The Honey Badger of Europe

So I just finished my first lovely day in Rome, Italy and I'm chilling in my bed watching National Treasure (because what else would I be doing while being a college kid traveling Europe?). I thought now would be a good time to say a little something about my first trip after I finished my semester in London. The actual last days in the UK really flew by in a blur. Next thing I know, it's the night before I was to leave for Amsterdam to see my lovely sister Katie and step-grandmother Maxine. I was supposed to get on a super early flight at Gatwick Airport that departed at like 6:40 in the morning. This meant I had to get there at about 4. This early in the morning, the easiest route for me was to grab the first Gatwick Express that left at 3:30. Taking more time still I had to take a night bus to Victoria Station. Which means that I had to leave my flat fully packed and ready to go by 2:45 in the morning. Knowing me, I was packing down to the last minute. We also had this hellish meeting we had to go to to finish the program and that didn't end until 10:30 the night before. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Oh right because I still had a bunch of laundry to do. I've never been so stressed. I might have murdered Amanda, but she took the safe route and got out of the room so I could finish. But voila! I got everything done and was out the door and onto the bus with all of the crazies to get on my train.

Calm fields during the stress

In case you missed it, that means that I got absolutely no sleep. I was traveling with all three of my large and fully stuffed bags since I was going to give them to Max and Katie to take home. I had paid for the bags before online, but after waiting in line to check-in at Easy Jet (booooo) I was informed that I apparently only paid for a total weight of 20 kilos. Each of my bags was about 23-25 kilos. I was then told that I had to pay almost 300 pounds extra for my bags! Luckily I had the money on me and was able to get through past security. I then proceeded to sob hysterically in the middle of the airport. It was just too much for my sleep-deprived brain to handle and I just wanted to go home and be with my family and not alone in an airport in London. Luckily, I was able to rally and got onto the plane and slept the entire way to Amsterdam. I then quickly found Max and Kate and we were on our way to the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Pulitzer which was so lovely. Katie's and my room was all sorts of quaint. It was just so nice getting to spend some time with her again. Ever since I went away to college, we've grown really close and I think she's one of the coolest people I know.

Since it was still morning, we went out to grab some breakfast and headed over to a walking tour of the city. Max found this free tour company called: Sandeman's New Europe. They have other paid tours, but we decided on the free one since it would be 4 hours just walking around the city. The guides work strictly on tips, but it was a lot of fun. Full of knowledge and little quirks of Amsterdam. Sometimes the jokes were a little too off color for me to feel comfortable with my family, but they were still funny. We started through the Red Light District, and I'm going to say, not as shocking as I thought. The girls really just startled me when they all of a sudden appeared in the windows. But hey, prostitution is going to happen, so at least the city and police are there to control it. Over the tour it became more and more evident to me that Amsterdam is indeed the Honey Badger of Europe. There aren't really any rules. As long as you take responsibility for your actions and nobody sees what you're doing it's fine. No one cares. This relaxed attitude makes the entire city just fun and life-loving. It was hard not to have a great time there (and no, we did not go into any coffeeshops since I was with my Maxine and 16 year-old sister, besides we had enough good times to go around without).

The next day we drove out of the city and went to the beautiful Keukenhof Gardens. We were still pretty early in the season so it was still a little nippy, but the flowers that were already out were so wonderful. Luckily, we got there early enough to beat a majority of the large crowds. It was such a lovely walk and afforded the opportunity for a bunch of pictures with my lovely ladies as well as pretty flower. It just felt so Dutch having the tulips blooming everywhere. Definitely recommend it if you every see yourself in Amsterdam. I'm not a huge flower freak, but it was so nice being that close to the essence of spring.

After the gardens we went back into the city to do some walking around. We visited the horse stables in the city which was really fun for both Katie and I. We really bonded with this one horse named Marco who would have probably let us pet him for hours. It was a lot of fun. Then we went back home, having ice cream on the way of course, for a little lie-down before heading out to dinner. By the way, the food in Amsterdam was amazing. We had all sorts of different cuisines, and all of it was really good. I think my favorite was probably our excursion to the restaurant that translates to Wild Boar. We actually had the boar and it was absolutely fantastic.

