tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post6566805274216087639..comments2024-03-28T22:50:02.315+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Alsace's French and German historyHelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-66670854702726211252016-03-28T18:41:57.646+11:002016-03-28T18:41:57.646+11:00stumblingpast
Sometimes border changes are easy; ...stumblingpast<br /><br />Sometimes border changes are easy; sometimes they are extremely painful. My mother in law grew up in the Carpathian Mountains in the 1920s and 30s, an area that at various times has been divided up between the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania. They spoke Czech at home and at school, but they travelled over the border into Poland and Ukraine often enough to make themselves easily understood in those two languages. Then one Friday afternoon in High School, the principal sacked all the Czech-speaking teachers and told the children to learn Hungarian by the next Monday morning. The town was now in Hungary! It was a nightmare.<br /><br />When my sister in law emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, she became a translator for a medical society - Czech, Hungarian, German and Ukrainian. It was easy for her.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-5120449959151624912016-03-27T17:04:29.001+11:002016-03-27T17:04:29.001+11:00A very interesting post! I immediately thought of ...A very interesting post! I immediately thought of Trieste and the Yugoslav region where borders have been fluid over the centuries. It also makes me think of people with dual nationalities - another product of borders. Borders are often subsumed within a person, giving them insight and enhancing their interpersonal interactions. Unfortunately this is often not appreciated by those who only have one national or cultural or linguistic or religious identity. <br /><br />This also made me think of the welcome to/acknowledgement of country ceremonies of Australia's Aboriginal communities. A good and necessary response to managing the many borders of Aboriginal AustraliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-4920208892116893892016-03-06T09:43:06.646+11:002016-03-06T09:43:06.646+11:00Where did the famous Bernheim Jeune family come fr...Where did the famous Bernheim Jeune family come from? Joseph Bernheim was an art supplier. His son Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), a friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, settled in Paris in 1863. He presented the Impressionists in 1874. The Bernheim gallery grew under Alexandre’s sons, Josse Bernheim-Jeune (1870-1941) and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune (1870-1953). They organised the first Van Gogh exhibition in 1901, Bonnard and Vuillard in 1906, Cézanne in 1907, Seurat and Van Dongen in 1908 and Matisse in 1910.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-59907670806388093212016-02-15T16:02:47.957+11:002016-02-15T16:02:47.957+11:00Parnassus
never too late :) In fact I owe you a g...Parnassus<br /><br />never too late :) In fact I owe you a gorgeous espresso! I had never heard of The Squire of Alsatia and would not have known Shadwell either, except that he was Poet Laureate in the late 17th century (my favourite era in a number of ways). <br /><br />I wonder why London in the 1688 referred to Alsatia as a criminal hangout place. Whether or not Alsace was a nasty place, every literate Brit must have understood the joke back then. Otherwise Shadwell would have chosen a different title for his book. The Thirty Years War had a lot to answer for, didn't it?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83527145840976309252016-02-14T23:41:59.827+11:002016-02-14T23:41:59.827+11:00Hello again, A late comment, but your post inspi...Hello again, A late comment, but your post inspired me to finally read Thomas Shadwell's The Squire of Alsatia, which has been sitting on my shelf for some time. It turned out that this Alsatia is the district in London, a place where debtors and criminals could go to escape arrest and prosecution. This comic play was about an older son who borrowed on his entailed estate so that he could live in luxury. (To Shadwell's credit, the dishonest moneylenders operating in lawless Alsatia were not depicted as Jewish stereotypes.) <br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-6194782384855838792016-02-03T08:57:41.419+11:002016-02-03T08:57:41.419+11:00Anonymous
I must disagree. France emancipated its...Anonymous<br /><br />I must disagree. France emancipated its Jewish population in _1791_, although the legislation strengthened and weakened over the next 20 years. Most of the Jewish citizens did indeed live in Alsace (and Lorraine) in the early decades of the 19th century. <br /><br />But by the 1860s Paris was already the biggest and most important Jewish community in France, even before Alsace and Lorraine were transferred to German control. So we still have to explain why my brilliant art dealers, gallery owners, academics and writers made their mark in Paris at the turn of the next century.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-11396177925564090982016-02-03T04:48:50.510+11:002016-02-03T04:48:50.510+11:00Obviously a lot of these "Alsatians" who...Obviously a lot of these "Alsatians" who succeeded in Paris were Jews, Alsace being the only region of modern France in which Jews remained after their expulsion from France in the late Middle Ages...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-51076104193082197172016-02-03T01:23:27.116+11:002016-02-03T01:23:27.116+11:00Anonymous
