The latest film I have watched ...

Omar has touched me profoundly. As according to a Huttington Post critic it is " a master-piece, multi layered, touching and wonderfully complex". It is in fact much more than a Palestinian drama and  an incredible love story under harsh circumstances. It touches a lot of issues from betrayal to honour and in my most humble opinion deserves to be watched more than once, so as to be thoroughly savoured. I can't help mentioning that the actors' performances are second to none despite the fact that most of them are fairly unknown actors, apart from maybe Waleed Zuaiter.

 

On Paula Rego's documentary film and the temporary exhibition at Colombo shopping mall ...

I have recently watched a documentary film Paula Rego - secrets and stories on the well known Portuguese born artist prior to having as if by accident come across a temporary exhibition named The fantastic world of Paula Rego in a shopping mall in Lisbon.

 

 

The characters exposed on many of her paintings and the bluntness with which she has their acts projected out of the canvas and paper representations have always impacted me and though I do not consider them among some of my favourite paintings I must admit they often stay in my mind over long periods of time, as I try to further explore (to no avail) the potential meanings of the details.  

 

 

The documentary film directed by her son is a unique insight into her life and her work. I must once more confess I was at times shocked by her intimate approach to a number of subjects brought about in it, though in reality I shouldn't have expected her to be any different from the naked bluntness she uses in many of her sketches, etchings and paintings. 

 

The exhibition was divided in four subject matters. Some of the etchings on display were particularly interesting.

 

 

 

The blue fairy whispers to Pinocchio - From the 1995 Walt Disney cinema series.

From the traditional folk/fairy tales written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola - 2006  the Prince Pig series.

Tiger Lily on the marooner's rock (left) - Captain Hook and the lost boy (right) - 1992 Peter Pan series. 

 

Mermaid drowning Wendy (left). Wendy sewing on Peter's shadow (right)- 1992 Peter Pan series.

 

Books for every taste ...

I have been going through an almost unstoppable reading spree despite the fact that I have always been keen on reading and rarely turn off the light in my bedroom without having at least read three or four pages of any given book.


Having my next trip in mind I got hold of a book I had long bought yet not read Shah of the Shahs by an author I had read a few books from and thoroughly enjoyed, this one being in no way different. Ryszard Kapuscinski's account of the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought a light into a number of side aspects I hadn't considered but above all it was his incomparable style of writing that I once more got fascinated by.


I then devoured the pages of Science and Islam by Ehan Masood, which provided me with an invaluable insight and awareness as to the Islamic legacy.


Tahar Ben Jelloun and his Giacometti, la rue d'un seul was to follow leading me into his personal thoughts on the sculptor and the numerous associations therewith related before I grabbed another book I had long bought and hadn't dared to open Lisbonne - Histoire, promenades, anthologie et dictionnaire. The  visitors's accounts of Lisbon spanning from the 15th century onwards had me "hooked", namely because of what Lisbon meant and looked like then. I am far from finishing reading this latest and will certainly write about it some other time.

 

 

 

Books for a wide variety of tastes ... and in a way "a must" ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum - Modern Art pertaining to the founder's collection - temporary exhibition - The 23rd of September 2017

I am particularly happy to have managed to break a seemingly paralysing routine, one I have allowed to take over me and my cultural needs lately. I finally ventured into Gulbenkian Museum and strolled around several exhibit rooms admiring some of the well know works of Art by painters and sculptors I had already seen before but also getting to know a few I had never heard of.

Franca Cristino da Silva - 1925 bronze sculpture by Leopoldo de Almeida (left). 1945 ceramic head/bust by Jorge Barradas (right).

 

 

 

 

Virgin with the child - 1920 Patine bronze sculpture by Canto da Maya (left). Bénit soit le fruit de tes entrailles - 1922 bronze sculpture by Canto da Maya (right).

Female street vendors - 1938 Moulded cement reinforced with iron sculpture by Hein Semke. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bacchanal (Cathal and the Woodfolk ) - 1914 terracota by Charles Sargeant Jagger .

The other woman from the series "Whatever" - 2003 Acrylic on paper by Bruno Pacheco.

 

1933 litographs on paper by Jorge Barradas.

Untitled - 1910 Graphite on paper by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. Before the bullfight - 1912 oil on canvas by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso.

 

 

 

 

Untitled - 1917 oil and collage on canvas and wood  by Amadeo de Souza- Cardoso.

Untitled (Bristol Club) - 1926 oil on canvas by Lino António.

Nude (painting for the British Club) - 1925 oil in canvas by Eduardo Viana.

Tagus view from Santa Catarina belvedere - 1935 oil on canvas by (Paolo) Paulo Ferreira (left).  Homecoming - 1935 oil on canvas by (Paolo) Paulo Ferreira (right).

 

 

 

 

La petite concierge - 1915 oil on canvas by Francis Smith.

Maternity - 1935 oil on canvas by José de Almada Negreiros.

 

Family - 1937 oil on canvas by Sarah Affonso.

 

 

 

 

Mário de Sá Carneiro kidnapping Maria Helena Vieira da Silva - 1972 oil on cardboard glued to canvas (left). Cramped by hunger - 1945 oil on canvas by Marcelino Vespeira (right).

 

The Bishop (red) - 1981 Oil on canvas by Jorge Pinheiro.