The Guiding Stars for Carl Schurz

On a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington DC

Carl Schurz

Carl Schurz was quite the figure across countries in 19th century politics.  He championed democracy as a German native, and fought in their revolutionary war against the Prussian Army.  An escape to Switzerland, a rescue mission in Germany, and a residence in France followed.  Emigration and marriage in the UK were in his offing, before the long journey across the pond to the US.

In 1855, Schurz settled in Watertown, Wisconsin, where he immediately became immersed in the anti-slavery movement and in politics, joining the Republican Party. In 1857, he was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor. In the Illinois campaign of the next year between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, he took part as a speaker on behalf of Lincoln—mostly in German—which raised Lincoln's popularity among German-American voters (though it should be remembered that Senators were not directly elected in 1858, the election being decided by the Illinois General Assembly). Later, in 1858, he was admitted to the Wisconsin bar and began to practice law in Milwaukee. In the state campaign of 1859, he made a speech attacking the Fugitive Slave Law, arguing for states' rights. In Faneuil Hall, Boston, on April 18, 1859, he delivered an oration on "True Americanism," which, coming from an alien, was intended to clear the Republican party of the charge of  "nativism". Wisconsin Germans unsuccessfully urged his nomination for governor in 1859. In the 1860 Republican National Convention, Schurz was spokesman of the delegation from Wisconsin, which voted for William H. Seward; despite this, Schurz was on the committee which brought Lincoln the news of his nomination.

I'm from Chicago, Illinois, and we live just 10 miles south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border.  Schurz never crossed my studies in high school, not that I can remember, but I'm glad to have known about him now.  He was a German revolutionary, an American statesman, and a US Minister to Spain.  Well-traveled, indeed.

(image credit) 

(image credit)

Apparently Schurz never lost sight of the stars.

The Creative Mind of Hans Hofmann

On a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington DC

Hans Hofmann

Hans Hofmann is one of the most important figures of postwar American art. Celebrated for his exuberant, color-filled canvases, and renowned as an influential teacher for generations of artists—first in his native Germany, then in New York and Provincetown - Hofmann played a pivotal role in the development of Abstract Expressionism.

Reference:  Hans Hofmann.

To Miz - Pax Vobiscum (1964)

Don Quixote (1963)

Self Portrait (1902)

For the longest time, abstract art didn't quite grab me.  But it was a film I watched last year on Mark Rothko, which helped me better understand and appreciate it.  It is expression without frame or context.  It is expression intended only for what is being expressed:  thought or emotion, color or shape.  It is expression, purely for experience.  

Still, I love portraits, self or otherwise.

The Lumbering Spider of Alexander Calder

It was easy enough to be drawn to this sculpture by Alexander Calder, as we in Chicago are familiar with the red Calder Flamingo.  This one, outside the National Gallery in Washington DC, is foreboding and menacing like a giant spider.  Calder may have rendered into art what we see:  It resembles a spider, but out of fright it doesn't quite have the form of one.  Imagine us running for our life, as this monstrosity lumbers along the manicured suburban lawns.  

Arching, arabesque forms energize the sculpture and reveal Calder's famous sense of humor, playfulness and sheer delight with the world. The form of Tom's Cubicle may be read as a whimsical, imaginary animal moving forward on its seven legs. "Tom" refers to Tom Messer, director of New York's Guggenheim Museum at the time when the sculpture was first exhibited there in 1967.

Reference:  Tom's Cubicle.

The Graceful Isoult of Edward McCartan

Edward McCartan's "Isoult" stands in one of the lobbies at the National Gallery in Washington DC.  I Googled this piece, and I was surprised to find rather scant information about it.  Many posted much better photographs than mine, but offered virtually no text information.  

Even Wikipedia has relatively little on Edward McCartan.  I suppose "Isoult" fits his style of creating decorative, elegant bronze pieces.  I love the graceful gesture of her hands, especially how the deer mirrors it with its own head and neck.  

I love this 2006 film of the story of "Tristan and Isolde," starring James Franco and Sophia Myles.  The earnest Lord Marke of Cornwall, played by Rufus Sewell, simply could not persuade Isolde to fall in love with him.  Doubly unfortunate for him, the nephew he raised as his son (i.e., Tristan) ended up betraying him, as he (Tristan) and Isolde were already in love, long before Marke married her.  

Battle at Manassas and the Deadly Civil War

My family and I were in the greater Washington DC area last year, visiting with my brother-in-law and his family.  One afternoon, we traveled to Manassas, a city not too far west from DC.  This was the site of the first major battle of the American Civil War in July 1861.  

One display at the visitor's center captures the words of a young soldier, suffused with the patriotism and courage that bordered on romanticism.  Apparently many of them, and their generals, believed this war wasn't going to last very long.  

How wrong they were.  

I was struck by how many American deaths this war alone caused, and one larger display draws up the brutal numbers in comparison.

These were just American deaths.  How much larger the numbers are, if we take into account all people - across all walks of life in many countries - who died in these major wars.

Downtown Chicago, Inspiring

Michigan Avenue inspiration

Nike sports inspiration

Chicago inspiration

"Savor Complexity" in Chicago

These are obviously ads for Amstel Light, and they're scattered in Chicago.  I am a thinking sort, and I love complexity!  

By the way, Amstel Light happens to be one of  my favorites beers, too.  Imagine that.

Chicago Blossoming in the Spring

Spring tulips reach for the skies, as city skyscrapers do.

Purple stars, well below eye level, follow a gentle path we hardly notice.

Purple stars, not 'awesomized' (app).

No, it does not remind me of the Los Angeles Lakers. We're in Chicago, baby.

Chicago Loud on Billboards

To those who may have a need and be so inclined, be loud

To those who may have a need and be so inclined, try SKYN

To those who may have a need and be so inclined, open it

After traveling, consulting and living in the Middle East from 2002 to 2011, I found my return to the US to be a curious experience.  For instance, I walked from the Chicago Union Station to a luncheon meeting near LaSalle and Grand, and ran into sizable billboard ads that I would never see in the Middle East.

Except maybe that first ad.  Women in the Middle East are truly a fashionable lot, and this photo of a young lady is demure enough to pass censors there.  Condoms and alcohol can be had, as they're available in plenty enough of stores, but such bold advertisements are a no-no.  

Chicago Sports as Defining Place

I love sports in general, but because I grew up in the US, I have an especially affinity to American sports. Narrow that circle further, and it's simply Chicago sports.  Chicago is my hometown.

I have had the privilege and pleasure of traveling to cities across the world, and sports have a different game on the field - soccer, rugby and cricket.  I enjoy these a lot better in the company of others who know how they're played.  For example, I was consulting for a client in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during the FIFA World Cup in 2006, and my colleagues helped me understand the strategy in soccer.  Together we watched several of the matches, and it was great fun.

Now that I'm home again in Chicago, however, it's the following sports teams that define, in large measure, my sense of place:

Chicago Blackhawks (hockey), Stanley Cup champions (2013)

Chicago Bears (football), Super Bowl champions (1986)

Chicago Bulls (basketball), NBA champions (1998)

Chicago Cubs (baseball), World Series champions (1908)

Chicago White Sox (baseball), World Series champions (2005)