Kitschy Koo????

You'd think that four years of strolling around the streets and parks of Roma had taught me never to be surprised at what is just around the next corner or over the tree tops.  However while walking off last Friday's lunch in Villa Torlonia I was a bit taken aback to see a startling familiar scene looming much, much larger than life through the pines.

Alfred Eisenstaedt's photo, taken on V-J Day August 14 1945, is perhaps, after Rodin's, the most famous kiss in the world.   It was one of those moments of photo-journalism serendipity that captured the mood and spirit of a time and an event.  It was published in Life Magazine a week later and became an indelible image of the euphoria of the Post-War era.

In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers. - was the caption given Eisenstaedt's photo when it appeared in Life Magazine.

But there was a second photo taken of that celebratory kiss between a jubilant seabee and a services nurse.  Though it is not as well know Victor Jorgensen, a US Navy photo-journalist captured the same moment and it appeared in the New York Times the following day.

A different angle - a different view - Victor Jorgensen's photo of the same moment doesn't quite have the same cache as the more famous version.  Because Jorgensen worked for the US Government his photo is in the public domain.

When artist John Seward Johnson created his "Unconditional Surrender" he was accused of possible copyright infringement but was able to site the Jorgensen photo as his inspiration - unlike the Eisenstaedt it is in the public domain.  However that was only one of the possible sins Johnson has been charged with in connection with his mammoth sculpture.  When it was shown at the bayfront in Sarasota he was accused of creating nothing more than a copy of a famous image that "doesn't even qualify as kitsch."  While in San Diego art critics said that kitsch it was and resembled nothing more than a cheap theme park souvenir.

Well I'm no art critic but I know what I like - and it definitely is kitschy but this is one time when I rather enjoy kitschy.

Johnson, whose rather eventful life can be read here, first created "Unconditional Surrender" as a 25 ft high bronze piece.  He then recreated it in Styrofoam  for its first showing in Sarasota. Since then copies have appeared as well in aluminum including the version currently looming over the terrace promenade at Villa Torlonia.

The Johnson is just one of many pieces that are being displayed throughout the various parks and green spaces of Roma this summer.  The good people at the Roma Biennale di Scultura have installed some fun, some interesting and some just frankly silly works of modern sculpture that brighten the landscape and add variety to the scene.

Almost as big as the Johnson this resin piece by Maurizio Orrico - Il viaggiatore (the Traveler/the Passenger) seems to be observing the embracing couple. And it may just be me but even with a featureless face I get the feeling he's being either a bit disapproving - or maybe just envious.

15 luglio - Sant'Amerigo

Ho Visto*

*I saw

It was a gorgeous spring day here yesterday (the 24th)  - sunny and warm with early flowers out and trees budding. The perfect day for a stroll down to Villa Torlonia, our local park, to take a look at how much progress has been made on the restoration of the Teatro and the Moorish Kiosk. Work on the former will be completed in February 2010 (?????) and the later in March 20 - god in her wisdom only knows!

We were not the only ones who decided it was fine weather for a Thursday in the Park - a gaggle of grandmas with strollers, runners in teams and solo, courting couples (mind you a few of them looked like the courting stage had passed),a pack of dog walkers and elderly neighbourhood nabobs occupied the benches, walked the paths and dotted the lawns.

Progress - in the past this gentleman would no doubt have been reading his La Republica or Corriere dello Sport to catch up on the world and football.

A visit to the Non-Catholic Cemetery out by Pyramide on Wednesday led to a walk up the Aventine Hill and a look into the 5th century Basilica of Santa Sabina.  My friend Debra had mentioned a newly uncovered fresco in the porch and another visit to the simple grandeur of the mother church of  Dominicans in Rome is always a pleasure.  The baroque decorations have been stripped away to reveal the original mosaics, marble columns and wall panels and the high multi-panned selenite windows; the floors bear carved and mosaic tomb coverings of past worthies; and the great wooden door with its carved panels dating from 422-425 CE.

