A latter-day Slavic mystic
Aug. 26th, 2014 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI did at last venture out in the rain, and as often happens, the rain seemed far less oppressive once my umbrella and I were out in it. I rode the funicular to the top of Petrin Hill - and wandered from the funicular platfrom into an unsuspected rose garden, which I had almost to myself in the rain.
Then I got lost, couldn't find the funicular platform, and had to walk back down the hill; but that was all right, because I found the Magic Grotto, which is the private museum of this Czech fantasy artist who invented his own world and basically seems to have lived in it since 1968, when he was on holiday in Italy when the Russian tanks rolled into Prague. He went to live in the south of France, but returned to Prague after the Soviet Union fell; and now he's got a little museum on the slopes of Petrin Hill.
It's not just paintings and statues (the statues I thought were particularly evocative; the paintings suffer a bit from same face); the whole thing is encrusted with this peculiar multicolored stalactite things, sort of like coral hanging from the ceiling. Technicolor coral. And there's a pitcher of wine sitting in the basement, with glasses provided, in case you need a drink.
There's a photo of the creator - who was there, by the way; he has his studio on site, and he opens the door himself to let you in, because there is not a door at all but a painting placed over the doorway. He looks like a latter day Slavic mystic.
And then I had gelato and wandered around the winding streets, and in a back street near the Parliament (which is tucked in a corner, quite out of the way), I met a lady who asked piteously, "Do you speak English?"
I looked like a person who might not speak English! It was very exciting for me! But of course I fessed up to my English-speaking abilities, and helped her read her map to find her hotel, and felt extremely accomplished that I could help anyone get anywhere in Prague.
Then I got lost, couldn't find the funicular platform, and had to walk back down the hill; but that was all right, because I found the Magic Grotto, which is the private museum of this Czech fantasy artist who invented his own world and basically seems to have lived in it since 1968, when he was on holiday in Italy when the Russian tanks rolled into Prague. He went to live in the south of France, but returned to Prague after the Soviet Union fell; and now he's got a little museum on the slopes of Petrin Hill.
It's not just paintings and statues (the statues I thought were particularly evocative; the paintings suffer a bit from same face); the whole thing is encrusted with this peculiar multicolored stalactite things, sort of like coral hanging from the ceiling. Technicolor coral. And there's a pitcher of wine sitting in the basement, with glasses provided, in case you need a drink.
There's a photo of the creator - who was there, by the way; he has his studio on site, and he opens the door himself to let you in, because there is not a door at all but a painting placed over the doorway. He looks like a latter day Slavic mystic.
And then I had gelato and wandered around the winding streets, and in a back street near the Parliament (which is tucked in a corner, quite out of the way), I met a lady who asked piteously, "Do you speak English?"
I looked like a person who might not speak English! It was very exciting for me! But of course I fessed up to my English-speaking abilities, and helped her read her map to find her hotel, and felt extremely accomplished that I could help anyone get anywhere in Prague.
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no subject
Date: 2014-08-27 04:13 am (UTC)I only looked at the paintings, which do, as you say, have something of same-face about them, but also very vibrant color and an energy to the details which is quite nice.
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Date: 2014-08-27 05:43 am (UTC)It feels almost ungenerous of me to accuse the paintings of same face, because that's so much not what they're about. But I didn't want anyone clicking over to the website and being disappointed.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-27 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-28 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-03 08:16 pm (UTC)