|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 19:56:52 GMT
Most of us have outdoor commemorative statues in the towns where we live. Some of them are good, some are bad, some are just weird and plenty of them are boring. Paris probably has thousands of statues, but on my first excursion yesterday, I decided to just take some photos of statues near the office. I only have 35 minutes for lunch! So here is what I saw. The first statue I came across was called "To France from a grateful Belgium" -- this is about WW1. Interestingly enough, it is located on "Place de la Reine Astrid" at Alma-Marceau. Queen Astrid of Belgium died in an automobile accident. Just below this statue, Diana Spencer died in an automobile accident. I had never noticed the next statue, which is relatively recent (2001). It is of Reverend Father Komitas of Armenia, a composer and musicologist, but it commemorates all of the victims of Armenian genocide "at the hands of the Ottoman Empire". I would imagine that diplomats were involved so as not to spell "Ottoman Empire" T-U-R-K-E-Y. Crossing the street, I noticed that this was Place du Canada, so the two busts on the other side were not a big surprise. The two items were not at all placed there at the same time. Not too far from there was a foreigner who was very important in France. just in case somebody doesn't recognise him : Winston Churchill The street is very war oriented, because on the next block, you come across Georges Clémenceau (the metro station even honors his name: Champs Elysées-Clémenceau) He doesn't look like a bad old guy and is credited with saving France in WW1 (along with Marshall Pétain, whom most people would like to forget now), but he was also very much involved in having thousands of French troops shot for treason for refusing to accept certain slaughter and disobeying commands from generals far from the front lines. Across from him is France's greatest man of modern times, according to popular opinion, Charles de Gaulle. Then I had to run back to the office. What about your statues?
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 5, 2009 20:09:22 GMT
What a interesting group of figures! The one of Father Komitas is absolutely my favorite. What an odd and surprising pose for DeGaulle. Do you suppose it's symbolic of his presidency and France striding into the future then? I'll have to go out and about & take some pictures. We have some real beasts of busts in cement. Oaxaca naturally sports many statues of Benito Juarez, as well. Do statues in churches count for this thread, or is it more for the outdoor monument type?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 20:14:17 GMT
My personal opinion is that this is a good place for outside statues, because a lot of our cities have hundreds of churches with hundreds of statues -- speaking of which "religious statuary" would be a good subject for a new thread. Or even just "saints" -- we all have some unusual ones!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 5, 2009 20:20:32 GMT
Okay -- thanks.
Another point about separating the two themes is that taking photos inside gloomy churches and taking them outside in bright sunlight require different skills.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 20:28:23 GMT
None of which most of us have!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 0:10:27 GMT
Great statues! There are quite a few around here, I never thought of taking photos of them before, but I will next time. For now, here are some I took in Montreal: At the Jazz Festival - Outside of the Science centre - Inside the Art Museum - Outside - In town -
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2009 0:18:26 GMT
Nice! Are the ones at the Jazz Festival a permanent installation? They are truly wonderful.
|
|
|
Post by lola on Sept 6, 2009 1:08:51 GMT
Very nice, kerouac and deyana.
I like the stooped striding Churchill too (and also the more monumental statue of him near Parliament in London).
St. Louis has installed some interesting statues downtown in the new Citygarden.
I find the trend towards cartoonish sculpture annoying, including the prolific rabbits and balloon dogs. Especially the rabbits, but I do like the Botero "Man on a Horse" now on display near my house. The hint of cartoonishness.
I've spent all summer trying in vain to bribe my #1 daughter to take some digital photos for me and put them up on Flickr so I can post them in this forum. Clearly I need to borrow my husband's camera and master the process myself.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2009 2:49:20 GMT
I've spent all summer trying in vain to bribe my #1 daughter to take some digital photos for me and put them up on Flickr so I can post them in this forum. Clearly I need to borrow my husband's camera and master the process myself. Okay ~~ you're on record now! We've all seen it here clearly spelled out by your own fair hands. And good for #1 daughter for applying tough love. You'll thank her for that one day........ one day soon, when you're a star picture poster here.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 10:38:14 GMT
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2009 14:38:48 GMT
Queen Victoria as a young woman is outside part of the McGill University Faculty of Music (there is a new building next to it now, fortunately it is not an eyesore against the grey stone neighbours). I note the date 1895, but the statue depicts here much younger, as does the one in the lovely square just north of the Square-Victoria métro station (she is standing in the latter). She was the target of an attempted terrorist attack by le Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a pro-independence groupuscule: "On April 21, 1964, 38th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, a bomb made out of ten dynamite sticks is found and disarmed below the Queen Victoria monument located on the campus of McGill University". (the one in the picture - source, Wikipedia article). The FLQ also set a bomb off at Square Victoria; I don't know whether that statue was damaged. (FLQ were actually rather hapless terrorists, not at all on the scale of IRA or Unionist cells, or ETA).
