The first few pictures are from one of my favourite parts of Ludwigsburg's palace grounds:
The orangery (glass house/conservatory/greenhouse) shows various exhibitions during the season; I have showed you some before on my blog, such as on this post. When we were there on the 5th of August, the topic was water lilies. Have a look at the many varieties, all beautiful:
On we walked, stopping for a drink at one of the cafés, before reaching an exhibition of sand sculptures. Now, don't get me wrong - I do understand it takes real artistic talent and skill to make such sculptures, I do not deny that. But almost all of those sculptures didn't "speak" to me, and some I didn't like outright. That's personal taste for you. But have a look yourselves.
This one is supposed to be modeled after the crown of Wuerttemberg, which can be seen in Stuttgart at the Altes Schloss (old palace) museum:
This one is supposed to show elements of Baroque art:
A bare-bosomed lady riding the waves on a large fish:
I really did not like this lady. To me, she looks like one of those surgically enhanced women you often see on US TV. Her hairdo would do Ivana Trump proud! But I liked the city underneath, with the winding stairs and domed buildings:
View from the terrace a bit more than half way up to the palace. The sand sculptures are positioned around this part of the park:
From the terrace, King Friedrich of Wuerttemberg has a good view across his garden:
The next one was my favourite. It represents the smaller palace right opposite the big one here in Ludwigsburg. You have seen pictures of it on my blog before, such as here.
The dress and hairdo of this Baroque lady are very well made. From her face and rather strong neck and big hands, I suspect a male model stood in at the making of this sculpture.
Those were the sights at the palace grounds that day. We have season's tickets and so did not have to pay admission to either the water lilies or the sand sculptures exhibitions. And to be honest, if I had travelled to Ludwigsburg all the way, and paid to see the sculptures, I think I would have gone home slightly disappointed.
For us, it was a good day, and very nice to spend time with my Mum.
The water lily was my favorite!
ReplyDeleteWith such beautiful flowers for a motive, I am sure Richard would have produced a series of masterpieces!
DeleteI love all these waterlilies....My daughter Emily's new house has a pond with some waterlilies, and I'm sure they don't want to crowd the scene too much, but I'm thinking they might try one or two other varieties.....Yes, I am not that enamored with these sand sculptures, either, but I do admire the skill it takes to make them! And always love your mother-daughter outings.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been interesting to watch the artists make the sculptures and see their shapes emerge from a pile of sand.
DeleteEmily's new house sounds lovely - a pond in the garden is always such a wonderful Thing, isn't it!
Yes, it is! And their pond is a pretty good size...https://thickethouse.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/what-weve-been-up-to/
DeleteI remember that post, Kristi; I even commented on it, just not on the pond :-)
DeleteOf course, for me, the ponds with their plants and water-lillies and would have my vote. Interestingly I find sand sculptures absolutely mesmerising because of the skill that goes into them and although I couldn't say that I was moved by them I really enjoyed looking at the detail involved. The face of the first lady is quite serene (to my eyes), the second is a character from mythology or a comic and the last lady, as you said, has very manly features. The king 's face looks strong. I can see why the penultimate one is your favourite because it is very simple in its concept and thorough in its execution.
ReplyDeleteThe sculpture of the palace is well made, although... if I were overly critical (which I am not), I'd say that the "ramps" should be steps, as they are in real life.
DeleteThe ponds and plants were really beautiful. Exhibitions in the orangery are not always to my taste, but this one was very nice.
How beautiful those water lilies are! The ponds would be much more interesting to me than the sculpture.
ReplyDeleteThey were to me, too! I don't always like what they exhibit in the orangery, but the waterlilies certainly were beautiful to look at, and interesting to learn that there are so many different varieties.
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