Otakar Lebeda

Paintings and exhibitions seem to be my theme for cultural tips recently. This weekend is no exception. I spent part of Saturday afternoon in the Waldstein Riding School Gallery (Valdštejnská jízdárna) enjoying paintings from the late 1800s by Otakar Lebeda.

The young man showed an interest in art from a young age and was accepted to the Art Academy at only 15. He was a trained in landscapes.He traveled throughout the Czech Republic, as well as France, painting the scenes around him. At only age 22 he shot and killed himself due to a long suffering with depression and dissatisfaction with his work.

His early work is quite "correct", with each blade of grass as it should be. But as he develops as an artist, his talent for taking an every day scene and transforming it into lights, shadows and strokes of the brush that are full of emotion also develops. Had he lived, I'm sure he would have rivaled other well-known impressionists.

Most of the works in this exhibition are on loan from private collectors and haven't been exhibited before. A few of his works hang in the National Gallery, but this is the largest exhibit of his work ever organized.

A walk through this exhibition will make you long for the country side, feel color as an emotion and give you a greater appreciation for talent.

(If you go after 16.00, then the ticket is discounted 50kc)

www.ngprague.cz/cz/10/0/2433/sekce/otakar-lebeda-1877-1901/

Nuremberg

Near our flat is a highway. If you get on this highway and head west for about 300 kilometers you will find yourself in the delightful little town of Nuremberg, Germany.

The name might strike the scholar of WWII history as having a precarious past but today the medieval town has so much more to offer.

H. and I decided to do a day trip a few weekends ago. The destination wasn't as important as the journey, as my reason for wanting to take the day trip was to see what our VW Passat could do on the German autobahn with no official speed limit. All I'll say about that drive is "WOOHOO"!

Nuremberg has a delightful old town with a lively central square, castle and strong city walls. Nuremberg's attraction is its atmosphere. There are small open markets scattered throughout the old town. People walk slowly and enjoy the colors, smells and music of street musicians.

A must for any visitor to Nuremberg are its famed sausages (Nürnberger Bratwürste). They are small white spicy sausages served three to a bun at the outdoor stands or a plate of six to eight served with sauerkraut if you prefer to sit in a local pub with a pint of local beer.

We couldn't have spent a better day than one filled with fast driving, good food and smooth beer. Maybe we'll journey down that highway near our flat again in the not too distant future...

60-second smiles

Here are a few little snapshots of life that have made me smile recently:

Pick a language, any language

I've begun my Christmas shopping. The cold weather and the realization that I'll be home soon has prompted me to get started. But I'm not a great shopper or gift-idea person, so I brought along my better half who happens to be an excellent gift-idea person.

H. and I communicate in English, with the occasional Czech word thrown in when necessary. However, as we popped in and out of small stores we found ourselves in a bit of a linguistic puzzle. We realized that the language we used in the shop depended on who spoke first, us or the shopkeeper.

The first store we went into was a wooden toy store and we were in the midst of a discussion when we crossed the threshold, so the shopkeeper greeted with a strong, "Hello!" and addressed us in English. The second store was full of traditional crafts and handmade goods and we were quiet as we entered, so the shopkeeper greeted us with a friendly "Dobrý den" and continued to us in Czech. After conversing with her in Czech for five or 10 minutes, Honza turned to me and asked a question in English. The shopkeeper made a funny face and asked if it was ok to continue speaking in Czech or if she should switch to English. Honza and I agreed Czech was fine, to the amusement of the woman.

And so we spent the afternoon experimenting with sociolinguistics and confusing poor shopkeepers all over Prague.

Nuts for Nuts

I arrived at the office of one of my students and on his desk was a large plastic bag of walnuts. He asked if I like walnuts and asked me to take as many as I would like. I asked if he had brought them from his cottage, as I know many Czechs that gather nuts and fruit from their cottage trees.

No, they weren't from his cottage. The nuts, in fact, were from an elderly man that was looking for spare parts for a home appliance. As my student's company sells and deals with new and used appliances, the elderly man came to request some small nuts and bolts that he wasn't able to find in the hardware stores in order to repair his home appliance.

These small pieces didn't have a real monetary value so my student gave them to the man for free. A few hours later the old man returned to the company with a bag of nuts from his own trees to thank my student. Nuts for nuts, what a fair and tasty exchange!


Pantomime in the morning

Public transportation makes me happy for many many reasons: environment, economics, convenience and free entertainment.

Last week a mom with her two little girls, about 6 and 3 years old, got on the early tram with me. Usually I'm engrossed in a book when I'm on public transport, but that morning it was just too early to get the brain moving so I was people watching. The youngest girl sat in front of me and the mom and older sister took seats further up the car. The little girl refused to sit with them, maintaining her independence. The mom kept an eye on the little one, but let her have the freedom to stay where she was. All over the little girl was written that childhood pride of "being big and being on one's own". She counted her fingers, looked around at the people standing and generally entertained herself.

Then something caught her eye. She began to do a curious series of pantomimes. First her hands on her cheeks in surprise, then putting her hands up and shrugging in confusion, next she put one hand on her mouth and the other on top of her head. I was quite interested in what she saw that was prompting her little drama. At the next stop the family got off the tram and I had a better view of what the girl had been looking at. It was an advertisement for a new play at one of the many theaters. The ad was done in the Andy Warhol style of blocks of photos colored brightly. The woman in the ad was making various faces and poses. The little girl had been imitating the ad.

Now, when I'm on the tram and I see this ad I have an overwhelming desire to imitate the woman in the poster. Oh, to be a child again...