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