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  • Jim Vaughey

That Time We Went to Lisbon

We started at the Museum of Contemporary Art / CCB. It looks to be a new museum, with works from "the State Contemporary Art Collection (CACE), the Teixeira de Freitas Collection, the Ellipse Collection, and the Berardo Collection" [ccb.pt]


Here some of the pieces that stood out to me while walking around.


This is Vilmos Huszár. It is untitled and from 1924. According to Wikipedia, he was a Hungarian painter and designer. He lived in The Netherlands, where he was one of the founding members of the art movement De Stijl.


The actual painting does not have my reflection in it. I was drawn to the geometric shapes and colors.







Say hello to a Lajos Kassák, also untitled. This one is from 2922 and you should also know that my reflection is not in his original piece. Looking at his wikipedia post, he had his hands in just about everything. He "was a Hungarian poet, novelist, painter, essayist, editor, theoretician of the avant-garde, and occasional translator. He was among the first genuine working-class writers in Hungarian literature."


I enjoyed the geometric shapes, the colors, the boldness of it. Apparently, I would have enjoyed the artwork of the 1920s Hungary.





Many people will be familiar with this name, Piet Mondrian. It is titled Tableau (yellow, black, blue, red, and grey), completed in 1923. This picture is muted, compared to the real one. Or so I am led to believe by other images seen on the internet. He was Dutch, and you'll find him in just about every Art History book that would be appropriate.


As you can imagine, geometry and bold colors are what drew me in.




Franciska Clausen, Cirklar. Finished in 1930. There is a reflection of me and the lights that you can ignore. Slightly different that the others, but still abstract. Only this, with rounded shapes and circles! Going back to wikipedia she is Danish, and followed a similar path to those also on this page.


The rounded edges and circles made this piece pop, from the ones around it. All these shapes look like they should do something. I don't know if that means moving, like gears in a car or become buttons that turn things off and on. Either way, I enjoyed looking at this and it made me happy.





This unexpected surprise is a Salvador Dalí. White Aphrodisiac Telephone, completed in 1936. I am not sure about the name, but so much to like. It is a rotary phone, nostalgic for me, modern for him, confusing for today's youth. Then you have the lobster. Being on the East coast, it reminds me of home. Now, keep in mind, I only eat lobster when it is in a ravioli. Always nice to see one of the greats.



Five things seen and enjoyed. There were many other things, of course, but these were the things that jumped out to me on that day.

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