The following day we started a bit more of a somber note with a trip to the Anne Frank House. I'm going to be completely honest. I didn't think I would be able to emotionally handle it, since I know how I personally deal with anything Holocaust related. It's just a subject that's very hard for me to deal with, and I usually feel too upset to enter any sort of Holocaust exhibit or museum because I'm pretty sure I would just break down and cry/vomit all over the place. That was not the case with the Anne Frank house. It still had that spooky, historical feel to it, but what surprised me the most was how well the museum was put together. Every room flowed into the next and held the story of these families. Sure it was crowded, but since there was a distinct route, it didn't really matter. We also bought tickets ahead of time, and I would strongly advice you do this as well since the line seemed like a mile long by the time we left. I learned a lot about the Franks that I didn't know. I read the play, not the book, in 7th grade, but you don't really get a sense of the space until you're actually there. It was definitely what I would call a deeply historical experience.

After Anne Frank, we walked had breakfast at the Pancake Bakery. Mind-blowingly good pancakes right there. They're actually more like crepes but still very delicious. Katie had a sugar and lemon pancake which tasted like eating lemonade, and Maxine and I had a cheese, tomato, and mushroom pancake. For dessert we shared a serving of Poffertjes which are these delicious, dutch, mini-pancakes that are supper puffy and super yummy. They're usually served with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. These things were well worth the wait in line to get into the restaurant. After breakfast we walked to Rembrandt's house, and the art historical geek leaked out a bit. It's just so neat to be in the house where such a great artists lived and worked. Rembrandt is such an interesting guy. If you want to know more about the artist as both a man and genius, I highly recommend watching the movie Nightwatching starring Martin Freeman. It's one of my favorite films about artists. That night we went to see a concert at the Concertgebouw. It was a Persian pianist by the name of Pejman Akbarzadeh. He sounded like nothing I'd ever heard on the piano. There was also a Persian dancer who came out periodically to dance along with the music. It added a whole new dynamic that really just added to the performance. 

Now while the entire trip was AMAZING, I think the definite highlight was the bike tour we took on the fourth day. Amsterdam is well known for being a biking city. Seriously, most people have at least three bikes each (one for work, one for play, and one to trash on the weekends). They just zoom by like total pros cruising the canals while talking on their phone, holding hands, or (my personal favorite) walking their dogs. I was super excited, but a little nervous to be joining such a group of experienced riders. It has been years since I'd been on a bike. I wasn't afraid that I would forget, but I am definitely not what you would call a "strong" biker. Maxine found this wonderful tour group called  Joy Ride Tours  (how cute is that?). It took us about four hours of biking, and only really started and ended in the city so it was a lot less stress. Let me tell you though, those first few pedals into the streets in first gear were nightmarish. We shortly went through Vondelpark and followed the guide until we were in the actual Dutch countryside. The stops were regular, but not forced, and I really learned a lot about the history of both Amsterdam as well as the countryside. The biking itself went fairly well. No one got into any real accident and all of the roads are relatively flat so it wasn't that much strain. If I'm ever back in Amsterdam, I will definitely take another bike tour. It was just so much more fun and quicker than walking around. We saw a four hundred year-old windmill as well as a cheese/clog-making farm. The farm had baby cows as well and they were just so adorable. The actual bikes we had were touring bikes so that it was comfortable to sit upright and just survey the surroundings. If you're in the area, seriously look them up. You will not regret it. So knowledgeable and very nice. They were also in the process of training a new Dutch guide who happened to be very attractive. Hi Ralph! Ha.

