Heads and Tail
Explored November 3, 2022
Which is the name of the sculpture on the backside of the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery): „Têtes et Queue" – Heads and Tail. The sculpture was created by American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) in 1965. The 5,50 meter-tall steel sculpture was a donation by German publisher Axel Springer (1912-1985) and was erected on the terrace of the Neue Nationalgalerie in 1968, the year of its opening. If you zoom in on the sculpture, you can see Calder's signature.
The Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by German-American architect Mies van der Rohe (* 27. März 1886, Aachen; † 17. August 1969, Chicago). The building is a combination of two other, never implemented building projects by Mies van der Rohe: the administration building of the rum producer Bacardi in Santiago de Cuba and the Museum Georg Schäfer in Schweinfurt. The New National Gallery's 1.260-ton roof is held solely by eight buttresses on the building's exterior. The main exhibition rooms are located in the basement. On the outside of the exhibition rooms, there also is the so-called Skulpturen-Garten ("sculpture garden"). The Neue Nationalgalerie was elaborately restored between 2015 and 2021. During that time, Calder's sculpture Têtes et Queue was restored as well; the work was done in close collaboration with the Calder Foundation in New York.
The Neue Nationalgalerie is located at the Kulturforum area in the Tiergarten district of former West Berlin and close to Potsdamer Platz. The Kulturforum also is the home of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Hall, the Berlin State Library (all three buildings were designed by Hans Scharoun (1883-1972)), and several other museums.
I've taken this photo with the Ricoh GRIII and its wide-angle conversion lens GW-4 which extends the GRIII's native 28mm to 21mm. Processed in DXO PL6, Lightroom (black and white conversion), Viveza, and Color Efex. Yes, Color Efex ;) I brought back a hint of colour, sepia in this case, by using the "Reflector Efex Gold" filter, and then still tweaked the primary values for red, green, and blue in LR. I rather liked the effect of the soft transition from sepia to pure black and white, because it not only brightens the foreground with Calder's playful-looking sculpture but also adds more depth to the whole frame. Plus, the b&w only version looked a tad too triste to me (it had been a mostly gray and overcast day), so I thought a little warmth and virtual "sunshine" might look good :)
For #donnerstagsmonochrom (and I hope that the mix of sepia tone and pure black and white still qualifies as "monochrome".)
Heads and Tail
Explored November 3, 2022
Which is the name of the sculpture on the backside of the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery): „Têtes et Queue" – Heads and Tail. The sculpture was created by American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) in 1965. The 5,50 meter-tall steel sculpture was a donation by German publisher Axel Springer (1912-1985) and was erected on the terrace of the Neue Nationalgalerie in 1968, the year of its opening. If you zoom in on the sculpture, you can see Calder's signature.
The Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by German-American architect Mies van der Rohe (* 27. März 1886, Aachen; † 17. August 1969, Chicago). The building is a combination of two other, never implemented building projects by Mies van der Rohe: the administration building of the rum producer Bacardi in Santiago de Cuba and the Museum Georg Schäfer in Schweinfurt. The New National Gallery's 1.260-ton roof is held solely by eight buttresses on the building's exterior. The main exhibition rooms are located in the basement. On the outside of the exhibition rooms, there also is the so-called Skulpturen-Garten ("sculpture garden"). The Neue Nationalgalerie was elaborately restored between 2015 and 2021. During that time, Calder's sculpture Têtes et Queue was restored as well; the work was done in close collaboration with the Calder Foundation in New York.
The Neue Nationalgalerie is located at the Kulturforum area in the Tiergarten district of former West Berlin and close to Potsdamer Platz. The Kulturforum also is the home of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Hall, the Berlin State Library (all three buildings were designed by Hans Scharoun (1883-1972)), and several other museums.
I've taken this photo with the Ricoh GRIII and its wide-angle conversion lens GW-4 which extends the GRIII's native 28mm to 21mm. Processed in DXO PL6, Lightroom (black and white conversion), Viveza, and Color Efex. Yes, Color Efex ;) I brought back a hint of colour, sepia in this case, by using the "Reflector Efex Gold" filter, and then still tweaked the primary values for red, green, and blue in LR. I rather liked the effect of the soft transition from sepia to pure black and white, because it not only brightens the foreground with Calder's playful-looking sculpture but also adds more depth to the whole frame. Plus, the b&w only version looked a tad too triste to me (it had been a mostly gray and overcast day), so I thought a little warmth and virtual "sunshine" might look good :)
For #donnerstagsmonochrom (and I hope that the mix of sepia tone and pure black and white still qualifies as "monochrome".)