Dears,
some of you enjoyed my first tip about Pasaje de la Piedad and encouraged me to continue,
so I'm here again!
the point is that the tip has to be interesting for me too, hahahhahaa, I love my city, indeed,
so this weekend I was walking by Monserrat. Many of you had heard about Palermo, Recoleta, and San Telmo, but not about many other districts of the city. Well, most of the tourists begin their visit in Monserrat, even if they don't know it (Plaza de Mayo is in Monserrat, the Obelisk is in Monserrat, the Parlament is in Monserrat).
and I was walking by there, and then, in Parlament area, I saw El Pensador (Thinker) by Auguste Rodin.
You know, when I was I child, somebody (maybe my dad, who passed away 8 years ago) told me about El Pensador. I thought that it was wonderful that that famous sculptor had made such a wonderful work and put it in my city!
some decades later I knew that there more than one Thinker and felt quite dissapointed... :-(
anyway, Rodin had a close relationship with Argentina, and you can find in Buenos Aires some of his works,
so start visiting the Thinker in Plaza Congreso. It's near the place where the children play.
this time I have my own pictures!
El Pensador - pictures by Quimera
this pictures were taken yesterday.
as you can see, vandals painted it >:-(
I hate so much that...
well, where can you find some other pieces of his work?
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes has "El beso" ("le baiser" - the kiss).Rodin himself gave as a present The Kiss to the Museum (1908). But not only the marble, the scale model!
in fact, the Museum has many works by Rodin...
http://www.mnba.org.ar/obras_autor.php?autor=292&opcion=1<BR>but has not anymore "the hands": they were robbed.
the museum is in Av. Del Libertador Ave. 1473
but, is there some other work by rodin? yes!
In Museo de Arte Decorativo (my favourite one) you'll find a project for a chimney
http://www.mnad.org.ar/visita.htm<BR><BR>well, was that enough? No
you still have a monument, president Sarmiento by Rodin, in Parque 3 de Febrero (Libertador y Sarmiento-Plaza Sicilia)
Presidente Sarmiento by Rodin
Well, if you enjoy art as I do, enjoy Rodin tour in Buenos Aires!
I forgot this,
the one of you that can read spanish, check this:
Que esta pensando el Pensador? what is Thinker thinking on?
the rest, well, it's a speech as Thinker could tell us why he 's thinking so deep, and that he feels dissapointed because he lost the opportunity to be together for ever with his love.
it's really really beautiful, I'd like to thank to the author, but I didn't find the email.
Hello, quimera! I didn't thank you for the thread about Pasaje de la Piedad, so I am thanking you now. We say in English, "Better late than never," so I hope that a late "thank you" will gain me your forgiveness.
Almost 20 years ago, I was in Paris and went through the "pasages" of Paris, which like those in Buenos Aires, are almost unknown to the tourist, but well worth visiting. Thanks for the "tour" of those in your city.
About "The Thinker": I think that the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts has one outside its main entrance, although I have never been there. I have seen "The Thinker" at the Rodin Museum in Paris, and I have seen a couple of other sculptures by him right here in Chicago, at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Thanks for giving us some views of Buenos Aires that are different from those we see in the tourist brochures!
Thanks, Quimera!
I am coming to Argentina from Scotland with my sister at the end of June and look forward to using your tips!
Lux
Dears, my mistake!!!
I was thinking on this silly thing a lot!
Obelisk is not in Monserrat, is in San Nicolas! (another Buenos Aires city district)
can you see how many districts you cross walking around, not just "downtown" and San Telmo? :-)
Ah, my mother told me that I was born in San Telmo, but in fact, I have to go and check where the hospital is (or was) because depending which side of the street, I was born in San Telmo or in Monserrat hhehehehehehee
SanchoP: thanks for the info! I wonder how many Thinkers are in total, and which number Buenos Aires one is. In fact, I looked carefully it, but only saw the signature by Rodin, no number.
Northamerican: I'm happy that you enjoyed the tips. I have still a couple of pasajes to talk about, the bad thing is that...I'm already at job, so I have no time, and I need more time to think what can be interesting. And now that I have the digital camera, I'd like to go and take some pictures of those places.
Luxover, thanks a lot, by the end of June you'll have more tips! :-)
but always remember, Buenos Aires is a big city, with all the good and the bad that means. I never had problems in Buenos Aires city (and I had in my neighbourhood, in the suburb!), but you have to be street smart.
To quimera and others:
Although the modern practice is to issue some works of art as "limited editions," so that sculptures or prints are numbered, I don't think that the practice existed in Rodin's lifetime. (I may be wrong, and welcome correction if so.)
If I am correct, you would not see a number on any of the sculptures by Rodin or other artists of his time; you would see only the artist's name and, very often, the name of the foundry that cast the sculpture in bronze.
Good news for quimera (and everybody):
Rodin's sculpture "Las Manos" (the hands), which had been robbed, was returned to the Museum a couple of months later, and it can be seen nowadays as part of the Museum's permanent collection.
MNBA - Rodin - The hands
News of the returned sculpture (in Spanish)
Purizio
thank you a lot!
obviously I don't read newspapers everyday and missed that part!
I'll go to the Museum as soon as possible (isn't it obvious I love Rodin's work?) :-)
Hi, dears
as I told last week, I had no time for new walks, just walking the same old streets :-)
but as there are new travellers all the time in the forum, I call from the past my old tips, adding info if possible.
this one is more about Rodin than about the neighbourhood, but some people found it interesting so I hope this happens again :-)
trusted partner