After the bike tour, we even had a little steam left so we headed over to the Van Gogh museum and stayed there until it was closed. Again, I learned a lot about the artists that I didn't really know. Like how a lot of his early, early work that he did in Holland was done in a variety of grays and browns. It wasn't until he arrived in France that he started really experimenting with the colors and texture that we're familiar with today. I think my favorite piece was a yellow painting. It was a series of fruits and flowers that were all done in various shades of yellow. Now I usually don't like yellow, but the most interesting part for me was that the original frame was still attached and Van Gogh actually painted onto the frame itself to add another dimension to the painting. It was so refreshing. We had to scramble out of there since the museum was closing all around there, but I'm really glad we got to go.

Our last day was pretty low key. We went to the Rijksmuseum to see some of the old Dutch masters. That's what I really loved about Amsterdam; the amount of art and culture it had was truly astounding. There we saw Vermeers (including a painting of his of something outdoors which I didn't know existed) as well as Rembrandt's truly awe-inspiring masterpiece, The Night's Watch. I don't think I imagined it being so big, but it was really massive. I loved all of the details and how every section of the canvas told its own story about the sitters. I think Kate was pretty impressed too. She has recently been getting more "into" art. Well I'm happy to fill that void for her!

We then went back to the hotel to pack for our respective flights the next morning. I shipped off to Barcelona to stay a few days with Amanda and her dad while Maxine and Katie went back home to the states. It was really a wonderful vacation, and it was just superb spending one-on-one time with both of them. While I really love traveling right now, it's hard to be away from my family. I especially miss Kate. She's just become a really funny and interesting person over the years. But I'll talk about that later. I love you and miss you both! Amsterdam definitely has a place in my heart as one of the most wondrous cities out there.

P.S.-Sorry for the super long post. I promise that my one for Spain will be shorter since I was only there for 2 days. I just want to make sure I get everything down as a way of documenting my travels along Europe.

Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2012

 

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I just wanted to do a little shout out to anyone visiting/living in the London area for the next few days. As I briefly mentioned in this post, Go Figurative has a stand at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park. Tonight was the preview night so I went over to help the finalizing touches and make everything purty and check out the "competition." There are over 120 galleries participating and there's so much art galore. It's in the great space that they just put up over the week. If you're looking for something to do for the next few days, you should probably check it out. Who knows? Maybe you'll walk out with a great new piece of art. The fair is from the 15-18 of March in the Park (there's a bunch of signs, you can't miss it!). For more information, visit: http://www.affordableartfair.com/battersea/home/

Da Vinci? Yes Please

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This is basically me trying to get a little art knowledge out there in the world. This is going to be a lot of basic information that I think we as humans should know. I thought I would start off with doing hopefully an artist a week (don't hold me to it). To begin I'm going to talk about an artist/inventor that everyone hopefully knows about just so you get a few facts. This is mostly influenced by the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit that I was able to score tickets to at the National Gallery a couple of Friday's ago [it was awesome!]. I also took a seminar on Leo when I was back in the state so I feel like I might know a little what I'm talking about. Since this is a blog, I'm going to mix the fact with my own personal opinion. Because of this I will not be talking about that smallish portrait with the woman who doesn't smile and has become famous for her mystery (you know which one I'm talking about, and if you don't: LOOK IT UP!). We're going to talk a little about his life, some of his paintings, some inventions, and even some drawings. This might be long but I just want to get the information out there, and I feel like people might want to know a little more than just about Mona. Because who needs Wikipedia when you've got me?

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Leonardo da Vinci. Born in 1452 in the tiny town of Vinci Italy (thus da Vinci). He was a bastard but spend a lot of time with his father and father's family. His father was a notary and made an reasonable living. When Leonardo grew up a bit, he showed some artistic talent and his father had connections enough to get him a slot in Andrea del Verrocchio's studio in Florence which was huge for him. Verrocchio might be forgotten in the main-stream art behind names like Donatello or Brunelleschi, but he was a very talented painter/sculptor/architect and it would have been very beneficial for the artistic growth of young Leo (and it's Leo because we're on such good terms). He also happened to be at the workshop at the same time a certain  Sandro Boticelli (huge Birth of Venus painting). He quickly surpassed his master and moved on to bigger and better things.

