Terrible weather in Munich today = perfect day for going to a museum. We (family) chose “VERMEER IN MÜNCHEN. König Max I. Joseph von Bayern als Sammler Alter Meister” (= Vermeer in Munich, King Max I. Joseph of Bavaria, collector of Old Masters) which is currently shown in the “Alte Pinakothek” in Munich, but ends tomorrow already. First I went for lunch with a friend, then had a look at some shops, but didn’t feel like queuing to buy something, even though I saw some really nice things, for example the shirt, Fräulein Lara is wearing here, but I felt quite dizzy at some point.
Therefore we had to start our museum’s tour at its cafe, so that I could recover. But actually the cafe turned out to be really pretty to look at and had quite an atmosphere, so I will keep that place in my mind. You can have breakfast till 3 pm, just go for a coffee and even choose between a few warm dishes for lunch. It’s called Cafe Klenze because it was built the architect by Leo von Klenze by the way.
The exhibition itself is very small and its title is a bit of a joke to be honest. It shows only one painting by Vermeer himself, but some of his contemporaries. I like exhibitions that show one work embedded in it’s context and period, but the title suggests a bit more than only one Vermeer. This also happened to me last year with “Realism – Courbet, Hopper, Gursky” at Hypokunsthalle, Munich which had only one Hopper and “Caravaggio and Caravageschi” (=his pupils), which had only one Caravaggio at Uffizi in Florence. But as I said, it’s not the exhibitions itself, but rather the very commercial advertising concept, which I don’t like.
To get back to the exhibition: I think it’s good, when you can focus on few paintings, read the descriptions and spend some time with contemplating each one. Here it was Dutch “Golden Age”, mostly landscapes and sea paintings. And the one and only Vermeer. Jan Vermeer is one of my favourite painters, which might have to do with my love for the Netherlands and also the “Girl with a Pearl Earring” movie, but it’s also is unique style and technique. And also this painting, which is surprisingly small, intensely communicates the atmosphere, the artists was trying to picture. There is a woman carefully weighing something we can’t discern, and she is all absorbed in the process. The situation contains a strong calmness and peace, which gets transferred onto the beholder. I dare say this has a lot to do with Vermeers way of displaying light, apart from the structure of his pictures, his observation skills and attention to details.
Vermeer became valued super-late, and there are only 30something images that are attributed to him, therefore he remains a bit of a mystery.
After Vermeer we had a look at another small exhibition at the Alte Pinakothek, which will stay for a while: Lucas Cranach (the elder one). Both exhibitions are part of the 175 anniversary of the museum. Moreover they show a lot of works that are usually stored in their depot, but we skipped that one, because I felt dizzy again and because it will continue till January 2012. More information here.
Finally lots of attempts to take a decent outfit picture (Zara changing rooms, my bathroom, museum’s bathroom) and none of them really worked out… I wore the little thing in the last picture in my hair, but wasn’t able at all, to capture it while wearing it. The orange thing is part of your Pinakothek ticket.
(blouse: h&m Conscious Collection, jeans: zara trf, jacket: zara, boots: batu, hair-thing: don’t know, present)
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