Put Your Sunglasses on

Dig out your sunglasses: This weekend will be sunny and hot - we will get up to 38°C (100°F)!

Green

No photoshopping here! "Bäckerstrasse 4" - a platform for young artists - has gone green...literally...

Ritta And Hektor

May I introduce Ritta and Hektor to you? These two Tyrolean cows are currently living in Augarten and form an "art work" by the Danish artists' group Superflex (Rasmus Nielsen, Jakob Fenger and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen)...

In 1942 the Austrian sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi was commissioned to model the sculpture "Jungfrau mit Kuh" (Maiden with Cow) for the park of the New Reich Chancellery in Berlin to pair with another art work ("Youth with Bull"). Ambrosi identified the perfect Fleckvieh cow in Kitzbühel, Tyrol, to pose as a model for this prestigious artwork. Ritta and Hektor are descendants of this cow and have been brought to Ambrosi's last studio (which now houses the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary) to serve as a living portal to the past and as tokens of the sculptor’s affection for the cow... I love art, even modern art, but sometimes I really don´t get it.

Décor

In summer I love to cycle to the Augarten, sit on a bench and do some reading. Being a creature of habit, I have  three "regular benches". Looking to the left I see the part of the Augarten Porcelain Museum which houses a restaurant (Click here for the German website of "Décor").

Sunset in Augarten #1

The Augarten Flak Tower and some amphoras at sunset last Thursday, on my way home from the exhibition opening at the Augarten Porcelain Museum.

Colourful Tables And Chairs

I love this kind of tables and chairs and especially the colourful composition of the new outdoor area of the café at the Jewish Museum Vienna.

Sunday Flowers #38

"Space for the sunflower, bright with yellow glow, to court the sky." - Caroline Gilman

Espresso Machine Stage

The company Julius Meinl, a manufacturer and retailer of coffee, gourmet foods and other grocery products, was founded 150 years ago. On the occasion of this jubilee, a pop-up café was installed on Graben in the city center. On one side of the café there is a stage in the shape of a huge espresso machine where concerts and other events are taking place. Yesterday afternoon a rehearsal was in full swing. You can´t see it in this photo, but the musicians had quite an audience.

Augarten Porcelain Museum

Yesterday I was at the opening of the new exhibition at the Augarten Porcelain Museum which was opened exactly one year ago. When I left the exhibition, I turned back to have a last look at the palace and took this photo.

More Yellow

More yellow can be found in the window of the Louis Vuitton shop on Kohlmarkt. I love the shoes and the shirt made of paper. Look at these beautiful collars!

Yellow

Yellow roses and a perfectly matching bicycle in Heiligenkreuzerhof in the city center.

Football Cake

The European Football Championship is currently taking place in Poland and the Ukraine (in case you are wondering: Austria didn´t qualify). In the window of a candy store in the city center I discovered the perfect cake for football fans...

The Sky Over Vienna #1

On my way home from the movies on a recent Saturday evening I was blessed with this beautiful coloured sky.

Sunday Flowers #37

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." - Abraham Lincoln  

Colours

I love bright colours, so of course these windows of a designer furniture shop in the city center caught my eyes.

Wedding Car

Some people don´t need a romantic wedding carriage or a swanky limousine... I would have loved to see the newly married couple who took this minicar. I think they are young and humorous. What´s your guess?

Wedding Dress

Traditionally may is THE month for weddings. In the main window of the K. u. K. Court Confectionary Bakery Demel you can still admire this sweet (in the truest sense of the word) wedding dress. Please also note the shoes and the bridal bouquet.

Misconceivable

This boat stranded on the roof of Hotel Daniel in the 3rd district is a work ("Misconceivable") by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. The hotel management had to get special permission for this project because the building has monumental protection. The boat will remain in place for four years. What an eye-catcher!

Kagome

Kagome is a Japanese song for children and also a special Japanese lattice. At the MuseumsQuartierWien currently it´s the name of a sandbox for children in a willow hut, a green and shady spot where the little ones (shorter than 1,40 m) can dig, shovel and excavate. The children seem to have a lot of fun in there.

Elephant Fountain

This Elephant fountain, currently out of service, is located in Schweizer Garten. This park was created in 1904 and first named "Maria Josefa-Park" after Archduke Otto of Austria´s wife (mother of Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria). After World War I the area was renamed to Schweizer Garten in gratitude to Swiss help during wartime.

Sunday Flowers #36

"One of the most attractive things about the flowers is their beautiful reserve." - Henry David Thoreau

After The Thunderstorm

Yesterday evening, when I stepped out of the gym, I saw these clouds. They made me think of cotton balls... What´s your association?

21er Haus - The Collection

Two works by Austrian artists currently on show at the 21er Haus: A sculpture by Oswald Stimm (*1923) and a painting by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000).

Museum Behind The Trees

Yesterday I had the day off and went to see the current exhibition at the 21er Haus, a museum focusing on Austrian art of the 20th and 21st centuries and its embedding in an international context. This is the view of the museum from Schweizer Garten. For photos of the (re)opening of the 21er Haus last November please click here, here and here.

Reflections #20

Reflections on an office building in the city center. The reflections are the most beautiful aspect of the building...

Gallery Opening

Yesterday I was at the opening party of "OstLicht", a gallery for contemporary photography situated in the former Anker Bread Factory in the 10th district. With a publicly accessible library, a bookshop and a bar, "OstLicht" aims for being a meeting place for photography aficionados. On the same site you can also find some other cultural institutions and the better part of the former factory is currently being converted into lofts - the premises mostly still look like a construction area. I like this kind of atmosphere.

Banana Graffito

The spray-painted banana of German artist Thomas Baumgärtel (*1960) marks out interesting art locations all over the world. Baumgärtel started this project in 1986 and since then the art-banana has become a seal of quality and the nonofficial logo of the arts scene. I discovered this banana near a gallery in the city center.

Sunday Flowers #35

"If there were nothing else to trouble us, the fate of the flowers would make us sad." -
John Lancaster Spalding, Aphorisms and Reflections  

Lamps at the Dorotheum

When I recently walked through the foyer of the Dorotheum, one of the world's oldest auction houses (founded in 1707), these lamps at the desk where you can pore over the auction catalogues caught my eyes.

June Theme Day: Tranquility

This statue of Guanyin (the bodhisattva of compassion and healing) is located in the Hirschstetten Flower Gardens. 
The name Guanyin roughly translates as "The One who Hears the Cries of the World". The statue is a present of the government of Qingtian county of the People's Republic of China.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants