Dragon's Nest

 

Let's see how long I can continue the current chocolate theme - all because we're having a ChocolArt exhibition in our gallery. This is actually my own contribution to the exhibition, a picture I took years ago.

Copyright statement: image copyright Hennie Schaper. Contact me if you like to use it.

Cup of Coffee by Garbage

 

What goes well with chocolate? Right, coffee. So another post inspired by the current ChocolArt exhibition.

 

About the band: Garbage is an American rock band formed in 1993 with Shirley Manson as lead singer. Garbage has released six studio albums and sold over 17 million albums worldwide.

 
About the song: the 2001 album Beautiful Garbage received rather mixed responses. Some critics even accused the alternative rock band of selling out. Granted, it is a little more mainstream, but still a highly accomplished artistic effort. And it does sport the best song they have recorded. Cup of coffee describes the emotions after a love affair has ended in a very recognisable way without ever getting overly sentimental. Great lyrics, including lines such as "And no, of course, we can't be friends, not while I'm still so obsessed - I want to ask where I went wrong, but don't say anything at all". With a very original arrangement (including the eerie sounds of an ondes martinot), and Shirley Manson in vocal top form, this is so far one of the best songs of the 21st Century. 

 

Copyright statement: Image created by me using Bing AI. Considered fair use.

Chocolat Amor

 

Following up on yesterday's post. Now that the ChocolArt exhibition is in full swing in our gallery - here we have a rare Swiss Art Deco poster for Chocolat Amor Bern, issued around 1930.

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ChocolArt

 

There's a first for everything: today is the start of a two weeks' exhibition in our gallery, for the first time organized and curated by yours truly. Twelve local artists, many of national fame, are showing their works that were inspired in any way by... chocolate. This to celebrate ten years of the Chocolaterie that is our neighbour across the street, as well as twelve and a half years of our gallery.

Copyright statement: image created by myself with AI.

Tiger

 

One of my all-time favourite paintings is Tiger by German expressionist Franz Marc (1880-1916). This masterpiece dates back to 1912, 4 years before his death at the battle of Verdun. I had the privilege to watch the original in the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, over twenty years ago. An awe inspiring experience, and together with the other expressionist works in that highly recommended museum, one of the main reasons for my switch from impressionism to expressionism as my favourite genre.

 

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Shot by a Baron

A few years ago, I came across this image in the Flapper Girl blog, and it was love at first sight. I expected this to be a drawing or painting used as an illustration for a twenties' fashion magazine, and I was almost right. It was indeed published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine of November 1929, but it turned out to be a photograph, shot by celebrities photographer Baron Adolph de Meyer (1868 - 1946). I could not find information on the model.

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Tintagel by Arnold Bax

Tintagel is a tone poem completed in 1919 by British composer Arnold Bax (1883 - 1953). It is clearly his most famous tone poem, and also in my opinion one of the best. Bax stated that the piece "is intended to evoke...the castle-crowned cliff of Tintagel, and more particularly the wide distances of the Atlantic as seen from the cliffs of Cornwall on a sunny but not windless summer day." The version shown above is by the Ulster Orchestra under Bryden Thomson on a Chandos CD.

 

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Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene is one of the early film classics. The original German version from 1919 came with a fascinating poster, clearly influenced by expressionist artists.

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

I/You by Brian Protheroe

 

 

 I/You is the third studio album of English musician and actor Brian Protheroe. He did not have much impact as a musician, neither on the charts (except for a small hit in the UK in 1974 with Pinball), nor with the critics. Personally I have loved this album since its release. The mostly self-penned  music can be described as art pop, in a style vaguely resembling 10cc. His voice is very suited for the songs, which he delivers with panache and with good support from the studio musicians. Highlights are I/You, Every Roman knows, Evil Eye, Hotel, and Dancing On Black Ice. A neglected gem

 

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Font-Romeu

 

A 1923 poster advertising both the winter sports town of Font-Romeu in the French Pyrenees, as the way to get there by the Chemins de Fer du Midi (a French railway company). The poster was designed by Tony George Roux.

