everyday life

turner, monet & twombly

If you are in Stockholm, from now to early January 2012, you NEED to go and see Turner, Monet & Twombly at Moderna Museet. You have to!! I saw it couple a weeks ago and it blew my mind.

"J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Cy Twombly (1928-2011) are three of the greatest painters of the last 150 years. This groundbreaking exhibition focuses on their later work, examining not only the art historical links and affinities between them but also the common characteristics of and motivations underlying their late style. "

 cy twombly

claude monet

I will go back to see it again!

no 21

Last week my colleauges and I visited the Historical Museum to see their new exhibition "History of Sweden" . And I think it's a great exhibition. My favorite item in this exhibition is this:

 
A hockey sweater worn in the Olympic final 2006 in Torino - a game Sweden won over Finland. The number on this one is 21 - Peter Forsberg.  And those of you who really knows me KNOWS me,knows my love for (in this case) hockey!  This window shows symbols of Sweden. Can you see the note sheet in the left corner - it's the original score of the Swedish National Anthem. And when this piece of paper is not showing itself in museums, you can find it in a archive box in "my " archive.

the annie leibovitz exhibition at fotografiska

In May the Fotografiska museum opened up at a new venue, at Stadsgårdshamnen in Stockholm. And today I finally got time to visit the museum. The main opening attraction is the exhibition of Annie Leibovitz, A Photographer's Life 1990-2005. And Leibovitz is one of my favorite photographer. December 8, 1980 she took the - what become the final - photo of John Lennon. Nowdays an iconic photo, cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.

And the cover of Vanity Fair with a very pregnant Demi Moore, 1991?

Leibovitz is basically the main reason for me to buy Vanity Fair couple of times/ year. And it was a wonderful exhibition, so are you in the Stockholm, visit the museum and check it out. You can see amazing photos of Johnny Depp/Kate Moss, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Bill Clinton, Johnny Cash, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Colin Powell, Demi Moore/Bruce Willis, Mikhail Baryshnikov/Rob Besserer, Annie Leibovitz and family among others.

 

singing in the rain?

Well, not really. The weather has been really awfull today - rain, rain and rain.. Not the winter weather I'm longing for.

To get happy you have to see bright colours in your (yellow) vase at work and fill it with tulips. It makes me happy!

This is the first bouqet of tulips this season! Red and yellow. An eye catcher in my window at work! I love them!

I took a detour to work this morning. Some of my colleauges and I visited the archive at Stockholm City museum this morning. It's interesting to know what other archives has to offer. It was really interesting, sadly they have not much online for you to browse, execpt Stockholmskällan. Stockholmskällan is a website where one can access historical and current factual sources that provide information about Stockholm and its populace over the years. On the website you will find photographs, architectural plans and drawings, films and original documents. But if you visit the museum you and look in a bigger database with more of photo's from Stockholm.

photos

I have, as long as I remember, been interested in photographing. I got my first camera when I was about 6 or 7 (when my parents bought a new one we kids got the old one). These days I always carries my digital camera around in my bag. You never know when you need to take a photo. I guess my friends/co-worker are kind of sick of me and my camera sometimes.

Today I visited the Waldemarsudde art museum, and saw someone elses photos. Karin Berglund is a photograph and a newpaper reporter. She is also a writer and has publish some books with her photos. And her photo's are stunning. The ones in the exhibition took my breath away! Stunning!! Photos of flowers and she is using some gum print to get the look on photos. Totally amazing! If you are in Stockholm sometime between now and January 13, take a look! I borrowed these pictures from http://www.waldemarsudde.se/ I bought some of the picture as a postcards, so now I need to find frames who will make the photos looks even better and hang them in my bedroom. But wouldn't it be swell to have an original hanging in the bedroom instead of postcards? Well, perhaps someday...

I found a Christmas present to me in the museum shop. ;-) But you have to wait until Christmas to see it!

And tomorrow I may show a picture of a finished object! See'ya!

moderna museet

niki de saint phalle sculpture, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Spent the day in the company of my lovely and dear friend ACE, who was in town for a day. We took the opitunity to visit the Moderna Museet - Museum Of Modern Art. We watched the art exhibitions and had great lunch.

The exhibition 10 stories tells the story of some of the Swedish artists who went abroard to explore the formal idiom of abstract art. The featured artists include Ivan Aguéli, Nils von Dardel, Siri Derkert, Sven X-et Erixon, Sigrid Hjertén.

Outside the museum, you can watch the sculpures of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. I love these scuptures. They are so colourful and they makes me happy.

After our museum visit we strolled through the city and had a great time just talking to each other. It was a lovely day!

