Tuesday 10.8.2010
Got up and went to the classroom, but it was empty – I hadn’t got the email that Kathy wouldn’t be there. Remembering that we were touring the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM), I went there. No one from my program was there of course, as our tour with Dr. O was scheduled for 2 p.m. In any case I looked around at all the paintings and the like for about an hour, then went home. We went back to the KHM at 2 for our tour with Dr. O. She’s an art historian living in Vienna, and the KHM is the largest collection of art in the city. I assume she basically lives there. One of the first things you see is a statue of naked Greek beating the crud out of a centaur. It was commissioned by Napoleon, but before he could pay for it he fell from power. Luckily for the artist, Emperor Franz I bought it, and it’s now in the KHM.
The KHM is divided into north of the Alps and south of the Alps. First we did north, looking at lots of important German, Dutch, and Flemish paintings. Dr. O’s favorite artist is Albrecht Dürer, the “Leonardo of the North,” so-called because of his similarities to Leonardo da Vinci. Dr. O pointed out some differences between Dürer and Italian painters: Dürer had many more figures in his paintings, sometimes hundreds. Italian painters would often limit themselves to a few figures. German painters also embraces the landscape much more than their Italian counterpoints, and were skillful at blending figures into the landscape. Some Italian painters tried to incorporate landscape into their work, but it functioned like a background, the figures do not really interact with their environment. The most famous Dürer piece is the Landauer altar, commissioned by Landauer for his “Twelve Brothers’ House,” a kind of nursing home for old men, that only allowed 12 inmates at a time. Does this have anything to do with the twelve apostles? Dr. O does not know. Landauer himself is in the altar painting, as is Dürer (holding a sign proclaiming that he had painted it). here are two contrasts with Catholic art. Catholic art is commissioned by the Church; it does not have patrons, so of course the commissioner never appears in the work. Next, as mentioned previously, the artist never appears in Catholic art.
They’ve got a Breugel room – he painted lots of scenes of peasants, and is famous for his paintings of skeletons, such as The Triumph of Death.
There was also Peter Paul Rubens room. He had a workshop in Antwerp, and completed many giant paintings. His work was very sought after. It was fashionable to have a “Rubens” in your church, palace, &c. He accomplished so many paintings of such size because very few of them are actually done by Rubens himself. His workshop included some of the finest Flemish artists of the time. He would sketch out a basic plan of the painting, which was then completed by his apprentices in the workshop. Depending on the importance of the commission, Rubens was more involved. Sometimes he touched up the painting at the end, giving it his own special flair. One large triptych displays the marriage of two Habsburgs. Rubens did this Imperial commission completely with his own hands, a rarity for him. There is some debate as to whether the workshop paintings or the pure Rubens paintings are better.
If I could get Ocean’s 11 together and steal any five pieces from the Kunsthistorisches Museum: probably the five I saw walking around alone in the morning depicting people holding other people’s heads. Three of them are this girl whose name I forget holding John the Baptist’s head after he’s executed. Another is some other Biblical story where someone sleeps with this enemy general and then cuts off his head, winning a victory for her nation’s army. The fifth one I saw was also Biblical; it’s Caravaggio’s painting of David holding Goliath’s head. Rumor has it that Caravaggio used his own face as that of Goliath. Caravaggio, it seems, was a really interesting and hot-tempered guy. I guess he killed someone and got banished from his city, also a bunch of other crazy stuff that’s interesting to hear about. Being not much of an art guy, I’d say the five I’d steal would be the five ones of Biblical people holding other Biblical people’s severed heads. Why not, right? I mean I might as well get a theme going, those would be morbidly interesting to have in my apartment, and I’d like to read about the speculation and stuff in the news when the five beheading paintings are stolen.
After the KHM, I went with some friends to a café that we’d been to once before and liked. It’s called Café Florianihof and is located in Josephstadt. It’s got free wi-fi, good coffee, and, shockingly for Vienna, friendly service. Next: Alpine Adventure.
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