Extra Large Tapestries...

Our intent on visiting the Kunsthal was to see a Dutch/British photojournalist’s exhibit on Brexit, which was small but interesting. I figured we’d just pop into the Extra Large Tapestries exhibit, but we were instantly fascinated with seeing the incredible paintings depicted in the huge tapestries. Most of the 60 works were manufactured by Gobelins Manufactory in Paris over the last century. Here’s an excellent short video that shows the painstaking process of how this ancient art is still practiced today. 

This beautiful landscape of the Pyrenees was woven in 1924 from a 1917 French design.

Most shocking were two Nazi tapestries. The Chariot of the Oxen had nearly eight pounds of gold woven into the design. It was designed in 1940 by a German artist for the official residence of Ribbentrop, the Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany. After the war, this tapestry was confiscated in Berlin by the Allied Forces and returned to France, where it was woven.

By the same artist, who became one of the most famous official painters within the Third Reich, this massive historically incorrect Nazi tapestry was commissioned by Goring, but was never finished due to the liberation of Paris. 

Designed as a large paper collage in 1937 by Pablo Picasso specifically to be made into a tapestry, weaving didn’t actually start until 1971 once the weavers were confident enough to be able to reproduce the details. It required 89 colors and took 6 years to complete.

What was especially interesting about this tapestry woven from 2012 to 2017 from a French design in 2010 was that it was hung away from the wall so we could see both the front...

…and the back.

Considering how much I like photography, I was fascinated by the next three tapestries, which all appear to be photorealistic. This one, entitled Friday, was designed in 1997 and woven from 2002 until 2010.

It Smells Good was designed in 1975 and woven in 1981 to 1987.

On the Way to Marseille was designed in 2002 and was started in 2004, but wasn’t finished until 2015.

A low-resolution digital photo from 2001 was the starting point for this tapestry, which showed the view of the garden from the workshops of Gobelins Manufactory, a view that weavers have been looking at for over 300 years. A much smaller tapestry, it was woven in just two years.

The Art Depot...

I was especially excited to see the progress of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, which I had last seen in September 2019 in its early stages of construction. It was originally slated to open this July, but it’s unsure if that can become reality due to the pandemic.

The grounds surrounding the Depot were still a construction site, but all those mirrors made for lovely reflections nonetheless. 

For some reason there were large gray rectangles without mirrors that looked from afar like large loading platforms.

Considering how awesome I thought it looked on a gray day, can’t imagine how magical it must appear under blue skies.

 

More Rotterdam Street Art...

This parking garage didn’t have any street art, but we liked how it was covered in plants to disguise its ugliness.

A Dutch painter was recruited to create something large on the back of this artchitect’s building. 

Here’s another neon sign that we passed.

This billboard by Canadian Ken Lum has graced the side of the Witte de With Center since 1990. It’s unusual because it appears to be an advertisement, but yet doesn’t actually advertise anything. 

This mural was painted by two separate artists. On the left, a rural landscape and on the right an actual wedding proposal (she said yes). 

This was another poster unrelated to the urban art route, so I have no idea why so many cows graced the wall of what looked to be a normal residential building.

We also spotted this small church...

…and this sweet community garden...

…which was decorated for the holidays...

...as well as being home to one of the urban artworks. 

This piece represented how society fails to teach children how to expand their minds without the use of technology and social media. 
 

Bright Colors in Rotterdam...

I was thrilled to find an app of walking routes around Rotterdam, including two different routes of street art. We knew we didn’t have enough time to complete either of the 4.5-mile (7K) routes, so we just chose the one that started closest to where we were and visited the first nine artworks. 

Painting in the Global Tradition, Slight Return, by an anonymous artist, was reminiscent of Buddhist temple guards with Egyptian accents.

Both of these were made by a Chilean artist. The horse, known as the Globetrotter, has spots on his body that form the map of the world. His head is supposed to represent the dreams of world travelers.  The faces represent cultural variation and social cohesion.

I especially liked this tall young lady.

These three artworks weren’t actually part of the official route. OX-Alien is known for his use of the letters O and X to form the eyes of aliens. I love the bright colors of his whimsical designs. 

 

A Day in Rotterdam...

The following day we dashed down to Rotterdam for our last museum visit for at least 3.5 months. We arrived early for our allotted time so we could take a long walk starting at Rotterdam Blaak Station...

…where we spotted these new giant sculptures. Everyone but Us is Dead are 25-foot (7.5-meter) aluminum feet that people clearly enjoy climbing on. 

You might just be able to make out the Christmas tree decoration in the giant window of the Markt Hall.

Inside, you couldn’t miss the giant Christmas tree. 

It wasn’t surprising to see this Cancel 2020 sticker...

…but this neon sign had me perplexed.

Would have loved to have grabbed a bite at Vessel II, the British gastropub on this ship, but it wasn’t open for takeaway.

Don’t remember seeing these cute turtles before near the Maritime Museum. 
 

Quiet Amsterdam...

On December 12, we journeyed back up to Amsterdam for what would be our last trip there for at least 3.5 months as the new lockdown was starting two days later and is still ongoing through at least the end of March. It was very sweet of Victor and Nadine to invite us over for dinner. It was a dry night, so we took a long walk from the train station to their house, where we were surprised to see some over the top Christmas decorations. 

Things were very quiet when we caught a late train from Amsterdam Zuid station...

…into an abandoned Schiphol.

How strange to realize that not only did I pass through Schiphol’s train station fewer times than usual, I never used the airport in 2020. After flying around the world for the first time in 2019, I never flew in 2020, surely the first year that I hadn’t flown since college.