Sunday 4 June 2017

Jacaranda Lisboa, Mãe d’Água and Viera da Silva

This is the peak season of blossoming Jacarandas in Lisboa,  some streets are lined with ancient trees shedding blossom in glorious profusion, the colour sings in the special light of the city.










We were on our way to Praça de Amoreiras to visit the Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras Reservoir. This was the water source for Lisbon for 300 years, it is the end of the Águas Livres Aqueduct which was built by Hungarian architect Carlos Mardel from 1746 to 1748, work continuing until the end of the century. The aqueduct brings the water 14kms from springs at Belas in the Sintra area, this distance includes the extraordinary arches of the Alcântara valley, which cover a length of 941 metres with 35 arches including the largest stone arch of this type in the world at 65.29 m high and 28.86 m wide, it ends at the huge reservoir building with its soaring cathedral feel space. From here it was pumped into the city to serve public fountains, factories, convents and noble houses. The aqueduct and reservoir were left completely intact and undamaged after the great earthquake of 1755 which destroyed much of the city.



The water  spouts from the mouth of a dolphin onto a cascade, built using stones carried from the springs of the Águas Livres Aqueduct, it flows into the reservoir that is 7.5m deep, with a capacity to store 5,500 m3. Four columns rise supporting a vaulted cupola ceiling which in turns supports the magnificent terrace overlooking the city of Lisbon.





Back down in the Praça we stopped to have a café at the charming kiosk in the garden before visiting the  Arpad Szenes and Maria Helena Vieira da Silva Foundation.


The gallery is dedicated to the work of the Portuguese artist and her Hungarian husband Arpad Szenes.
In 1928 Vieira da Silva left Lisbon to study sculpture in Paris, but decided to focus on painting. By 1930 she was exhibiting in Paris and had married Arpad. After a brief sojourn back in Lisbon and a period spent in Brazil during WW II (1940–1947), Vieira da Silva lived and worked in Paris the rest of her life. She adopted French citizenship in 1956. She received the Grand Prix National des Arts in 1966, the first woman so honoured. She was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1979 and died in Paris in 1992.


The gallery building was their studio during their brief time in Lisbon. Unfortunately the Portuguese government did not grant them citizenship after they both lost their original status whilst living in Paris before WWII.
In the 1930s Vieira da Silva began producing her characteristic works using heavy impasto to create complex arrangement of small rectangles. By the late 1950s she was internationally known for her dense and complex compositions and the fragmented forms, spatial ambiguities,  the restricted palette of cubism and abstract art. She is considered to be one of the most important Post-War abstract artists . Her work is related to French Tachisme, American Abstract expressionism, and Surrealism. Her paintings often resemble mazes, cities seen in profile or from high above.




Not so many from Arpad but this one is typical.




Wednesday 31 May 2017

Old haunts in Lisboa...Gulbenkian again


A most interesting afternoon at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. There is a special exhibition of Almada Negreiros work which I particularly wanted to see and there was still  time to wander around the private collection of Calouste Gulbenkian which I have done many time before but always a delight.
One of the unique features of the museum are the huge glass panels covered with a fine gauze protection giving diffused views of the verdant gardens surrounding the building, quite stunning as a backdrop to the exhibits.
The collection has around 6,000 objects, around 3,000 are on display. Gulbenkian's motto was "only the best" and he certainly searched for the very best examples of art and antiques from the Egyptian dynasties to early 20th century art with some obvious favourite subjects. Every object is gorgeous in its own way and always displayed beautifully.

In the entrance to the museum is a simply superb example of art deco sculpture, Spring: Homage to Jean Goujon  by Janniotit has become an emblem of the wide range of Gulbenkian's interests. It was the stand out exhibit at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris, 1925, which launched a decorative style and artistic movement that would quickly spread throughout the world, Art Deco.  The group consists of three women, Diana the hunter, two nymphs, a faun, various birds. Just fabulous.



Apparently Gulbenkian's favourite sculpture in his collection was the Houdon Diana which he acquired amongst a huge purchase from the Hermitage Museum sale in the early 1930s .This was originally from the collection of Catherine II acquired in 1784.


From the 15th century there is the serene Ghirlandaio Portrait of a young woman wearing a coral necklace.
From the 17th C. two Rembrandts, Pallas Athena and Portrait of an old man, also once owned by Catherine II from the Hermitage collection. 
There are few English artists but a glowing Turner, Quillebeuf, Mouth of the Seine, a Gainsborough, Portrait of Mrs Lowndes-Stone.



The ceramic gallery has a feast of Iznik tile panels from the 16th century and other treasures of Ottoman art.

THE FOUNDATION

In his last will Calouste Gulbenkian bequeathed his personal art collection to Portugal.  

In 1956, one year after his death, the Gulbenkian Foundation was created which according to his will, supports the arts, science, education and social welfare. 