He had done some work in Florence, but decided to move along with his life. Now in his twenties/thirties, he was hired by the Duke of Milan as a musician. Who knew right? He might have actually presented the Duke with an inventive little instrument that was made out of a silver horse skull. Here he really hit his stride and produced what would be recognizable as Leonardo's. This is now the 1480s and he completes my favorite piece by him: Virgin of the Rocks. Although I prefer Madonna of the Rocks. But they're interchangeable so call it whatever you want.

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Here we have the Virgin center with an angel on her left and a seated Christ child pointing/blessing the young John the Baptist. Way you can tell the two apart is that John's wearing his signature hair shirt (although it's a little hard to see here). What makes this painting so unique is the rocky and dangerous landscape. Kinda an odd place for such a meeting if you ask me but it could be referential to Leonardo's home landscape and a hearkening back to a more innocent time. One of the newer things I learned was that in the foreground, I thought they were all gathered beside a leg, but if you look very carefully, you'll see that nothing's reflected in the water and they are in fact sitting right beside a cliff ledge. Again, I don't know exactly why he chose such a hazardous place to put a baby, but he's kind of a crazy guy.

When talking about Leo, it's impossible not to talk about a technique he uses called sfumato. By my definition it is like a hazy veil is put over the entire picture. There are no hard lines, but instead he uses sort of a shadowy blurriness that as a more naturalistic quality. It's also a great word to say/impress your friends with. Sfffffffuuuummaatto.

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Like any Renaissance artist, he did a fair number of portraits like this one. There's been some dispute about whether this is a true Leonardo, but I like to think it is. Like a traditional Italian portrait of a woman, she is seated from the waist up showing. This one differs because she's turned three quarters and is looking off into the distance. She has a very distinct look to her that seems like she's giving Leo all sorts of attitude. The purpose of such portraits was to show the wealth of the bride-to-be and really objectify her for the  I like to think of this as Leo protesting such ideals. She's still physically separated from the viewer, but she's not taking it lying down.

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I could drone on and on about The Last Supper or any number of Dan Brown books, but I don't really want to bore you with the details. This is just supposed to be a little taste of the art world for those that are interested. Art is something I'm very passionate about so I couldn't imagine a blog of mine where I wouldn't share it.

Go Figurative

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How great that one of my things to do while working is blogging?! My colleagues decided to put my in charge of trying to recruit new artists under our representation. I've been fortunate enough to intern with this great company for the past semester and it's been such a great learning experience for me. I've been meaning to do a Go Figurative post so this seems like a great opportunity to get the word out and hopefully start relationships with new artists who might be reading this blog.

This is an oil painting (that's right, painting) by American David Eichenberg

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But first the facts. Go Figurative is an art company based in London that specializes in selling art to corporate clients and private collectors. It was started in 2008 by my colleagues Janine C. and Sally P. and has grown exponentially since. Go Figurative (get it? like go figure? Ha!) promotes a range of figurative art from painting, to photography, to graphite, to sculpture. We really do it all. We see it as our mission to get contemporary artists out into the public sphere. Right now is a very exciting time at the office since we are in the process of moving from our building on Liverpool Street to a more open gallery environment on Old Street near Shoreditch. Although we will still run as an art company working at computers and running to meetings with prospective clients, we are definitely toying with the idea of displaying some of our artwork on the walls so that everyone can  enjoy and appreciate all of our artists' hard work. We are also going to participate in the First Thursday event in east London where art galleries are open later so people can explore the contemporary art scene at night. It's going to be a great experience and I cannot wait.

David Downes does thee wonderful cityscapes that I can't get enough of. They're so full of life!

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We are also getting ready for the Affordable Art Fair Battersea which is from 15-18 March. I know I sound a bit like a giddy school girl, but I can really not wait to help out there. There will be various artists and galleries selling work that can be no more than £4000. We've been to the one at Hampstead and sold quite a lot of work so it was a really great opportunity, and we'll hopefully have a similar experience.

I see a lot of Anita Klein's work around London and I just love her use of line.

