400 years, and still trading

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Dutch - Turkish trade relations, and a good amount of Dutch art is visiting Istanbul. 

One of the exhibits is titled "Van Gogh Alive" and features projected images of Van Gogh's work on about 40 very large screens.  As you wander around the exhibit area, you feel as if you are in the paintings.  Smiles were on the faces of all attendees.  A wonderful application of modern, digital capabilities to timeless paintings.

An Australian organization put this exhibit together, and if it comes to your neighborhood, it is worth a visit. In Istanbul, the exhibit is located at Antrepo, just next to Istanbul Modern.

Up the Bosphorus, and also on the European side of Istanbul, at the Sakip Sabanci museum, is an exhibit titled "Rembrandt and Contemporaries".  This picture is not clear, but it is one of a few charts that depict the happenings in The Netherlands and in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century.  It was interesting to see two very different cultures at the same period of time.

There are a few paintings by Rembrandt, including "The Music Lesson", ...

Vermeer's "The Love Letter", ...

"Still Life with a Fish" by Pieter Claesz, ...

and some very translucent white asparagus.  It's clear why we call them the Dutch Masters.  It would be great to know how to paint this translucency, not to mention, ...

the satin shirt and velvet robe in another painting.  Creating shine and softness with brushstrokes will be a question for my art teacher.  

These techniques are much further ahead of my current attempts to sketch in charcoal, where I still need to learn not to wipe off the right side of my picture with the side of my hand while working on the left side...

Thanks to the Dutch for wonderful exhibits, as well as a change in some museum rules.  It was nice to be able to take non-flash photos in the exhibit.  I also read that one museum was not charging admission for any visitor in a wheelchair and accompanying person.  Dutch pragmatism allowed, no doubt because of a successful 400 years together.  

tiled buildings

Modern day buildings in Istanbul are made with lots of glass panels.  There was a day, when tiled buildings were the popular trend ...

 Here is a building tiled in blue and white.  The tiles are about 1/2 inch square, ...

 and grouted in between.

 Some buildings have designs in the tiles, which remind me of the Turkish carpet patterns, ...

 Perhaps the designs represent the patterns of the area where the builder's family is from.

And on one building, the tiles were patterned to look like red brickwork.

The tiled buildings all look to be in good shape.  No missing tiles visible from street level viewing.  And I certainly won't be going up any ladder to check the upper floors.

utility buildings

Every so often, you see a little building that does not look like the traditional homes in Istanbul.  That's because they are utility buildings painted to look like houses.  Foundations, plants ...

and windows with curtains, are all painted on.

Glad to see the utility companies have a sense of humor!

office/art museum

The red brick building in the middle of the picture of buildings in Rumeli Hisari is the destination for today.  The building sits on the European side of Istanbul, just south of the 2nd bridge.  

It is known at Perili Kosk and has a unique style of architecture.  Heading toward Bebek via ferry, the building's turret stands out on top of the building just beyond the Rumeli fortress.  

The building is the headquarters of the Borusan Holding company, Monday through Friday, and a contemporary art museum on Saturday and Sunday.  A clever use of space, indeed.  Although the building looks very heavy from the outside, the inside is very airy and light.  Large windows and glass walls between offices provide the interior with wonderful natural light.

On each level there are terraces, with spectacular views of the Bosphorus.

  The "boru" in Borusan means tube or pipe, and this was the original charter of the company, to make pipes.  Much of the contemporary artwork is made with lines, tubes, pipes - a nice connection to the company's beginnings.  Our favorite piece was a set of three jumbles of colored telephone wire suspended from a shelf.  Below the jumbles were light sources, which lit up various and changing portions of the wire.  It is hard to describe, but the Madrid based artist, Daniel Canogar, is a master of magical light.  He is also the artist featured in a special exhibit on display until April 15, 2012, titled "River of History".

No photos can be taken inside the office/art museum, but I did take a picture of the brochure photo of the board room.  The glass tube light fixture is by Keith Sonnier, and the line painted walls by Jerry Zeniuk - contemporary pipes!

This would be a wonderful place to work, as long as you don't mind clearing your desk off every Friday for the weekend museum visitors!

The Glass Zoo

A lovely zoo full of animals, fish, birds, butterflies and bugs is located in the metro station in Taksim.  Many children participated with glass artists at The Glass Furnace, to make this mural.

 The mural is composed of smaller panels of fused glass.  My guess is that each child participant worked on one panel, which measures about 8 inches by 12 inches.

 There are quite a few colorful birds in this zoo, ...

 just one penguin, ...

 a child enjoying the zoo, ...

 a ferocious lion, ...

 a beautiful butterfly, ...

 ostrich and duck friends, ...

 a giraffe, ...

 and a non-talking parrot.

The children made such a striking zoo and it is quite an attention getter for the many metro travelers passing by.

February flowers and cats

Although it is February and we have had a more than fair amount of snow in Istanbul, we do have some flowers to cheer us up.  This quince bush thrives in between a busy gas station and the ferry landing in Kabatas.

Nearby, pansies, planted in December, still have beautiful faces.

In Emirgan, yellow flowering trees are in bloom at the Sakip Sabanci Museum.

Not many days ago, we had just a dusting of snow.  Have you seen snow on a palm tree before?

Inside, at the Istinye Park shopping mall, someone made an outstanding display of purple orchids.

A couple of cats posed for me in February.  This well fed cat rests on a wall outside of a fish restaurant in Yenikoy.

And this beautiful gray cat hangs out at the Kucuksu Palace.

February had beauty, but I am looking forward to a warmer March!

Death on the Balcony

This morning, we had a small freshly broken egg on the balcony.  Most likely, it belonged to a pigeon.  We have lots of pigeons in the neighborhood, which I have seen as a nuisance.  I think they are attracted to the cat food left outside for the stray cats.  During last week's snow, a number of pigeons were hanging out on our neighbor's balcony.

 Twice we have had snow for several days in a row.  Much, much more snow than last winter.  The city did put salt down on selected roads, and I never saw a snow plow or shovel.   But, back to the birds.  Since I am now feeling sorry for the new baby pigeon that will not be this spring, I pronounced the day "be nice to birds day".

 The pigeons in a tree by the Beykoz harbor today, were a pretty sight.  If you can't see them here, ...

a little bit closer, ...

 and a another little bit closer.

Seagulls are all around the Bosphorus.  Here are a few on the steps used to embark on the ferry, ...

 all pointing into the wind.

Hope you see lots of birds today!