ve never been much of a museum person? That’s one reason this one-ticket deal was great for me so I could get a quick taste of it without the expense. There is no right or wrong, good or bad – there just is, and that is me.
Stop 10 – Last Stop – The Leopold:
It was now a bit past midnight and I headed across the street to the Museum Quartier where I’d selected one of the many museums there to visit – The Leopold. The second floor was a very loud smoky bar with live music and dancing that resonated throughout the whole museum – interesting. I mainly focused on the Leopold collection with the largest Egon Schiele collection and Art Nouveau showcase with works by Klimt and other Secessionists. The Leopold is a very modern space compared to some of the older museums, and the work fits in very nicely here. I once again resonated with some of Klimt’s work and was reminded by both his and Shiele’s pieces that once I’ve figured out how to draw the human figure (a continuing challenge despite our anatomy of the muscles class this week and life drawing experiences – but there is progress….), I’ll be able to find my own style of drawing them to integrate the figure in my work the way I’d like to – a way that is yet to be determined. I loved how Shiele left off the feet in this one painting – I’ve been doing that too – hands and feet are especially difficult to draw… That might not have been why he left them out though… I left this museum a little before 1am as folks were begging the security guards to let them in past the 12:30am last entry (without success). Half an hour’s walk later, I was home with my feet stretched up along the wall above my bed to help reestablish a more normal blood circulation. What a great day! I’m glad I decided to do it alone instead of with the couchsurfing group or classmates as I could follow my own agenda at my own speed – a very different one, I’m sure, than most people out and about last night.
Well, it’s now 5:00pm on Sunday (it takes a loooonnnnng time to edit photos – I started with 498 – and write blogs) and I haven’t started my homework. But first, time to cook some of this week’s meals. Hope you had a great weekend.
I knew nothing about Professor Fuchs before I came here, but I get the sense that his life would make an amazing movie (of Jewish background during the Nazi occupation; baptism into the Roman Catholic church; acceptance into an Art Academy at 15; years of poverty followed by international recognition; fortune gained, lost, and regained; life in Paris, Israel, US, etc; devotion to Jewish-Christian understanding and many commissions by the church; 16 children from 7 women, and so much more) . Recognized by Salvador Dali as his Austrian counterpart, Fuchs has created a plethora of work in his 83 years – drawings, paintings, sculpture, music, architecture, etc. I certainly didn’t have a sense of it all before our visit. All I really knew is that he had developed a unique style of painting mixing egg tempura with oil paints over white (that I will be learning in the next 2 months), and had passed down his knowledge to several students who will be our teachers. I’ve occasionally seen him as he drops into our classroom, but his memory/ health have been affected by age and he hasn’t really interacted with us much. Still, knowing a bit more about his work and his life after this visit has increased my understanding and desire to learn. Although I don’t resonate with much of his subject matter or paintings in general (I resonate much more to the work of his students / my teachers), I can’t ignore the mastery of colour and technique and am in awe of the scope of his work. I know that when I start painting, I can be pretty prolific, but none of my work is as detailed and obviously time-consuming as this… I simply can’t imagine how he accomplished so much in one lifetime- and he’s got work all over the world, some of massive scale. Simply amazing!