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I think what I'm most excited about though is our recent success with the Savoy Hotel. One of the artists that we represent, McAlpine Miller, has been commissioned to do a series of portraits for their famous Thames Foyer. The Savoy is finishing up a refurbishment of their a large part of their hotel and this includes the Foyer. He's already completed one of the portraits and I think it is absolutely wonderful and will really bring the tea room into the 21st century. Right now there are a few older paintings which are fine and inoffensive, but I think these are really going to be beneficial for all. I really love the way his paintings don't seem to need a light source since they exude their own glow. Here's an example of the type of work he does (note: this is not for the Savoy).

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See what I mean? I love the overlay (underlay?) of comic images. I don't know what technique he uses, but I personally find it very interesting and Lichtenstein-esque.

This beautiful work was recently sold. By Alan Coulson.

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We represent a range of artists from different backgrounds, ages, genders, and nationalities. Since we are a business we are constantly striving to grow while still retaining our great relationships with the artists. I've actually been put in charge in recruiting fresh new artists to add to our arsenal. If you are reading this and think this is a great company, as I do, then please visit our website at www.gofigurative.com. If you have any friends that are artists this also might interest them so please spread the word. From where I'm sitting, only beneficial things can come from getting in contact with Sally and seeing what happens. Again we're looking for any age and from any nationality or medium. As long as your work is of a figurative subject, you're probably just what we're looking for. Whether you're an artist or not, you should still check out the website. We also run an online gallery where other artists upload their work to be sold and shown to the world. If you have any other questions please contact me if you would like any other information. Thanks and keep being creative!

The Day After: Valentine's Day

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Hello everyone and welcome to another rendition of the day after. I hope your Valentine's day went smoothly and lovely. Personally I don't really understand the holiday because why in the world do we have to designate a day to tell each other we love them. Shouldn't that be every day? I feel the same for days like Mother's and Father's day. I love my parents. They know that since I tell them a lot so why do I need to stress about giving them presents on one specific days when I'll send them little gifts (usually metaphysically) all the time? This year came and gone and lo and behold... I did not have a "valentine." I decided that instead of being cynical Carly, I would take my life into my own hands and do something. So after class, I got on my nice black and grey dress (I'll do a picture post later), did my makeup well, played with my hair until I decided that down was the best choice at the time, and I was ready to go out on the town!

I took the tube from Holborn to Green Park switching at Oxford Circus onto the Victoria line and it was only a short walking distance to my destination. Once I saw it, literally this wave of warmth and wealth moved over me. I opened the doors to Christie's Auction House on King Street and climbed the stairs to the auction room. It was my first art auction ever and I had a really nice time. I was completely by myself and didn't know anybody there, but at the same time I felt very at home. Everyone was there to either buy or watch the money fly. I could not believe the sums that some of these pieces went for. The star of the night was this Francis Bacon portrait.

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Want to take a guess on how much this went for? 3 million? 8 million? Nope this Portrait of Henrietta Moraes from 1963 went for £19,000,000!!!!!! And I was there! I looked today on the website at the results and after taxes and auction fairs (I'm guessing) it was a little more than 21 million. That's an absurd amount of money. They were just going back and forth and it was so exhilarating, and when it was all done, I just felt like applauding (I know a bit childish). They were going back and forth arguing over £500,000 like it was child change because when we're talking prices that high it is. It was just such a lovely time, and I can't wait to go back again. I didn't get a real seat in the auction room, but I stood outside in the anteroom with a whole gaggle of other arty people. Drinks were free and I got a beautifully printed catalog as well. Now this is going to sound soooooo cheesy, but it almost seemed like I was spending a night with my valentine: art. Yep I said it, I was in love, and I don't care who hears it!

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I ended up leaving early after a bunch of the big ticket items since I hadn't really eaten that day and was starving. I came home, made myself some baked ziti, ate it, and finished off a good half of a bottle of wine as an end to the celebration. It was one of the best Valentine's Days I've had in quite some time. I just went to bed happy and content and happy to be in such a great city like London. How did you spend your day of love?