The foundation is headquartered in a modern complex set in a lush garden opened in 1969.  It has a library, open air auditorium and two museums: the Gulbenkian Museum and the Modern Art Centre, which opened in 1983.
Most of the  three thousand pieces of art on display at the Gulbenkian Museum were collected by Gulbenkian himself, and reflect his own impeccable and all encompassing taste in  tapestry, carpets, ceramics, jewelry , glassware, paintings, sculpture and furniture.
The first set of rooms are devoted to Egyptian art, Classical art and objects from the Middle and Far East. Greek Vases, Roman jewelry, Assyrian bas-reliefs, Persian tapestries, Chinese porcelain and Japanese paintings.  
Highlights include Egyptian scarabs and sculptures including a delightful bronze of a cat with her kittens, 664-525 BC, she is lying on a sarcophagus designed to store the mummified remains of cats. Cats were commonly portrayed in Egyptian art, especially during the Saite period, which was characterised by numerous images of animals. Cats were devoted to the cult of Bastet, the goddess of fertility and protector of the home, they usually had their ears pierced so that gold earrings could be worn.





The second set of rooms contain European art, with an emphasis on French decorative arts.
Of note are the medieval illuminated books, a collection of 16th and 17th century paintings from Flemish and Italian artists ,English and French artists from the 18th and 19th century, a collection of eighteenth-century French furniture, all ormolou and glowing marquetry  of which Gulbenkian was particularly fond.
A whole room is dedicated to the Art Nouveau jewelry of René Lalique, I loved the bronze serpent looking glass.
THE MAN
Calouste Gulbenkian was born in the Ottoman empire in 1869.
His father Sarkis Gulbenkian was an Armenian oil importer/exporter already heavily involved in the oil industry and owner of several oil fields in the Caucasus, mainly in Bakú. Calouste was sent to London at 18 to study  petroleum engineering at King's College, he graduated and proceeded onto a brilliant career. With his multi cultural background and linguistic abilities he played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development and is credited with being the first person to exploit Iraqi oil.

In 1928 he obtained the nickname 'Mr. 5%' after he sold his company to four of the largest oil companies in the world in return for five percent of the stocks. Armed with a huge fortune he was able to expand his personal collection of art over the next decades.
He spent much of his life in London and Paris, but during the Second World War he settled in Lisbon, Portugal remained officially neutral during the war, where he lived until his death in 1955.
Throughout his life Gulbenkian collected more than six thousand pieces of art. During the last twenty years he spent much time deciding where his collection would be displayed. He initially planned to hand it over to the
National Gallery in London and later discussions were initiated with the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
No agreement could be reached. After his death in 1955 and the directives of his will the collection was brought to Portugal in 1960, the museum opened in 1969.
Gulbenkian is honored with an impressive statue on the lawns of the garden, it shows him seated in front of a giant falcon, it is based on the photograph of him seated in front of the Horus statue at the Edfu temple in Egypt 1934.

















Wednesday 10 May 2017

Botija and walk to Villaviejas, a Celtic -Iberian archaeological site

Coming back from Trujillo we took a route near La Cumbre. There is a road with an extensive project to provide nest boxes on every telephone post, many of them were occupied by the beautiful European Roller, my first sighting of this bird, astounded by the gorgeous plumage.
Arriving in Botija we wanted to do a new walk, a continuation  from the mill buildings on the River Tamuja, along the river bank to Villaviejas, the remains of a Celtic Iberian village of the Vettone tribe, circa 200 -50 B.C.
Before the walk we strolled around the village, on first sight nothing special but there were many points of interest.


The Church of Santa Maria Magalena is a simple rustic structure from the XV1 century but it has charm and gives some great  perspectives from the surrounding olive groves.



The village is built from the surrounding stone, slate. On the more humble buildings it is left exposed, unplastered. The wonderful craftmanship of laying the stone is exposed, intricate and fascinating.





Paths between slate walls lead out of the village into the surrounding olive groves and pastures. On the edge of the village is a fascinating ruin, an old fabrica de aceites, not sure if this means an almazara, olive oil mill or not, needs further investigation. A little world of its own, behind the 3 metre surrounding walls were a courtyard, lots of barns and a secret garden.




The walk to the molinos is one of our favourites and is described here.

Today we started off on new territory beyond the molinos on the path to Villaviejas.


We walked for 25 minutes on a footpath which wound along the meandering Tamuja sometimes leaving the riverbank where the rocks were too steep.
It is not really obvious when arriving at the site of Villaviejas, it is on a bend of the river, on the opposite bank and relatively high above a natural slate embankment, a good defensive position.
It is easy to cross the river at this time of the year, plenty of exposed rocks to use as stepping stones.

The Vettones were a pre-roman Celtic Iberic tribe covering an area between Salamanca, Alcantara and Toledo with Villaviejas being the most southerly settlement. They were active for about 400 years before the Romans  gradually making more established and populous settlements. With the coming of the romans the remote rural settlements survived for a time but were gradually absorbed into the roman organization of their new colony Lusitania with Merida as the capital.
For very detailed and interesting information about the Vettones  and their mode of life, read on here-

https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_5/alvarez_sanchis_6_5.html


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