BERLIN CATHEDRAL FROM THE SPREEUFER

Spreeufer, Berlin, 10 x 7 inch ink and watercolor by George C. Clark    SOLD

 I drew this from a riverside table at the Spreeblick Cafe in the Nikolaiviertel section of Berlin.  This is an old part of the city reconstructed after WW2 devastation by the East Germans in the 1980s.  Some of the buildings were restored where they originally stood, some were moved from other locations, some are new copies of totally destroyed structures, and some are new buildings designed to blend with the old.  When I visited Berlin 20 years ago right after the Wall came down, the Nikolaiviertel struck me as having an artificial Epcot Center quality, maybe because it was such a contrast to the rest of East Berlin which was grey and dingy and still pock-marked with wartime damage and full of ugly new concrete Soviet-style structures.  They are the same buildings and it is only 20 years later, but this time they seemed more natural and lived-in, and the former East Berlin is the most happening part of the city.

I started this drawing while waiting for my lunch, then finished it after the meal, which was very tasty, by the way.  The German restaurants and cafes are very good about not expecting you to leave until you ask for your bill, but I felt guilty occupying a prima riverfront table so I ordered a gooey expensive dessert.  Chocolate sauce and several flavors of ice cream were involved.  I had to do it for my art!

Starting my drawing at the Spreeblick Cafe, Berlin

GARDEN IN WANNSEE

Garden in Wannsee, Germany, 9.5 x 6.5 ink and watercolor by George C. Clark    SOLD

One of the most interesting places I visited on my recent trip to Germany was the house the great painter Max Liebermann built on the shore of the Wannsee outside of Berlin in 1910 and where he worked every summer until his death in 1935.  After decades in private hands, the house has been acquired by the state, restored to its ca. 1912 look, and opened as a museum, the Villa-Liebermann am Wannsee.  It features changing exhibitions (currently a show of Liebermann's on-site art from various northern European beaches), but in the the second-floor room that was Lieberman's studio there is a permanent display of paintings he created in the house or on its beautifully landscaped grounds.  It is rare to see art displayed at the very location it depicts.