This weekend...

The weather was incredibly nice in Rotterdam on Saturday. In the afternoon, after spending one-hour in the cafe, my friend and I decided to have a walk at Kralingse Bos, where a big lake located. Walking next to the bank, enjoy the sunshine, water, and green trees. Life couldn’t be better.

I had a funny dream on Sunday morning. I dreamed that I stayed at an unknown hotel in Amsterdam. And I was pissed off when I saw the bill. Besides the accommodation fee, I was charged for an expense(I forgot the exactly name, anyway it was very ridiculous), which was 15 euro. Then I had a big quarrel with the staff. I never knew that I could express my unsatisfaction in English so frequently. Anyway, it was just a dream. When I realized it, I still lied in my bed in Rotterdam. I think I had this dream because I planned to visit Amsterdam this morning.

Today there was construction along the railway near Schiphol. So it took me longer than usual to reach Amsterdam. It’s the final weekend of the exhibition: from Matisse to Malevich at Hermitage Amsterdam. It is free for museum card holders(normal price is 15 euro). I liked the exhibition. More than half paintings have explanation, not only for the painting itself, but also the trend when the painting was made, or the uniqueness of the artists. The most famous work in the exhibition should be Matisee’s “La Chambre Rouge(the red room)”. I like it. The bright and bold colors gave viewers strong impression. I also like Kandinsky’s “Composition VI”. The bright color area with lines composed a vivid music world. I also saw other Kandinsky’s paintings in this exhibition and in another exhibition, which held earlier this year in Den Haag. I won't say I understand his work, but I like his work. There were also Picasso’s works. The whole exhibition show most schools of modern art, such as Cubism, Fauvism(Wild beasts), Expressionism, and finally end with Abstractionism. The last painting of the exhibition is Malevich’s “Black square”. It is just a black square on the canvas. It is too abstract to me.

The paintings came from St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum. I have to say the overall level of paintings of this exhibition is quite high. I could image there are more treasures at the museum. Hope I could visit there one day.

From other rooms of the museum, I also learned some things. The museum was a house for elder people from 18th century. After so many years, the original function is not fulfilled the modern world. Then it became a place for culture event. Another thing I learned is that the Oranje family(the royal family of Nederland) had a close relationship with Russian’s Romanov family. Maybe that’s part of the reason that I could see this exhibition in the Netherlands.

In sum, I had a good weekend. But I left too much to study. Need to catch up soon.

P.S.
Nice pictures I like in the exihibition:
Utrillo-view of Montmartre
Matisse-la chambre rouge
Kandinsky-composition VI
Interesting picture:
Malevich-black square, just a black square, but it's also a masterpiece.