 

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

 

Theatre Magazine (March 1924)

 

Theatre Magazine started in 1900 as The Theatre. Its main subject was the theater in New York. The title officially changed to Theatre Magazine in 1917, which was published until 1931. This is an outstanding cover, based on an illustration by Charles Baskerville.

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Chopin's Nocturnes by Maria João Pires

Chopin's Nocturnes are for me among the most beautiful works ever composed for the piano. There is no shortage of famous pianists recording them all (a double CD is required), but in the end I have a weak spot for the versions by Maria João Pires on Deutsche Grammophon. Sheer beauty and definitely a desert island disc for me.

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Where Red Meets Blue

 

A "found abstract": the concrete foot of a temporary gate opposite our home had an interesting colours pattern. It reminds me a bit if a map as well.

 

Copyright statement: image copyright Hennie Schaper. Contact me if you like to use it.

 

The knifegrinder by Kazimir Malevich

 

Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) was a Russian avant-garde artist, best known for his Kandinsky-like abstracts. Here we have an interesting earlier painting from 1912 in the cubist-futuristic style. 

 
Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Was macht jede Nacht so ein kleines Baby in der Bar?

 

 

A beautiful jazz age song sheet cover from the twenties by an unknown illustrator. The German title translates as "what is such a small baby doing every night at the bar?". Cheers!

Copyright statement: situation unclear. Song from the 20s, but no year found. Designer unknown.

Lyra Angelica by William Alwyn

 

Lyra Angelica is a concerto for harp and string orchestra in four movements from 1954 by the British composer William Alwyn (1905 - 1985). It is probably his best known composition, certainly after the American figure skater Michelle Kwan performed to it at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Alwyn stated his aim in writing this work as trying to sustain in the listener a "rapt mood ... by interweaving the solo harp and strings into a continuous web of luminous sound." At this aim the concerto is very successful. It is a full-length work of symphonic proportions, eminently listenable and inspiring. To my taste it is the best harp concerto ever composed. The version shown above is by Rachel Masters and the City of London Sinfonia under Richard Hickox on a Chandos CD).

 

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New Year's Day by U2

 

Pretty much unavoidable to pick my favourite U2 song for today. Happy New Year everybody!

About the band: U2 are an Irish rock band, formed in 1976. They have released 14 studio albums and are one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold an estimated 150–170 million records worldwide.

About the song: it is difficult to imagine that there was a time when U2 were struggling for success, but they actually had to wait for their fourth album to make it big. Their first album (Boy) was a good collection of straightforward rock songs, but it gave no indication yet of things to come. The second album (October) was a bit mixed, with some questionable tracks, and some great songs, in particular the title song. Their third album (War) from 1983 was their artistic breakthrough, helped to a large extent by the success of the single New year's day, one of a number of my favourites inspired by the continued violence in Northern Ireland. 

Copyright statement: Image created by me using Bing AI. Considered fair use.

Hallelujah!

 

Hallelujah, the year is coming to an end. This seemed a suitably festive poster for the occasion - a beautiful jazz age poster for the 1929 movie directed by King Vidor. 

 

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The Undivided Five by A Winged Victory for the Sullen

 

 

The Undivided Five is the third studio album by the American ambient neo-classical music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen, released in 2019. The album was produced in eight different recording studios across Europe. I found their debut very good, and the second album OK. The third is a marked improvement over the first two, and got the 'essential' stamp of approval from me. No favourite tracks, as with many of these albums it has to be listened to from start to finish.

 

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Vogue Winter Perfume

 

 

A wonderful vintage Art Deco German poster for Vogue's Winter perfume from 1927. Appropriate for the time of year. The design is by Jupp Wiertz.

 

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

 

La Mode illustrée (September 1923)

Here we have a great cover of La Mode illustrée (Illustrated fashion). This French fashion magazine appeared from 1860 until 1937. No information about the illustrator.

