jeepneyjinggoy: Norway

Showing posts with label Norway. Show all posts

Around Oslo

I needed more time. Yes, I did. The visit to Oslo was too short, so was the visit to Copenhagen and Stockholm. To “thread through” the Scandinavia rather than “immerse in” is not just my thing, but given the limited time, I was left with no choice but just get a glimpse of these European cities. It was the last leg of my 30-day European sojourn, and yes, fatigue was setting in as well. I must admit I am not the man I used to be (read: I have aged!).

Double jeopardy. Maybe it's the time of year when tourists are few OR the time of the week when the Royal Palace is closed. I"m glad I saw it anyway

The 48 hours in Oslo may be short but fruitful. Des, friend, guide and host who made the city her second home, made sure I made it to my bucket listed spot and threw in several other attractions a first time tourist should see. I was her adopted child, where she went I followed. Look Ma, no map! Yep, it saved me the time deciphering the way and ride to where I needed to be in the city.

No map but I have the most reliable navigator can ever have. Thanks Des!

A view of the city from the hill.

Morning exploration. In search of the newly opened park.

Oslo is beautiful, but the city was a bit too quiet for my taste. Was it the cold weather at my time of visit? Maybe. For one thing, I liked it that it wasn’t crowded in the city attractions I went to—the Munch Museum, Ekeberg Park, the Vigeland sculptural area in Frogen Park, the Oslo City Hall and the Opera House. As for the Metro, there was a station where it was devoid of traveling souls (kind of eerie, actually).

I like it when there's no crowd but this is totally eerie for me. At least I know the train won't be crowded

How will this love story turn out? Seen at a bus stop.

There were very few people mingling around the Royal Palace because it was closed on the day I went (ugh!) but the Royal Guard was kind enough to whisper a few words to Des saying it was okay to have a photo beside him. Thank you, kind sir.

I salute you, kind sir. This Royal Guard's genuine & warm hospitality was more precious that what this palace he dutifully guards may hold

The kind man & the palace he guards.

Boy & Royal Guard.

The palace from a distance.

I may have stayed in the city center but the area was devoid of the large crowd, again maybe it’s the time of year when tourists are a handful. I liked it that I didn’t have to wait in line to have a shot with that voluptuous woman around the corner. It’s a Fernando Botero, if you must know. The “Reclining Woman” in bronze reperesents the artist’s ground rule: “Art ought to be an exaggeration of reality, both in terms of size, shape and spirituality.” If I’m not mistaken the statue has been moved to the Ekebergparken.

No queueing for a shot with this Botero artwork

Shopping? Oslo, or Norway generally, is not too friendly on the pocket. Des warned me about the place and I saw why. Food and shopping are more expensive in this place than in the other Scandinavian nations. A plate here can be equivalent to a feast in Copenhagen, that designer chair can buy two in Sweden. For everything else, Des confessed she has to wait for the sale season to score the good deals on the stuff she set her eyes on.

Oslo is not really a place to shop unless it's the sale season

A ploy that can pick a pedestrian's interest. Seen outside of a furniture shop.

They say to see the true beauty of Norway you have to get out of the city. The mountains, fjords and seaside towns are breathtaking, I was told. This was the lure, the bait I will bite on. Norway is worth another visit, a longer one the next time.

That man standing behind the National Theater. A statue of Per Aabel portratying the character of Jean le France from the play of the same name

Painter, illustrator, author & journalist- Christian Krogh on Stortings Square

Farvel Oslo, until the next visit!

Emote muna… Out in the woods. It's amazing how green the city center is. This is the woody area between the Royal Castle & a main street

For more photos about this story and other travel stories, visit http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ . For lifestyle stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on September 10, 2015.

You only whisper before The Scream

ONE thing led to another. I saw a photo of silver sculptures in a plane magazine en route to Europe. It was in a Ekebergparken in Oslo, which was one of my stops. I made to park and saw the sculpture, Louise Bourgeois' "The Couple," with my own eyes. While exploring the other areas of the national heritage park, I chanced upon a breathtaking view of the city and the fjord and took a photo of it. Little did I know it was the same spot and view that inspired Edvard Munch to paint "The Scream."

