Throughout these pages of Flanders & Netherlandish Baroque, 2 art pieces (both oil on canvas) have stood out to me the most.
The Portuguese Synagogue, Amsterdam painted by Emanuel De Witte (pg. 790)
& The Jewish Cemetery painted by Jacob van Ruisdael. (pg. 791)
These both evoke a surrealism to me...with a bit of magic & subtle mystery to it.
Never having traveled outside America or anywhere like these two locations displayed in the paintings...I reference the two to movies!
Portuguese Synaugogue, Amsterdam. Thanks to art, I can sorta identify some architectural terms. The columns are in ionic order. It is evident by the sheep-horn-like top. & the circle window is called an oculus. I Lovve the arched windows & chandeliers. They make the synagogue more comforting."De Witte's shift of the viewpoint slightly to one side has created an interesting spatial composition, and strong contrasts of light & shade add dramatic movement to the simple interior. The caped figure in the foreground and the dogs provide a sense of scale for the architecture and add human interest."
When I saw this painting, many things have came to my mind. Though the painting is of a synagogue, the architecture of the location reminded me of train stations. & not just any train station... but grand old fashioned ones. :) The girl draped in the sky blue cape reminds me of any young girl in the olden days in London.
Ex: The Secret Garden. (movie i saw when i was young...based on a children's book)
I remember the very reserved & solemn character Mary had been wearing a formal coat in a similar fashion with a beigeish colored hat.
a lil bit of Anne of Green Gables came to mind too. except her train station was outdoors. But she did have on a straw hat & dressed in a countryish- doll-like vintage dress.
& of course, couldn't help but think of Harry Potter. :) Yes Harry Potter is just full of art references!
The whole magical scenes where Harry & Ron's family would visit the train station and run through a brick wall to enter the station w/ 3/4ths or something.
wow...all 3 are movies I saw based on books that I have never read.
But the verry 1st thing I thought of when I saw the painting was...a breathtaking photo that I have seen in one of my architecture books. I love the idea of light shinning through skyscraper high windows!
When I 1st saw this photograph, I couldn't help but gasp. I was in complete awe of it's beauty. I just stared at it for a while & imagined what it would be like to be there...standing under the light beaming down.In my very old apartment (SOO tinny-lived there in middle school & b4) I used to have a screen door along with the actual enter door. during the summertime, the house door would always be open & we'd use the screen door to let in fresh air & sunlight. the sun would shine through the open space & I would just lay on the carpet under the angled rectangle of sunlight. It was the 'warm spot'.
Thanks to Emanual De Witte's painting & the connection to the photograph, I actually started researching the building. New York's Grand Central Station!
famous iconic photo. Can't say I'm a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, haven't really seen her films. but she has some pretty damn good quotes. One of my uber favorites: 
couldn't have said it better. So very truei Lovve the photograph. Want one like it someday. :)
famous four-faceted clock! Luckily, I have been to New York before. It was amazing! (except for the fact that I was with my relatives who treated my sisters and me like little kids w/ no choice or say in any matter) Driving by Times Square at night- I was like a kid at a candy shop, wide eyed, twinkling eyes, subtly smiling & in a surreal awe. but i have yet been to the Grand Central Station. i will...someday. maybe w/ my sisters again. It'll be a nostalgic trip in a sense. & we'll take turns taking pictures like Marilyn Monroe's! :)http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID031.htm
The Jewish Cemetery, Jacob van Ruisdael"His (Ruisdael) Jewish Cemetery is a thought-provoking view of silent tombs, crumbling ruins, and stormy landscape, with a rainbow set against dark, scudding clouds. Ruisdael was greatly concerned with spritual meanings of landscape, which he expressed in his choice of such such environmental factors as time of day, weather, the appearance of the sky, or the abstract patterning of the sun and shade....The meloncholy mood is mitigated by the rainbow, a traditional symbol of renewal and hope."
When I saw this painting, with its erie, gloomy spookiness, it reminded of movie landscapes. Yup...Harry Potter is one of them. =P Of course.
Not exactly Hogwart's castle, but some haunted mansion up in the mountains in the more later, darker movie series.
But also Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The Adam's Family...horror movies in general. The Others.
possibly Frankenstein, Lord of the Rings maybe? & I'm sure a lot more. Let me know if u can think of any.
It's amazing what movie/theatre set designers can create. We often overlook their talent, but just that short second or minute or so of seeing the various locations really do give a sense of place to the scene. andd also it's pretty much our exposure to the world!
Not everyone can or do travel much. some places only exist in our imagination
With movies... it's a window to the many possibilities of both reality & the what ifs.
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