The anti-corona virus restrictions have been prolonged until the end of April. Since Monday, April 6, wearing a "nose mouth protection" in supermarkets and drugstores is compulsory. It doesn't have to be a face mask, we can also use a scarf, but the nose and the mouth have to be covered. I used my face mask yesterday for the first time and I have to say that I found it rather uncomfortable, especially as I'm currently having a pollen allergy... As of April 13 this protection will also be compulsory in public transport. Restaurants, bars, cafés etc. are still closed until further notice, but food pick-ups are now permitted. Earlier this week a step-by-step reopening of economic life was announced: As a first step individual shops (max. 400 m² shop area and garden centres) will be reopened (of course masks will be compulsory) on April 14. If there is a steep rise in COV-19 cases, the reopening of public life will be stopped or even reversed immediately. Let's hope for the best...
"Big Mutter", a sculpture by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is currently located in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
There are more of his sculptures inside the cathedral (which is temporarily closed because of the pandemia), and Wurm even created the lenten cloth.
These huge flower sculptures by German sculptor and communications designer Jacques Tilly were a cheerful sight during my Sunday afternoon walk along the Danube Canal.
The two former world's fair pavillions that now house the federal sculptor's studios are surrounded by a park where you can find several scultpures. One of them looks rather sensual...
Click here to view thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.
Here's another view of Andje Pietrzyk's sculpture "The Golden Bucephalus" in Michaelerplatz. Click here to see the first photo once again.
This bronze sculpture by Polish born Austrian artist Andje Pietrzyk is currently located in the very city center. It is a monument to Bucepahlos, the legendary war horse of Alexander the Great.
The Upper Belvedere is one of the three locations of the exhibition "Ai Weiwei. translocation - transformation" (on show until November 20). In the staircase of the palace the artist has released three creatures into the air to roam. The delicate sculptures were made by hand in the style of traditional Chinese kites. Thin bamboo bars form the frame and are covered with silk. The figures are a representation of the many mythical creatures from the Shanhaijing ("The Classic of Mountains and Seas"), the oldest recorded collection of Chinese mythology. I fell in love with the dragon "Lu 鯥, 2015".
From August 1 to August 10, the "Chubby Women" sculptures by Chinese artist Xu Hongfei were on show in the main courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier. Hongfei has been touring the world with his sculptures since 2013.
If I remember correctly, this snowman sculpture by Austrian artist Manfred Erjautz in front of the Upper Belvedere should have been removed at the end of March. Well, on Sunday it was still there and a very popular photo subject for the tourists. Please click here for a photo taken in January.
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is currently preparing an exhibition of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at the Upper Belvedere. The exhibition will stretch out into the baroque gardens, where the "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" - an ensemble of bronze heads from the Chinese zodiac - has already been set up.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is currently presenting the sculpture "Man in a Boat" by Australian artist Ron Mueck at the Theseustempel. The work was created during a residency at the National Gallery, London, in 2000/2. Mueck's sculptures faithfully reproduce the minute detail of the human body, but in considerably smaller or larger than life size. "Man in a Boat" has a little naked man (about half life-size) sitting at the front of a real (full-sized) rowing boat. He is middle-aged and paunchy, his arms folded as he peers into the distance, his eyes evading any contact with the viewer. Deprived of oars, he has no way of controlling the course of his battered old boat and faces an uncertain future.
On Saturday evening the city was beautifully covered with snow. During the night the temperature increased and the snow turned into slush... Maybe you are now wondering why this snowman still looks so perfect. Well, because he's made of marble and a sculpture by Austrian artist Manfred Erjautz. The website of the Belvedere, in front of which he is located, says that he "symbolizes not only a particular season but also memories and the complexities of transience. The snowman is deprived of its ephemeral existence through the creative process, ultimately leading to it becoming trapped in the present."
I discovered these two "Giant Multiple Mushrooms", sculptures by Belgian artist Carsten Hoeller, during my yesterday's walk in Augarten. The sculptures are composed of four different types of mushrooms. Since 1994, mushrooms have been a regular feature in Hoeller's works, probably due to his education as scientist and his doctorate in biology.
Do you remember the sculpture "Ligne indeterminée" by French artist Bernar Venet in front of the Upper Belvedere? I showed it to you some months ago. When I recently took a walk in the gardens of the Belvedere, the sculpture was still there, and I tried to photograph it in a different angle.
Austria's Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938 had grave consequences for the country. A while ago the University of Economics has started a commemorative project that hopes to bring a measure of closure to this chapter in its history by researching and documenting the names and fates of those victims of the Nazi regime who were affiliated with the institution. Visible reminders are the online virtual Memorial Book and a commemorative sculpture by Alexander Felch, erected on the campus in May 2014. The sculpture is composed entirely of the names of the students, faculty and staff members forced to leave the university by the Nazi regime. The opening on one side is symbolic of the gaping wound left behind by the regime, both at the university and throughout society.
There are a lot of sculptures in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. This one shows Heracles, the greatest hero in Greek mythology, fighting Cerberus, the three-headed hound which guarded the entrance to Hades, as well as the personified Vices, while beneath his feet lies the defeated Hydra, a many-headed water-snake.
This sculpture of Bacchus, the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine in Greek mythology, is located in a passage of the Lower Belvedere.