Next stop: the Munch Museum

Written in Munch's diary, "One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord-the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream."

The view from Ekeberparken which inspired the artist to paint the scream

My first encounter with The Scream, regarded as one of the most recognized and prestigious images in art history, was at the Museum of Modern Art in the Big Apple. The 1895 pastel on board version was on loan from Norwegian businessman, Petter Olsen, who bought it a Sotheby's auction for $120 million, the most expensive artwork sold at an auction and the only version in private hands.

EdvardIan. :) When the artist met the writer.

The exhibition I caught at the Munchmuseet when I visited.

After chancing upon the image's spot of inspiration in the Oslo Park I made my way to the Munchmuseet where a couple of versions of The Scream are housed. Seeing two more images of The Scream is a good reason to scream with glee. But in museums silence is God and we whisper if we need to speak. I screamed in silence.

I shrieked in silence when I saw another "Skrik". Edvard Munch's The Scream, crayon 1893

The other The Scream on exhibit, a 1895 lithograph. Some 45 prints were made.

Located in Toyen on the East side of the city, the Munchmuseet was inaugurated on the 100th year of Munch's birth in 1963. From conception to realization, the artist was part of the creation of the museum. The building was considered a modern structure at that time, a perfect home for one of Modernist's most significant artists in Norway and the global art community.

With Des, my friend, my host & my guide in Oslo, who said I must visit this museum.

The museum's collection started with Munch donating all his works four years before he passed away. Increasing the number was the artist's sister, Inger Munch, donating more of her brother's artworks in her charge, which included a significant number of letters.

Lithography. This artwork- Self-portrait with Hat I, lithographic stone, 1927

Part of the vast collection

A closer look at the illustrated book for Inger Munch

To date, Munchmuseet's permanent collection holds over 1,200 paintings, 6 sculptures, 18,000 prints illustrating more than 700 themes and 500 printing plates, 7,500 drawings, watercolors, a library of books, documents, photographs and other items owned by the artist. Adding it all up, these amounts to

more than half of Munch's entire production of paintings and at least a copy of all his prints.

Munch on paper in this room

The Sick Child, colour lithograph 1896

In the Man's Brain woodcut 1897

Hode ved hode, 1905, 1 of 2889 Dry point & etching.

Angst, hand-coloured woodcut, 1896

Vampyr II, color lithograph, 1895

With the increasing number of visitors and need for space to exhibit more of Munch's collection, the construction of a new and bigger Munch Museum has been approved by the Oslo City Council. By 2019, the new Munch Museum will rise near one of Oslo's most popular structures, the Opera House.

Kristiania Bohemians II, 1895

Kristiania Nohemians collection. Etching & srypoint.

Maybe in this new home, The Scream won't be stolen anymore. It was in 2004 when the 1910 tempera on cardboard version was stolen from the Munchmuseet. Luckily, it was recovered in 2006.

Madonna, color lithograph 1894. A version of this subject together with The Scream was stolen from the museum in 2004, but was recovered.

For more photos about this story and other travel stories, visithttp://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/
For lifestyle stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on September 03, 2015.

Ekebergparken: Art, out in the woods

HUGGING silver figures suspended in mid-air. It was the photograph I saw flipping through an in-flight magazine on my way to Europe. It was in Oslo, Norway. Lucky, the city was in my itinerary. In that instance, the recently opened national heritage park of Ekeberg displaced Frogenparken from the top slot. I was not leaving the city until I see it. And I did, on the morning of the day of my departure.

I first saw the image of these silver figures on a page of an inflight magazine

Ekebergparken is unique, an outdoor museum. It’s a trek through the historic, hilly forest of Ekeberg where Iron Age grave mounds and Bronze Age ritual sites lie. The sculptures spread across the 63-hectare park are the treats, so to speak. Your curiosity, if not the love for art, makes you seek out the next piece. If completed, then it’s a day’s worth of cardiovascular exercise and a priceless addition to treasured memories.

Welcome to Ekeberg Park!

Mapping out their trails, the park is popular with both the local & foreign tourists

A view of the city from the historic hill.