The doors (top) of Santa Sabina are from the 5th century and depict the scenes from the Bible including one of the first depictions of the crucifixion.  The mosaic gisant is one of the early Dominican abbots at the monastery attached to the mother church of the order.  The multi-panned windows are made of a semi-translucent form of gypsum. A keyhole in the porch wall allows a view (bottom) into the cloister of the monastery.

And next to it is the lovely Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Garden), an neighbourhood park in one of the greenest area of the city. From the belvedere on the crest of the cliff overlooking the Tiber there is an incredible view of Rome from the Quirinale to the Janiculum Hills.

A left click will enlarge this panoramic photo of Rome from the Quirinale Hill to the beginning of the Parco Doria Pamphilj on the Janiculum Hill.

25 marzo -L'annunciazione del Signore

The Flowers That Bloom In The ... Ah

Winter?????

After years of struggling with the growing seasons in Ottawa I am still surprised here when I see things in bloom in January.  Last Thursday on a sunny but cold (yes I know for my faithful reader living in Ottawa +8 is not cold but it has been getting down to -2 at night!) afternoon I took a stroll through the grounds of Villa Torlonia to see how the work on the Teatro and Moorish kiosk was progressing - slowly I might add.  As I passed one of the lawns that is studded with camellia bushes I wasn't expecting to see these lovely blossoms

Given their sunny and protected location, the amount of rain we've had this year and the fact that they are evergreens I really shouldn't have been surprised.

   
16 gennaio - Sant'Onorato di Arles

Teatro I

I've mentioned in previous posts that we live close to Villa Torlonia - the former residence of Benito Mussolini - and how lovely the gardens and buildings are. After many years of neglect a great deal of money and effort is being put into restoring it. Just recently restoration work began on the Turkish pavilion - a wonder of elaborate ironwork and tile that will be splendid when it is completed.

When we arrived a year August past work had just begun on the Teatro and the broken glass, crumbling columns and stucco was still very much in evidence. I remember there was also the smell of decay and rot about the place and it just wasn't possible to imagine what could be done with it.A little over a year later - early October - a good deal of the work has been completed. The target date is summer of next year and when its finished it's certainly going to be the jewel of the park.

13 novembre - Sant'Omobono di Cremona

Contentment

It was a sunny, warm autumn day when we visited Villa Torlonia last week.



24 ottobre - Sant'Antonio María Claret y Clará

Faded Frescos on the Third Floor

Saturday was a great day for taking a short walk to the Villa Torlonia in our neighbourhood with our visitors Dan and Cameron. The Villa was one of the summer homes of the Torlonia family and the residence of Mussolini from 1925 until his arrest in 1943. Prince Giovanni Torlonia was a committed fascist, as where many of the nobility, and rented the Casino Nobile to Il Duce for 1 lira a year. He,in the meantime, lived in the bizarre Casina delle Civette (The House of the Owls)further back in the park.

The property was occupied by the Allied High Command from 1944 until 1947 then lay desolate for the next 30 years. Looting, neglect, the elements and vandalism took the toll on the gardens and buildings. In 1978 the Commune di Roma opened it as a public park and restoration work began. It has now become a popular green space with a very good restaurant - their pizza is amongst the best in Rome - three museums, a children's park, a seniors' casa and a theatre which is currently under restoration. Its a bit off the beaten track so most of the people in the grounds are locals - both Italian and ex-pat. We had an unhurried look through the Casino Nobile with its elaborately frescoed rooms that were designed to sing the praises of the Torlonia family - Mussolini made very few changes to the decorations during the time he lived there.

The third floor (originally a service area and servants quarters)houses an exhibition of works of the Scuola Romana - many of which would have been censored by the Fascist government. But perhaps most fascinating - amongst all the brightly coloured, beautifully restored frescoes - were these four we came across in one of those third floor rooms. Painted sometime in the late 40s they glorify something other than the Torlonia family - it appears this artist was enamoured of Hawaii!


They are the work of an unknown British soldier who decided to brighten the dingy area he worked in. He choose images of a more carefree clime perhaps to counteract the daily images of destruction, hunger and poverty that surrounded him in post-War Roma.

03 giugno - San Carlo

Content

28 marzo - San Sesto Papa