Chapter II
Shtedelevskaya School of Art and Art Museum.
Thai Boxing
Lena and I devoted almost the whole day and spent it at the Stedelevsky Art Institute, which is located in the city of Frankfurt am Main. +49 (0) 6960-50980, Address: Schaumainkai 63, Frankfurt.Holbeinstraße. Named after the Frankfurt banker Johan Stedel who founded it. These are two in one: an art school and an art museum with a rich fund of works from world classics. In total, the museum’s fund contains more than 3,000 paintings, 600 sculptures and a collection of thousands of graphics. More than 600 paintings of the museum fund are in the current exhibition.
Briefly about the Stedel Museum.
The museum building was badly damaged after the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1966 according to the project of Johannes Crane, a famous Frankfurt architect. Some reconstructions of the museum were carried out in 1990 (expansion of the institute), and the last renovation work touched the gallery and was carried out in 1999.
In 2010, a competition was launched for an architectural project for the Shtedelev Gallery in order to make its design more modern.
The exposition of the Shtedelevsky Museum.
Visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with a huge collection of works of world painting, graphics, sculpture and photography. Among the masterpieces of the Stedel Art Gallery there are works from the Renaissance: Bosch, Botticelli, Renoir, Cezanne, Delacroix, Durer, sketches by Van Gogh and much more.
And recent exhibitions contain works by contemporary artists and photographers: Anthony Caro, George Rickey, David Smith, Wolfgang Tillmans, Joseph Boyis, Ulrich Ruckrim. David Hockney. Acquaintance with the masterpieces of art and architecture can be continued by going to the Frankfurt Cathedral. The amazing beauty of the structure will not leave you indifferent. The cathedral is interesting both outside and inside.
It was already evening. At about 21:00, Lena also agreed to meet Vanessa in Frankfurt and go somewhere to sit, where it’s fun and there’s “black rum))”, but Vanessa turned out to be upset about something, since Stefan her boyfriend didn’t take off the phone all night and was having fun with Jan in some from the nightclubs or bars of Frankfurt. Actually, because of this, they did not have a big quarrel.
As a result, we agreed to meet at the bar where David worked as a bartender. I called David and said that we would stop by to visit him. OK, OK, Nikita: “Come, I’ll be glad to see you with Lena.” We were the first to arrive at the bar. We sat down at the bar. There were quite a lot of people in the bar. David caught the moment, greeted us and we shook hands with David. David asked Lena and me what we were going to order. I ordered a light beer, and Lena ordered a cocktail that looked vaguely like a mahito with leaves and slices of some citrus fruit. David smiled at us affably and said: “The first order is at the expense of the bar.” I said: “David, thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friend.” It was obvious that David was in a good mood and we exchanged words while he was free from work.
Half an hour later, Vanessa arrived and sat next to Lena at the bar on the right and they began to talk about something with Vanessa in German. I’ve been watching David work for a while. Two waitresses also worked in the hall of the big bar. David, very quickly on the machine poured beer into beer glasses, put bottles of alcoholic beverages on a tray, someone ordered a couple of cocktails. He did his job masterfully, it was nice to watch.
In a free moment, when David had time, we talked with him in Russian. He told me about the city of Moscow, what he saw, where he was: about Taganskaya Street, about the Gorbushka shopping complex, Tverskoy Boulevard, the Bolshoi Moscow Theater, the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, etc. I was also in Moscow a couple of times and told David a pretty funny story about how I went to Red Square to get into the mausoleum of Vladimir Lenin, some comical and ironic moments how one woman became ill at the sight of the leader of the world proletariat and she fainted at the sarcophagus of Vladimir Lenin, that the leader and after death, he inspired terror and fear on people, with his greatness and thought. David and I talked and laughed about this case for a while.
A little later, an hour later, Stefan and Jan joined us. Stefan sat on Vanessa’s right, and Jan next to him. Vanessa, she introduced us. The whole company of us amicably settled down at the bar. The bar was noisy, music was playing loudly. Across the bar, Ian addressed me in Russian with a strong accent: “Nikita, are you from Russia, little brother?”. I replied: “Yes, from Russia. Novovsibirsk. After a moment, I asked Ian again: “Ian, where are you coming from?”. Warsaw, Jan replied. Jan had a shrewd look and he studied me with interest and thought about something or remembered: “Where is Novosibirsk, Jan asked?”. I jokingly replied in the north near Alaska, where the Anchorage of the USA is.” Jan, continued: “I was in the north in the city of St. Petersburg.”
