Monday, November 17, 2014

Pisa Italy Antique Market



Dear Art-loving friend,

As a still-life painter living in Tuscany, I know about most of the big antique markets each weekend in this area.  I did not know that Pisa had a recurring market until recently when stone sculptor Mary Tanner came to visit Firenze and we took a trip together to Pisa, Pietrasanta, and Carrara.

We were in Pisa. Italy, on 9 November, so that will help me remember what one of the exhibiting vendors told me.  The market happens each SECOND Saturday and Sunday of the month.   Mary and I had gone to Pisa to see the famous pulpit by Nicola Pisano, completed in 1260 and which work marks the beginning of the Renaissance.  [More on that in my next artnewsletter.]  



After a good lunch we meandered towards the Arno River and found Palazzo Blu.  There was an exhibition of Amedeo Modigliani and Constantin Brâncuși with other contemporaries that Mary treated us to.  I had heard of it and was curious, but sadly, I walked out thinking less of the Italian painter than I hoped I would.  Still, I am grateful to Mary for having gone to see it.  One never really knows without a real experience?  Palazzo Blu is very easy to find along the river because It is the only obviously blue building in that area.  Incidentally, that sculpture in Palazzo Blu that I include in these images always freaks me out.  That rib cage, wide-spread breasts and uplifted arm stubs together look like some fanciful creature’s head.

 

So, in this post about Pisa, I give you some more dragon sculptures, a very short door (with the lovely Mary there for height comparison), random guitar playing, and some of the sites as we made our way back to the train station and headed north.

You may find other posts on this blog about Pisa by visiting the online version of the blog and using the “Search this Blog” blank in the right-hand column.









 
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Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm,
Kelly
~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher
All images in this post are copyright 2014 Nov 9 by Kelly Borsheim