All was calm and clear despite snow and freezing conditions, gritters were out on the runways and planes were taking off and landing at regular intervals... until it was time for us that is! A two hour delay (ironically caused by fog in Amsterdam that morning!) meant a little longer in the airport lounge than expected! Never mind... small price to pay and we hadn't flown for years so it was a treat simply being there... :-)
Eventually we boarded and the flight took off - what fun! We could see the ocean laid out far below us and the deep blue skies stretching away into the distance beyond the curve of the earth...
The flight was smooth and scenic and as we flew into Copenhagen we came in low over a forest of Christmas Trees... all thickly decorated with fresh white snow... beautiful!
So, we made a safe landing and quickly caught a taxi to our accommodation - a fabulous rooftop apartment decorated with a comfortable mix of boho chique and having a snow covered balcony... we'd step out later with our bare feet - just for the hell of it ;-)
We had planned to visit the National Gallery first thing the next morning and were amused by the still falling snow and its ever increasing depth on the balcony... would we even get there?
The bus-stop was only a short walk around the corner and we bought a ten-trip click-strip from the seven-eleven (do you like how we got the lingo there?)...
A standing-room only trip into town and we took a walk along the snow-lined streets glancing down the festive decorated walking-streets, resolving to explore those afterwards!
Soon the National Gallery came into sight, adorned with a huge banner advertising the work of Bob Dylan - he even got bigger billing than Picasso!!
The building was very grand and the entrance led into a huge open space with a magnificent high ceiling and which echoed with a revered silence... We carefully wiped our feet on the large mat and walked over to the desk, feeling guilty about the wet footprints we left as snow still dripped from our boots...
We bought our tickets at the desk and were told that we had to leave coats, cameras and bags in the cloakroom downstairs, so that's where we headed first...
Duly offloaded we followed the signs, huge banners hung from the ceilings and the balustrades... they were obviously very pleased to be housing the collection...
Upstairs along the marble lined hallways we found the double doors leading into the room where the paintings themselves hung... a custodian sat by the door nodded quietly in greeting as we went in...
The room itself was warm with a wooden floor and walls which curved away in waves... Wooden benches were placed along the middle for those who wished to sit and admire...
The paintings immediately catch the eye as being very colourful and varied and the first to catch my attention was entitled 'Bahia'. It shows an evening scene in a small town looking across a street from a high vantage point, maybe a window or balcony. The sky is midnight blue with a church outlined against it and the only characters shown are a streetsweeper, an old man with his walking stick and a scantily dressed woman in a doorway... a single car drives by... I love the deep blue and the dark browns and blacks in this piece and wonder if that really is a Christmas Tree in the pot on the corner of the street... it's vibrant green and yellow lights standing out in the darkness...
'Wagon Master' is an agricultural scene showing cattle pulling a hay cart and its honest 'rough and ready' hand has none of the old world charm of the likes of Constable... the honest true life style of Bob Dylan tells it just like it is!
There is a scene of workers hand-picking grapes in a vineyard, they have stopped work and stare at the viewer, almost as if you have interrupted them...
There are a few mafia-like paintings showing brawls and nightclub scenes... always leading the eye to a particular character where Dylan wants you to linger and ponder their situation...
There are huge wooden benners at intervals annotated with expressions from the man himself... words of wisdom about his life and his work...
One of the quotes accompanying the Brazil Collection
(more quotes to follow over the next few days...)
Overall the collection is stunning and Bob Dylans honest, true to life, paint-it-as-you-see-it style gives every piece its own individual character, a feeling that doesn;t always leave you when you turn away...
The Brazil Collection is available to view at The National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen until the end of January... well worth the trip!