The city seen from the higher ground

Standing on a historic hill & national heritage park with a view that inpspired Edvard Munch to paint "Scream"

Find the art in the woods

A water feature in the park.

When the sculptural park on Oslo-owned property was inaugurated in September 2013 through the initiative and financing of art collector Christian Ringnes, there were 31 sculptures installed, all owned by the man’s foundation.

One of my favorites. Matt Jognson's "Levitating Woman" ( 2013. Bronze, 76 × 213 × 99 cm.). Its location & the season was perfect.

Look at this from different angles. Tony Cragg's "Cast Glances" (2002. Bronze, 240 × 190 cm.)

"Ace of Diamonds" (2004.Stainless steel, 700 × 250 cm.) by British sculptor Lynn Chadwick.

The kids are loving it! "Möbius triple" (Möbius Triple. 1998. Diabase, 95 × 140 × 125 cm.) is by Aase Texmon Rygh, a Norwegian modernism pioneer.

Of the 31, I knew it was the published image that I had to see first. I viewed the oscillating tightly hugging silver figures hovering between trees, glistening in the morning sun from afar, near and under. Louise Bourgeois’ “The Couple” in aluminum was larger than life.

From the page of a magazine to real time, Louise Bourgeois' "The Couple" at Ekebergparken

The other figure I sought out was in silver, a figure of a curvaceous, full-figured sensual woman. The image it represented is recognizable to many and British artist Richard Hudson’s is successful in that aspect. His organic art style molded a “Marilyn Monroe” from stainless steel.

Curvaceous & full-figured, RIchard Hudon's "Marilyn Monroe"

Yep, the hips are real. :)

The third sculpture in painted bronze might just be the most popular among the lot maybe because it’s along the walking path and anyone can “walk with it”, maybe because it’s so lifelike down to the detail of beads of perspiration or because it’s surprisingly tall for a woman who strides through the woods with intention. Sean Henry’s 7-footer “Walking Woman” attempts to heighten the spectator’s awareness of art and the nature around it.

From afar, you may think this woman is one of the park's guests.

Sean Henry’s 7-footer “Walking Woman” attempts to heighten the spectator’s awareness of art and the nature around it

I can feel the perspiration dripping on her face.

It's Des' turn to walk with the lady.

One can’t help go near Diane Maclean’s “Open Book”. Standing in front of her artwork, I became part of her piece as the pages reflected an image of me standing before a forest. This was what Maclean wanted to project— “blending books and knowledge with nature and its landscapes.”

Be one with the masterpiece. DIane Maclean's "Open Book" reflects her intention- to blend books & knowledge with nature

I became part of the story.

What I thought I would only see inside a museum can be found here, exposed to the elements. With the 21st century artworks are the older bronze pieces of the masters— Auguste Renoir’s 1914 “Venus Victrix” and 1917 “La grande laveuse”; Auguste Rodin’s 1881 “Eva” and the “Cariatide tombee a l’urne”; and Salvador Dali’s “Venus Milo aux tiroirs.”

And the older pieces of art…

Washing clothes. Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "La grande Laveuse" (1914-1916. Bronze, 122 × 134 cm.)

After the fall from grace…. Auguste Rodin's "Eva" (1881. Bronze, 84 cm.)

Salvador Dali's "Venus de Milo aux tiroirs" (1936.Bronse, 220 cm.)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Venus Victrix" (1914-1916. Bronze, 180 cm.) aka Venus the Conqueror, depicts the goddess of love who has vanquished her competitors

With funding set aside, the Ekibergparken is planning to acquire more pieces to total 80 sculptures in the future. With this year’s plan to add more trails, water details plus the addition of 25 new sculptures, it would be an exciting thought to revisit this park soon.

Buy Buseyne's "Reflections" (2006) was inspired by Rodin's "The Thinker"

It's placed near the park's sandbox & often children keep it company. For example: see photo below.

Keeping her company & doing my own reflecting.

From a page on a magazine to real time, Ekiberparken- checked.

I made it here! (Been there, done that & dom;t mind doing it again!)

The face of a happy, contented man.

For more travel stories, visithttp://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/
For lifestyle stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 27, 2015.