Prague Day 10

Today was a much more relaxing day. We had no planned tours and did not have to rush at all to make it somewhere before we got left behind. After a leisurely breakfast, we left the hotel for the Municipal House that houses concert rooms and its box offices. We purchased tickets to hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons this evening. One of the many things we did not get to do in Berlin was go to hear the philharmonic. That gap will now be filled in Prague.

From there we caught a tram to the National Gallery that houses mostly contemporary and modern art. In Berlin, the galleries themselves were works of art. The style of this museum however was Soviet severe. There were no embellishments at all. A coloured wall here and there were the only ornamentation. Two women on our tour were also visiting the museum. I mentioned the difference between this and the museums in Berlin. One of the women saw this as advantage. She believes that ornate buildings compete with the artwork. In this gallery, there are no distractions by the walls, ceiling or whatever. I saw her point but I am sure that in many cases, the beauty of the space enhances rather than detracts from artwork.

The gallery is huge. On each floor, the exhibits encircle a large stairwell. The direction to take is suggested by an arrow, with each of the sections displaying paintings and sculptures. Towards the end of the route, there were also displays of industrial art of the same time frame. I have never seen the recognition in an art gallery that furniture and glassware are also artistic elements influenced by the art movements of the times.

The art was arranged in an almost chronological order. The top floor had completely contemporary works. The art from the late nineteenth century to just before World War I was situated on the next floor down. Each successive floor had works of a more recent time.

Gila and I were both really taken with an artist who lived from 1871 to 1937 by the name of Kupka. Half of one floor was devoted to his work. His first works were all representational, in a style that reminded me in some ways of Matisse's works. However, his work kept changing forms, from an examination of lines and curves to the exploration of planes and colours to total abstraction like the work of Bernard Newman. The pieces manipulating planes appealed to me the most. It reminded me of my Bargello quilts.

    

    Kupka self portrait                                         Line study                                           

                                        

Exploration of planes

           

 On the next floor, half of the space was dedicated to French artists, Monet, Manet, Rodin, Matisse, Seurat, Pissaro, Delacroix, Rousseau, Toulouse Lautec and a large collection of Picasso to name just some of them.

By this time, I was saturated and hungry. Gila was so overcome and inspired by Kupka's work that she could not focus on any more of the art. She was hoping to get a book about this artist in the bookshop. There was an extensive coffee table book about him, but the colours of the reproductions were off. She only bought a postcard of one of his works.

We were both surprised how deserted this section of the city seemed compared to city centre where our hotel is located. Across the street was a Vietnamese restaurant. It felt weird to choose Asian food in Prague, but the prices were so reasonable and we didn't know if we would find anything else further down the street, so that's where we ate.

After leaving, we noticed a glass and metal done further down the street we both thought it was a train station and decided to investigate. To get there we had to walk through an amusement park with rides. I was surprised how few people were there. Only two people on the bumper cars! It was Saturday. Where were the parents and their kids?

After passing candyfloss stands and candy vendors, we found ourselves in an area with a sports arena on one side and what was called an industrial palace on the other. A poster/map nearby indicated that this and a number of other nineteenth century buildings were exhibition grounds like the CNE.

                                         

The Industrial Palace

It was now mid afternoon. I returned to the hotel to avoid overdoing it as on previous days. Gila headed out to draw, buy some essentials and have a massage. She was so much more relaxed when she returned. It was definitely worth it for her.

And so we were off to the chamber orchestra and Vivaldi was charming. Some of our fellow travelers were there as well. The concert was over much too soon and Gila and I decided to find somewhere to eat despite the late hour. We headed to Alforno, an Italian restaurant our tour manager had recommended. The food and service were both lovely. We tried to eat a lighter meal so that there would be room for dessert. It was quite amusing that when we asked to see the dessert menu, an inked stamp was pressed on each of our placemats so that we could make our selections. Tiramisu and decaf coffee before strolling back to our rooms and reorganize and pack for our travel day tomorrow.

                                  

The Municipal Hall Concert Room