Category: Switzerland
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The A of Achilles
The A of Achilles In 1962, Cy Twombly created two paintings “about” Achilles: “Achilles Mourning the Death of Patroclus” and “The Vengeance of Achilles”, depicted here. In both paintings, as is often the case with Twombly, the title of the work is a fairly inconspicuous part of the composition. What is all the more striking…
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Art and Nature
Art and Nature Thousands of dried laurel leaves caught in an open wire construction.A play of infinite shades of brown.The richness of Arte Povera. Photos of the week: Breathing the Shadow (Respirare l’ombra), Laurel Leaves, 2005, detail and in full in the back of Earth Shadow (Ombra di terra), Bronze and Terracotta, 2003, by Giuseppe…
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The ground under our feet
The ground under our feet It is not often that you get to see the intricate root system of a tree so clearly. Was the tree cut down because it lost the ground beneath its feet and was doomed to fall? Or was it cut down and then the earth between its roots washed away?…
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Before the big bang
Before the big bang A rock falls from the sky and appears to be about to hit another rock with a bang. But closer inspection reveals that we are mistaken. Both rocks lie peacefully next to each other in a pool of water, partially protruding above the surface. The sky and the tree branches have…
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Saenredam’s St. Bavo
Saenredam’s St. Bavo In the Rijksmuseum, the Getty Museum, the National Gallery in London or the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, you can come face to face with an interior of the Great St. Bavo Church in Haarlem painted by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam. He made at least 12 of them, each from a different…
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Square plate
Square plate Patrick Rollet has given his piece of ceramic simply the above title. But it is more than that. The shape is more interesting than just a square plate and the design and quality of the glaze with its suggestion of rounded volumes – thighs and belly? – is outright beautiful. His square plate…
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Attention please
Attention please Photos of the week: Stickers on the path along the Limmat river, Zürich, Switzerland 2025
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The Offering
The Offering What always impresses me about the Polynesian women in Gauguin’s paintings is the solid shape of their bodies and the serious expression on their faces. They exude an understated strength. That takes me in for them as well as for Gauguin. Photo of the week: Paul Gauguin, The Offering (detail), 1902, Sammlung Emile…
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Bührle
Bührle In the run-up to World War II, the artist Oskar Kokoschka, declared ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, fled from his native Austria to Czechoslovakia. He was then forced to emigrate to England, where, among other things, he created several anti-fascist paintings during the war. At the same time, the German arms manufacturer and dealer Bührle…
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Mr. and Mrs. Cézanne
Mr. and Mrs. Cézanne What would they have thought of the fact that they were going to be part of the Bührle collection, as mentioned on the captions next to the paintings in the Kunsthaus museum.Bührle, the art collector, having become filthy rich through his arms trade with Nazi Germany.You look at the portraits, admire…
καιρός remembered 