Interesting concept.. a border city or ...Anonymous<br /><br />Interesting concept.. a border city or province that has historically gone back and forward between the two competing nations. Do the citizens adopt one identity when they belong to Country A and then change 180 degrees in the other direction when they belong to Country B? Or do they stay constant, regardless of which country takes over? Does the linguistic and cultural majority treat the minority with dignity and equality? Is the linguistic and cultural minority resentful - or do they get out of Dodge as soon as possible?<br /><br />A border, moving or otherwise, is something no Australian could possibly understand.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-20089768285850784782016-02-02T14:30:10.649+11:002016-02-02T14:30:10.649+11:00The European town has always been the immediate ex...The European town has always been the immediate expression of social and political circumstances, its current shape appears as the result of antagonistic and individual interests. Especially for the period between 1850 (when a discussion arose on the expression of national identities in architecture and urbanism) and 1945 (when traditional and/or local architectural concepts were marginalized by an international modernism). In the same period, 1850-1945, numerous European cities located in border regions had changed their national affiliation as a result of national conflicts, rooting in the same nationalism. Schleswig, Poznan-West Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine, South Tyrol, Trentino and Slovenia should be mentioned.<br /><br />Changing identities? Planning & building in border regions, <br />Dublin, H-ArtHist, May 23 2015<br />http://arthist.net/archive/10334.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-26972356192174628022016-02-02T11:08:48.882+11:002016-02-02T11:08:48.882+11:00mem
you are quite right about the West Germany-Ea...mem<br /><br />you are quite right about the West Germany-East Germany terms. The James Markham article I quoted was written in 1987, three years before German unification. There is an entire generation that has grown up since 1990 that wouldn't even remember what Markham meant.<br /><br />Re the pottery, my favourite Alsation designs come from Poterie Lehmann in Soufflenheim which was founded in 1888. Thank you, great granny!!<br /><br />Hels<br />http://www.poterie-soufflenheim.com/en/patterns-pottery.htmlHelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-66289376917503875382016-02-01T21:42:20.066+11:002016-02-01T21:42:20.066+11:00I loved Stasbourg . I imagined that it looked a bi...I loved Stasbourg . I imagined that it looked a bit like Paris might have before Baron Haussmann started his renovations . It's a miracle so much if it survives especially given its bloddy history. I bought some wonderful navy blue polka dot pottery there and found out the Origen of some much loved pottery which had come down from my great grandmother . It was Alsation ! <br />Now I haven't seen the term West German for many years Hels .memhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05520080648914042943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-60752838927961407352016-01-31T01:04:19.651+11:002016-01-31T01:04:19.651+11:00Parnassus
How did I forget Gimpel senior and juni...Parnassus<br /><br />How did I forget Gimpel senior and junior? And their connections to the Wildensteins and Duveens. I will add them into the post straight away, thanks. Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-37926757310225177152016-01-31T00:57:38.875+11:002016-01-31T00:57:38.875+11:00Student
Totally correct. Alsace did become part o...Student<br /><br />Totally correct. Alsace did become part of Germany following the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 before being handed back to France at the end of WW1 as part of the Treaty of Versailles. And I agree that this caused great bitterness among the Germans in the inter-war period. <br /><br />But I wonder if most inhabitants have done everything possible to stress their French identity since WW2, because of the unhappy Treaty of Versailles. If there is bitterness still, I didn't detect it.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-46230322452611915862016-01-31T00:53:42.018+11:002016-01-31T00:53:42.018+11:00Mandy
perfect timing!
Spouse and I once spent ...Mandy <br /><br />perfect timing! <br /><br />Spouse and I once spent a week based in Strasbourg, visiting the entire Alsace area, and loved the architecture, history and the vineyards! Our hosts were two elderly German-speaking ladies who had lived in Strasbourg all their lives. When they were young, their schools and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Universität were part of Germany's education system. Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-12902763422744064152016-01-30T22:57:00.729+11:002016-01-30T22:57:00.729+11:00Hello Hels, Herbert Read states directly that art...Hello Hels, Herbert Read states directly that art dealer Ernest Gimpel (father of Nathan Wildenstein's business partner Rene Gimpel) was "an Alsatian who had come to the French capital because as a French citizen he could not tolerate the terms of the Treaty of 1871." As you suggest, Alsatian politics and the lure of Paris as a cultural and business center resulted in this mass relocation of talent and intellect.<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-72786191854114407152016-01-30T12:17:06.767+11:002016-01-30T12:17:06.767+11:00I kept this Daily Mail article (20th Jan 2011) a f...I kept this Daily Mail article (20th Jan 2011) a few years ago, when we were studying art dealers, patrons and connoisseurs.<br /><br />Alsace became part of Germany following the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 before being handed back to France at the end of the First World War as part of the Treaty of Versailles. This caused great bitterness among the Germans, with their anger contributing to the start of the Second War, which saw the Nazis annexing the region into the Reich in 1940. Thousands of young Alsatians were then drafted into the Waffen SS – many against their will – and were involved in some of the worst atrocities against French people during the war. Allied troops liberated the region at the end of the war, and since then most inhabitants have done everything possible to stress their French identity. As a region, Alsace sums up the hatred which existed between the two countries for years. <br /><br />Student of Historynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-33044419908472635052016-01-30T07:44:52.848+11:002016-01-30T07:44:52.848+11:00We spent our summer holiday in Alsace, Vosges, Col...We spent our summer holiday in Alsace, Vosges, Colmar and Strasbourg last year. It's such a unique area!Mandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.com