Princess Ljubica Residence Belgrade Serbia

Dear Art lover,

     The residence of Princess Ljubica in Belgrade, Serbia, was built around 1830.  It is of relatively simple design, but very distinct from surrounding buildings.  Perhaps the yard and gate also differentiate this space.  I saw it only at night and from the outside a couple of years ago [August 2012].  I must say that I love the night view of the architecture. Here ya go:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2012/08/belgrade-serbia-art-architecture.html

   It is a lovely place and the main point seems to be to remind locals and visitors that the Turks had a lot of influence in Serbia’s past.  My local friends told me that Princess Ljubica used to open her home to citizens on Sunday for free [as in open] conversations or perhaps for her to know the concerns of the people.  Apparently, each Sunday afternoon, an actor plays the part of the princess and visitors may imagine what the conversations of old felt like.

      I really hate how people butcher trees.  Tell me all the reason you like about why this must be done, but in the end… it is unnatural and ugly.  However, despite this, these tree branches corkscrew a bit and I found that a fun contrast from all the straight line architecture.

      

     There were paintings in most rooms, often several actually.  My first response to most of them was, sadly, “eewww.”  I later had these two grow on me a bit.  It must have been the birds, hahaha.  The artist is Arsenije Petrović    A Girl with a Flower Basket (oil on canvas, 1845-50) and A Boy with a Pigeon (oil on canvas, 1852).

     

 

     

     
     This last portrait is included here because the conversation my friends and I had in front of it was interesting to me.  Basically they were telling me how the cultures mixed.  So, you may see that the dress has under layers that appear more “folk-y” with bright blues, whites, and orange colors.  There is a garland of fruit that has a feel of country life.  The next layer is more refined with a sort of solid peach color decorated with white lace patterns.  Then you top that off with a dark colored Turkish jacket.  

     This is an oil painting of Smilja Vukalinirić in 1831 by Uroš Knežević.  Oh, and this conversation with my mates happened because I made some smart-alec remark about how all of the women in these portraits look quite masculine.  I wondered if they did in real life or if the artists did not know how to paint the feminine face.  Smilja, here, is one of the more girly girls.

There was an entrance fee, but my friends insisted on paying and I have forgotten the amount.  The residence offers free postcards, so we all helped ourselves to several.  Since even mailing postcards from Italy is expensive, I gave mine to Biljana.  She was collecting them to use in her classrooms.

For more information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Ljubica%27s_Residence

Kickstarter UPDATE:

• $3,390 pledged
• 29% funded
• 20 backers
• 8 days to go[ends midnight between April 1 - 2]

"The Unwritten Future" is one of the bronzes available in this Kickstarter art project, so we still have a long way to go before the deadline of 1 April (midnight between 1 and 2 April, Texas time).  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/borsheimarts/casting-call-im-melting-melting-into-bronze/

Casting Call: I’m Melting . . . Melting! Into Bronze

Destroy to Create: Melted wax sacrificed to pour bronze sculpture. Hot art: Make it happen before these wax figures are truly lost.

Thank you so much for helping me make some bronze art a reality,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com