I had to move next to Jan to understand what he was saying, because it was not only hard to hear, but also the whole meaning of the Russian words that he says mixed with English was not clear. Plus, Jan had a very strong accent, which broke the speech meaning of Russian phrases and words. Yan, raised his right hand up, exactly what is called the “white nights” holiday. Ship and fireworks. It was clear how Jan was trying to find Russian words.
At this time, while Jan was trying to remember and pick up words in Russian. I interrupted him and said this holiday is called “Scarlet Sails”, which takes place every year in the city of St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg is the northern capital of Russia, which was founded more than 300 years ago by Peter the Great. People come here for the history and architecture of the XVIII-XX century, for walks along river channels and drawbridges. The city attracts a lot of tourists who are happy to come back here and always find something new.
A bright and memorable water-pyrotechnic show took place in the waters of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, the culmination of which was the passage of the brig “Russia” in the waters of the Neva. For the first time the holiday “Scarlet Sails” took place on June 27, 1968.
Jan and I talked for some time about the city of St. Petersburg, which is the second capital of Russia. At this time, Stefan was looking attentively, then at me, then at Jan, he raised his hand up so that David would come up to us and repeat the beer to everyone. Vanessa turned Stefan’s attention back to herself and started talking to him about something in German. It was clear that Vanessa was unhappy about something. Her eyes bored right through Stefan, her face sometimes frowned, and her eyebrows slightly lifted up. Stefan was looking at the beer mug and how the little beer bubbles were rushing up. It was obvious that Stefan was not happy about this conversation, but he dutifully answered her, and then put his left arm around Vanessa’s waist and pressed her to him. Vanessa started laughing. It was obvious how the tension between them had gone.
Stefan turned slightly to the right and looked at Jan and me, and then with his right hand he ran through Jan’s multicolored hair and tousled them with his fingers. Ian tried to dodge and remove Stefan’s hand from his head, but it was clear that Stefan was much stronger than Ian. The hair on Ian’s head was all tangled up and began to stick out in different directions. This picture looked pretty funny. Jan, exerted maximum strength and removed Stefan’s right hand from his head with two hands. It was obvious that the Pole was unhappy and was saying something loudly to Stefan. It was all like a friendly romp, when friends from time to time mock each other in jest. Stefan looked at me and pointed at the Pole’s head with his finger. I approvingly raised the thumb of my right hand up that I support Stefan’s decision to make a new comb for Jan “disheveled multicolored boy”. Stefan and I twisted our faces into a kind of stupid smile.
Stefan was a tall German under 185 centimeters. Broad shoulders. Wiry. Stocky. Tough guy. Athletic build. It was obvious that he was actively engaged in sports and how muscles and tendons played on his hands. Not much long, straight blond hair covered his forehead. Gray eyes with a tinge of blue often fell into the trap of his direct and persistent gaze. Stefan’s strong-willed chin emphasized the razor-sharp lines of his symmetrical face. It was obvious that this man does not like to give in to anyone. I spent a lot of time training in the gym, shedding a lot of work sweat and rubbing not a single bloody smear. The blond man showed Jan something from time to time and it was clear how his fingers were clenched correctly on his fist and how he directed his hand at one angle or another. Yes, it was clear that Stefan had a right-handed punch and it was better not to joke with him. I asked Jan a question: “What kind of sport does Stefan do?”. Jan replied: “Thai boxing”. A little later, after some time, David and I called Stefan “Master Shao Lin”. This guy knew how to work with his feet, he had excellent plasticity and stretching. Stefan, sometimes liked to show paired bundles of kicks and scroll through some combination of punches in the air.
After a couple of minutes, I moved back behind the bar next to Lena. At this time, Stefan was telling something in German how he decided to help some German grandmother who lived in the same area where he lived himself. It was necessary to move the car closer to the side of the road, which Stefan actually did. There may have been a joke that carried some kind of folk German humor from the lives of ordinary Germans. The German grandmother, as a sign of gratitude, suggested to Stefan that they could go to her and have sex. Stefan, raised both hands up and said: “That after this incident I never helped German grandmothers again.” An absolutely stupid joke caused everyone to laugh wildly. Vanessa added some words about German women and Jan added something. Laughter in the company of people is an infectious thing and we laughed for a while. Wild laughter turned into wild laughter to tears. Vanessa was banging on the bar with both fingers like a drum to make us stop, but in such cases, usually someone adds another joke and everyone laughs.