The large bust beneath Victoria is Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Budapest Jews from the Nazis and their Arrow Cross Hungarian fascist allies. Wallenberg, as some may not know, disappeared into the Soviet Gulag after the war and almost certainly died there; only the date and place are disputed. Place-Raoul-Wallenberg is a lovely little square tucked in between the local Anglican cathedral and other church buildings; it is a pleasant, tiny green spot where office workers and tourists eat picnic lunches.
I don't know whether the Jazz Festival statues are permanent now; beforehand all the installations were temporary but there is a new "Place des Festivals", which I didn't want to see because the city felled a little grove of pink crabapple trees I liked very much, but will no doubt make it there someday.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 16:53:19 GMT
Thanks for filling in with the details, Lagatta. You certainly know Montreal really well.
Kerouac, I'd really like to see that head statue and have a picture taken with it too. Does it have a meaning or story behind it?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 17:03:39 GMT
Well, it is by Henri de Miller and it is called "Ecoute" -- listen
|
|
|
Post by spindrift on Sept 6, 2009 19:25:41 GMT
And where is this statue "Ecoute"?
(I like it)
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 19:30:57 GMT
It's right in front of Saint Eustache church at Les Halles -- right around the corner is the street market that I photographed last week. The actual area is called "Place René Cassin" if you want to zoom in on Google Earth or Street View. (The satellite view allows you to see that the pavement is actually a maze, something that you don't realize at ground level.)
|
|
|
Post by lola on Sept 7, 2009 2:44:20 GMT
It's great to have sculpture like Ecoute that people can get right up next to.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2009 6:18:21 GMT
I went through the Paseo Juárez today, far better known as Parque el Llano. Of the many statues of Benito Juarez in Oaxaca, this is one of my favorites. The official name of the city of Oaxaca is Oaxaca de Juárez, with the second part honoring its favorite son. To give you an idea of the overall dimensions, the top edge of the square plaque in the plinth is @ 6 feet from the round base at the top of the steps. The plinth itself is a reference to the Zapotec designs on the ruins of Mitla, thus another way to honor Juárez, who was Zapotec. It's a noble statue for a noble leader.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2009 20:29:18 GMT
Sorry, I meant to link to an explanation of Mitla in the post above. There are excellent photos in the link which will illuminate how the plinth above is in homage to Zapotec achievement. Here is another close-up of the plinth, uploaded on our wonderful new tinypic feature. Scroll to the very bottom of any AnyPort page to access it. (and see my post in Trees for how to use it)
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2009 0:52:28 GMT
Saint Cecilia,patron saint of musicians. NYC,9/9/09
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2009 4:37:13 GMT
Bixa, considering the angle from which the pictures of Juarez are taken, wouldn't you say that perhaps the pedestal that they selected is somewhat too high for being able to look at the statue properly?
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Oct 2, 2009 8:02:10 GMT
Yep. Maybe they got so carried away making the plinth that they didn't have enough money for a bigger statue. We're actually seeing it better here through the miracle of digital photography.
Cool plinth, though, huh?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2009 16:31:05 GMT
Yes. Is it just made out of cement or is it carved stone?
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Oct 2, 2009 16:58:29 GMT
I am pretty sure it's carved from a variety of stones. The stone steps, base, and curbing around the pedestal are all made from the local green "cantera". The first level appears to be granite. I don't know what kind of stone the red part is, nor the rest of it, though I'm guessing some kind of limestone. You'll note there are seams visible in the picture. Here is an unedited photo for a closer look, although tinypic wouldn't let me load it at the original size.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2009 6:01:57 GMT
The big stone head is less solemn on a Saturday afternoon. (No, children are not indiscriminately allowed to risk breaking their fragile little bones, but no municipal official was around at the time to blow a whistle.)
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Oct 7, 2009 10:22:26 GMT
I knew I'd forgotten something... Should have got a shot of Uncle Ho! They are still around.
|
|
Moose and Squirrel
Guest
Offline
|
Post by Moose and Squirrel on Oct 12, 2009 4:54:06 GMT
"Crouching Spider" by Louise Bourgeois was always nice until a private collector scooped it up for themselves.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Oct 12, 2009 5:21:09 GMT
Hi Nic! Love this R&B handle.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2009 16:09:56 GMT
Three different styles in Paris...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2009 20:52:27 GMT
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Nov 5, 2009 21:01:16 GMT
I adore that owl thing!
And this is probably furiously waving my philistine credentials, but that reclining nude is awful. It's so stiff and awkward looking.
|
|