France to go

Sunday, we decided to visit some of Vienna’s amazing museums. It was hard to narrow down our choices since there were many amazing options, but we decided on the Albertina art museum, which was holding an exhibit featuring works from Picasso, Kandinsky, Monet, Miro, Rothko, Matisse, Chagall and more. The most amazing thing about the collection is that most of it is owned by one family–the Batliners.

There were also really interesting and informative descriptions about the artwork and how one style transitioned into the next.

We also visited their exhibition of contemporary art, which had some amazing pieces as well.

After a few great hours at the Albertina, we went to a completely different kind of museum–Haus der Musik.

Haus der Musik is all about music and sound and features lots of interactive exhibits that are fun and informational. Evan and I created a waltz with a game that picked musical phrases from a roll of dice. We played with touchscreen exhibits that played auditory tricks on us. We listened to a variety of different sounds–that’s what I’m doing in the picture. And we played with mixing our voices, recording sounds and playing digital instruments that made noises when we moved. One of the most fun parts of the exhibit was a game where we got to conduct a symphony orchestra, standing in front of a big screen with our baton, and the orchestra would speed up and slow down with the movements we’d make. The players would also heckle us in German if we were doing a bad job.

There was also a piano in the lobby and Evan was thrilled to get to play–it’s been six months since he’d been able to. I sat and listened and sketched. I didn’t feel up to playing… I’m way too out of practice. The museum was a lot of fun, though, and very different from other exhibits I’d been to. Also, it wasn’t crowded at all–we saw maybe five other guests, and we got to take all the time we wanted on the exhibits. It’s also open until 10 p.m., and though we didn’t stay that late, it was nice not to feel rushed.

Saturday, after our big lunch at Klassz, Evan and I went to the Budapest Art Fair at Heroes’ Square in City Park. Actually, it was in the exhibition gallery across from the art museum and in a large tented addition to the gallery.

The fair had a wide range of pieces and styles, from antiques and sculptures and more classical paintings to contemporary pieces by artists who were sitting by their exhibitions. It makes me want to start painting more again. I kept looking at all the artwork, thinking, I could do something like that. It also makes me want to have a home with really large walls someday.

There was also a neat antique book section that had some great framed pages, and I’d like to find an antique bookstore and find something fun to frame.

There were also some neat cars on display. The show was sponsored by Audi and there was a very sporty car in the tent–only about $175,000!