/ C

drottningholm

the royal palace of drottningholm, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

We have a heat wave! Finally!! We had + 28 C / 82 F today! And I spent most of my day outdoors. I hoped on the bus to Drottningholms palace, built 1662 and the home of the Swedish Royal Family (The King, the Queen and the Crown Princess lives here, the other two "kids" has moved out).

I visited the Drottningholm Palace garden. I didn't go inside the palace's - I have been inside numerous times, so I skipped it this time around. The garden is big so you can stroll arund for hours. I took a coffee break when I arrived to the Chinese Pavilion and just when I found a table Katarina and her boyfriend Stefan walked by, so they joined me, and it was great to see them and to catch up.

Drottningholm is on the UNESCO'S World Heritage list since 1991.

My evening was spent at Råsunda staduim watching a football -soccer- game. It was a nice, warm evening and my team won! Sadly I left my camera at home, so no pic's from that game.

/ C

eye candy

stockholm city hall, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Stockholm City hall's architect was Ragnar Östberg, the building was inaugurated on Midsummer’s Eve in 1923. The City Hall Tower topped by three crowns, the Swedish national coat of arms, rises 106 meters above the edifice.

City Hall’s largest banquet room is the Blue Hall. Original plans called for the bricks in the hall to be painted blue but the architect had a last-minute change of heart and chose to keep the natural red color of the bricks instead. At this point however the name Blue Hall was so firmly established that it was too late to change, so the name remained despite the fact that the hall isn’t blue at all. The Blue Hall houses one of Northern Europe’s largest organs which has some 10 000 pipes and 138 stops. The Blue Hall is probably best known as the venue for the world-famous Nobel Banquet which takes place on December 10 every year. Following the Nobel Prize ceremony at Stockholm’s Concert Hall some 1,300 guests make their way to City Hall for the sumptuous banquet.

If you are in Stockholm, the City Hall is worth a visit.

/ C

hagaparken

the temple of echo, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Yesterday I spent several hours at Hagaparken. Hagaparken is perhaps one of the most popular parks in Stocholm. It's actually situated in Solna, just north of the city border. In this park you can just relax, visit museums, see exotic butterflies in the Butterfly House.

Hagaparken is a part of Ekoparken, the first National City Park in the world. This  park is a popular destination for outings, with plenty of sights worth seeing dating back to the 18th century, when King Gustav III had great plans for Hagaparken. The beautiful 'Pelouse' - the lawn to the south of Koppartälten - is a remaining part of the English garden which Gustav III had laid out here.

Koppartälten (the Copper Tents) were built in 1787 as lodgings for the guard of King Gustav III. You’ll find a museum, a restaurant and café here.

Ekotemplet (the Temple of the Echo): Designed by Carl Christopher Gjörwell, was build as a summer dining room for the King Gustav III, who loved to dine alfresco. Nowdays it's a popular wedding site. The Echo was built in so that any secrets whispered at gatherings and parties would be revealed.

Gustav III’s Pavilion: The Pavilion was designed by architect Olof Tempelmann and decorated by Louis Masreliéz in Pompeiian style. The magnificent Spegelsalen or Hall of Mirrors, is particularly worth seeing. The work on the pavilion began 1787.

Haga Palace, built 1802-1805. Designed by Carl Christopher Gjörwell. King Gustav IV Adolf built this residence to his children: Crown prince Gustav, Duke Carl Gustav of Finland and Princess Sophia Wilhelmina. The current King, Carl XVI Gustav is born on this castle 1946. He and his 4 sisters lived here with their mother Princess Sibylla before moving to Stockholms Palace in Old Town 1950. (the childrens father, the Duke of Västerbotten, died in a plane crash in Copenhagen 1947). The Palace is not royal anymore, the government use it for state visits.

Slottsruinerna (The castle ruins) are the foundations of Gustav III’s Versailles, which was never completed. Models and plans of the castle can be seen at Haga Parkmuseum situated in the Copper Tents.

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the old tram

tram set, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

In Stocholm, the trams disappeard from the streets in 1967. They had been running the streets of Stockholm since 1877. In 1991 one tram line, line 7 Norrmalmstorg-Djurgården and back, were back on the street as a rolling museum, run by the Swedish Tramway Society. And since it runs very near my work I have the pleasure to hop on this from time to time.

Line 7 runs most of the year in central Stockholm. The members of Swedish Tramway Society Stockholm chapter keep the line running without pay, except for your appreciation! In one of the sets you have a café, and it's really nice to have a coffee while rolling through the city. Perhaps a thing to do while visiting Stockholm?

The old tramcars from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s run in regular service. Normally you can catch one every 10-12 minutes.

/ C