It was already about 01:00 at night and we had to go with Lena to spend the night with my uncle and aunt in the house. I knew that my uncle would definitely go to bed late and watch some sports channel until 02-03:00 at night, but still I wanted to come earlier so as not to annoy the old people. And my aunt probably didn’t sleep either, which meant that Lena and I had to traditionally eat her meat pie, which she loved to cook, and they would definitely ask 1001 questions that interested them. After all, they were already retired and did not come to visit them often.
Lena and I said goodbye to everyone, got into a taxi and drove to the suburbs of Frankfurt. Lena, in her hands, was holding a thick collection or guide to the “Shtedelevskaya School of Art and Art Museum” and while we were driving, we looked at various artistic and architectural compositions that went one after another:
1st place. The Lucca Madonna by Jan van Eyck.
2nd place. “Madonna of the Medici” – Rogier van der Weyden.
3rd place. “Here’s A Man” – Hieronymus Bosch.
4th place. “Portrait of A Young Woman” – Sandro Botticelli.
5th place. “The Dazzle of Samson” – Rembrandt van Rijn.
6th place. “Geographer” – Jan Vermeer.
7th place. “Portrait of Goethe in the Roman Campagna” – Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.
8th place. “Breakfast” – Claude Monet.
9th place. “After Lunch” – Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
10th place. “Musicians in the Orchestra” – Edgar Degas.
The taxi stopped at the house where my aunt and uncle lived. The lights were on in the windows of the house and it was clear that the old people were waiting for me to deal with me. To sort it out, but I was with Lena and it was somehow not scary to go to them, since they behaved very nice and friendly with her and practically did not swear, which undoubtedly pleased me.
We entered the house. There was a smell of tobacco in the house. Uncle lit his pipe and the house gradually picked up the smell of Cuba’s tobacco leaf. Perhaps the tobacco for the pipe was Cuban, since my uncle liked to smoke a Cuban cigar. My aunt didn’t swear a lot that it was impossible to live, she was annoyed by tobacco smoke, but my uncle continued to light his pipe as if nothing had happened. The smoke was getting bigger. I opened the window in the living room and went to the kitchen. Get a couple more cans of beer out of the refrigerator, the uncle said in an affirmative tone. It was obvious that he was thinking about something, lighting his pipe further. Uncle came out of the kitchen and went into the living room. At the same time, I opened the refrigerator and took out a couple of cans of beer from the middle shelf, picked up a meat pie and a teapot with tea.
Together, the four of us sat down at a large, truly 8-seat table. Uncle sat down at the opposite end of the table closer to the window, so that the smoke of the pipe was pulled out into the street. He opened a can of beer and filled his glass with beer and poured beer for me. At this time, I poured tea to Aunt and Lena in elegant small white tea cups that stood on empty saucers. I cut a small piece of meat pie into 4 parts and spread it out for everyone. Aunt and uncle were interested in where we were, where we went. They knew that Lena and I went to the “Shtedelevsky School of Art and Art Museum” and asked and asked various questions. I went into the hallway, where a large guidebook to the “Shtedelevsky Art Museum” was lying next to the door and handed it into my aunt’s hands. Auntie happily began to leaf through the guidebook and carefully examine the images she was looking at.
Lena was sitting across from me at the table and it was clear that she wasn’t tired much during the day and how drowsiness was rushing to her eyes. I got up from the table and said that we were tired and would go to bed. My uncle interrupted me and said, “Why are we tired?” and he added: “Go to some useless galleries, museums and exhibitions. When I was your age, I already worked at a factory and have never been engaged in such gulposts. The cursed bourgeoisie what Germany has been brought to. All this is the German Government. Parasites. Bastards and bastards. There was obscene language in German.” My aunt seems to have been rather annoyed by my uncle this evening, and she was especially annoyed by the smell of tobacco smoke coming from the pipe. The aunt continued: “Shut up. Shut up, you old bastard. I’ve been sitting at home with you all my life. House. Work. Three children …”. In this happy moment of family unity, Lena and I left the living room and went to the bathroom to wash before going to bed. We went up to the second floor and went to bed.
I woke up early in the morning from the fact that my left arm was numb. Lena’s head was on my shoulder and didn’t put much pressure on the joint, and her left hand was on my stomach. It was obvious that Lena was trying to expand her living space on a double bed during the night and I was almost lying on the edge, but I didn’t wake her up, but tried to sleep for some time. We had big plans for this day. Lena, had to show some more sights of Frankfurt and the day promised to be interesting.
To be continued in chapter III
