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Street Prophets Friday: More of the Same (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2022-07-22

Founded in 1908, the Hořice Sculpture Gallery is among the oldest sculpture galleries in Central Europe.

The main room of this little gallery displays a few oil paintings and a few original sculptures by some of the greatest Czech sculptors who ever lived. Names like Myslbek, Šaloun, Štursa or Kocián may not mean much to you and they don’t really mean much to me— because I’m horrible at remembering names, but their works are well worth getting to know. The vast majority of the pieces on display are copies of classical sculptures, the masterworks of students attending the sculpture school in Hořice.

Last week I showed you a picture of the imposing sandstone sculpture based on Ladislav Šaloun’s original work, created and placed according to his instructions— so here’s the original!

Carved from white Carrera marble, this is a copy of Antonio Canova’s “Three Graces”

This original work by Quido Kocián entitled “Šárka” is carved from three different and intricately interlocked types of stone. At one point it was supposed to be moved several blocks to the town’s gallery on their main square— but they couldn’t find a professional moving company willing to undertake the risk of moving it.

Another piece by Kocián. This one is called “Artist’s Fate” (1900). The man who runs the gallery (practically a work of art himself) enjoys speculating whether the piece is a nod to the “starving artist” stereotype or (and he thinks more likely) that it represents Kocián’s own frustration at finding his talents buried in a little, rural town in a forgotten corner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It’s one of my favorite pieces in the gallery. I did a little sketch of it.

Of course, there’s lots more to see inside and outside the gallery.

Like this “Sentinel” in the large sculpture park adjoining the gallery.

Sculpture of Saint Gotthard near the gate to the town’s main cemetery.

I’ve been gone from the big city of Prague for a couple weeks now. I had the lads here with me last week, #1 Son just left on Wednesday to get back home and study for a physics exam. We’d begun tackling the renovation of one end of our massive old farmhouse.

Took down the outer windows for repainting and tore out the most damaged boards, repaired the insulation, battled a nest of biting ants— you know, hot fun in the summertime.

Yeah, it’s been hot this week.

Here are some of the removed boards stacked in the barn, lots of holes made by starlings and woodpeckers. You can see one of wooden plugs cut from a tree branch that I used to discourage the birds.

Fabulous Mother-In-Law made a plate of delightful cakes from the pile of plugs we’d left on the ground. Mrs the Werelynx showed concern for my teeth when I sent her a picture of the cakes.

Currently we’ve got the new boards in place and quite a bit of the whole side painted with a dark wood stain. I decided to rebuild parts of the windows, so they’ll be another day before going back up.

A substantial meal for the work crew: Beer Batter Fish & Chips with fresh coleslaw.

Every morning a Roe Doe visits the yard.

Here she is eating fallen pears. It’s my favorite picture of her so far.

You gotta look a bit closer to see why.

She woke me up before 5:00 this morning, grunting and snorting right under my window. I honestly thought she was a wild boar for a few minutes.

The oregano is blooming and very popular with bees and butterflies

And if that splash of color reminds you of our own colorful, Michelewln— well, it reminds me of her too. Computer guys are supposed to finally arrive today and put together all the bits she managed to buy mostly through the generosity of this great community. By about 6:00 PM East Coast-ish time— she should again be the owner of a computer she can access this strange and wonderful site from.

And yes, unfortunately, “The pneumonia is still hanging on.”

Thanks for stopping by.

This is an open thread.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/22/2111894/-Street-Prophets-Friday-More-of-the-Same-photo-diary

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