Tea at Trianon: Cubist Prague

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Cubist Prague

Personally, I detest cubism. Strange that it thrived in Prague. From Architizer:

To live in a Cubist building in Prague is to immerse oneself in an environment where everyday function meets a kind of geometric experimentation. Unlike traditional homes, these spaces feel slightly disorienting at first glance — walls are angled, surfaces are faceted, and the light behaves differently as it hits sharp corners and fractured surfaces — yet they work as traditional homes, no different to any other.

It is emotionally that Cubist spaces had and still have the most profound effect. They create an entirely different atmosphere from Prague’s Baroque or Gothic interiors. There’s a sense of intentional tension; a feeling that, with its tight angles and bold lines, the space is shifting, revealing more of itself in each experience, becoming a space that invites curiosity and engagement. For many, living within these fractured forms prompts a fresh appreciation of space itself, as each room subtly nudges the occupant to move, observe, and interact with its architecture in a way that is quite theatrical. (Read more.)