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Speak Low: Kurt Weill Songs by Anne-Sofie von Otter

 

 

A Deutsche Grammophon CD with works by Kurt Weill (1900-1950) sung by Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, accompanied by the NDR Sinfonieorchester under John Eliot Gardiner. Thirteen songs, including evergreens like My Ship, Surabaya-Johnny and I'm A Stranger Here Myself, as well as the complete The Seven Deadly Sins. If I could keep just one Kurt Weill CD, it would be this one. The cover photograph, depicting a scene that could have been taken in a Berlin nightclub in the 1920's, is by Denise Grünstein - a fabulous example of Chiaroscuro.

 

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Klimtesque

 

 

I came across this beauty in a side street in Prague way back in 2009. Just a stone wall, where time left its mark in beautiful shapes and colours (which I pushed in post-processing in Picasa). The result is an abstract that reminds me of Klimt in its colour settings.

 

Copyright statement: image copyright Hennie Schaper. Contact me if you like to use it.

 

Merry Christmas Everybody!

 

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas! This photograph was taken by my wife in front of our house (and first art gallery) during the recent Christmas in Old Kampen festival.

Copyright statement: image copyright Lu Schaper.

Kites by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound

 

 

About the band: Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British psychedelic band formed in 1966, and dissolved in 1969, after which the core members formed the prog band Gentle Giant. They released only one studio album, and their only big hit Kites was not included on it.

About the song: Kites is the only sixties' one-hit-wonder that has stood the test of time. The band hated it, but their manager loved it, as its psychedelic sound was exactly right for the time. The colourful tones of the mellotron create a distinctly Asian atmosphere, enhanced by the images of the lyrics (the white kite flying in the sun, with a message of love on it), and topped off by the recitation of an Asian sounding poem by actress Jacqui Chan, who apparently reproduced phonetics taught to her by her grandmother with the result that no-one knows what she is saying or even what language it is in. 

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Composition No. 18 by Jacoba van Heemskerck

 

A souvenir of our visit to the City Museum of The Hague a few years ago. I had never heard of Dutch artist Jacoba van Heemskerck (1876-1923), but several of her paintings were shown in the museum, and I quite liked them. This is my favourite of the lot, made around 1910. 

 
Copyright statement: image in public domain.

At the Exhibition

 

An illustration for a fashion magazine that could have been a great painting. It was created in 1919 by George Paul Gaston Leonnec (French illustrator, 1881-1940).

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber

 

Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is a work for voice and orchestra (or chamber orchestra) from 1947 by American composer Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981). The text is from a 1938 short prose piece by James Agee. Although the piece is traditionally sung by a soprano, it may also be sung by tenor. This beautiful piece is a poetic evocation of life in a hot summer as seen from the perspective of a small boy. The work is in one movement, and is described in detail in its Wikipedia entry. I came across this gem when exploring Dawn Upshaw's discography in the early nineties after attending a recital by her in Chicago. It was my first encounter with Barber other than his famous Adagio for strings - many more compositions followed though. The version shown above is by Dawn Upshaw and the Orchestra of St. Luke's under David Zinman on a Nonesuch CD.

 

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The Dark Knight

 

The Dark Knight (2008)

Christopher Nolan's 2008 Batman flick, starring Christian Bale, Heather Ledger and Gary Oldman, is far better than anything I've seen in the genre - Heather Ledger was absolutely superb as the Joker. There were several posters for the movie, but this one stands out for me, especially how the bat symbol doubles up as the Joker's make-up/blood smeared mouth. 

 

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Mark Hollis by Mark Hollis

 

 

Mark Hollis is the only studio album by English musician and singer-songwriter Mark Hollis, the former Talk Talk front man, released in 1998. Originally it was meant to be a Talk Talk album, by the name Mountains of the Moon, but in the end it was decided to release it as a solo album. It continues where the final Talk Talk album Laughing Stock left off, atmospheric ambient post-rock with a dash of contemporary classical music. It has been called "the most quiet and intimate record ever made". Not for everyone, but if you are susceptible to this kind of minimal music (like I am) it is an absolute masterpiece. My favourites from the album are Watershed, Inside Looking Out, Westward Bound, and A New Jerusalem.

 

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