Where the Giant Ladies are...

OK, OK! I know...I've been away from my blog for, well...TOO long!! I'm sorry!! I now spend far more time out of the city now than I do in it so somehow the doors are not only physically farther away from me, they are psychologically farther away. But that is no excuse!! Afterall, I have a huge collection of photos of doors so I'll just have to put myself to the task of presenting them to you!

As a 'coming back' door, I thought I would share one that I have always loved and admired. Too bad the photos really do it no justice not only as regards its detail, but as regards its size. These ladies are HUGE!! The only way to photograph this door properly is to be in the middle of the street, but between the middle of the street and this door, there are always parked cars. I have been by this door a multitude of times, each time photographing the door in a different way. Today's presentation is a result of those many visits to see the 'ladies'!!

As is perhaps clear to all of us, these doors are a wonderful example of Art Nouveau. Every detail down from the giant, gracious ladies that frame the door to the smalles details such as the door's handle plate show repeated examples of nature's influence on the designer. Leaves, flower and other natural forms are classic elements in the flowing designs of Art Nouveau, and the typical use and re-use of certain plants such as mistletoe, thistles and horse chestnut leaves.

Signs of years of use and a bit of abuse.

A shot of what it looks like on the other side of the doors! For once, not a disappointment!

One final word, other than assuming that this door dates from the end of the 1800's, I do not know what the building's use was, but there is a monogram over the glass in the door which, if you look closely, you can see is an interlocked H and C.

Confusion

OK, some of you may like this door and others of you may find it too much. I have to say that I like the door and I like the arch....BUT!! I don't know that I really like the door AND the arch together! I mean hey, look at the arch...it screams an entirely different style than the door....neogothic... renaissance..., but the door is talking art nouveau with a bit of art deco. What??? I call this architectural schizophrenia.

Let's first look at the arch, and the door's frame...carved stone, arches, figures, repetitive carved floral frame with a very gothic/neogothic feel to it.

The door? Well, it is wooden, green (?), has large brass handles on it, geometric-shaped windows, stylised flowers, stained-glass windows (behind a regular plate glass window) containing shapes typical to the art nouveau period and finally, the decorative metal (reinforcement?) plates that adorn certain parts of the door. I have a strong impression that the black metal stylised plates were an afterthought. Why do I think this? Well, I have come across many art nouveau and art deco period doors, but so far I have never seen one from either period that had metal plates on them like this one does.

In light of this, I return to my point of departure. Some people like this door and others don't. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure where I stand...I do like many of this door's and arch's elements, but I think having them mixed all together gives me a bit of a nauseous feeling. What about you? How does this combination of styles make you feel?

Circles and Swirls

So maybe you are asking yourself (and me via the computer screen) where all those fabulous, incredible Prague doors are. Well, don't worry, we'll get to more of those soon, but before we do, there are a lot of doors that may not look perfect, but are surely worthy of being given their day (or two) here on my humble blog. Why? Because the doors that I'm talking about are also fabulous and because there is a whole army of them, there are plenty to share with you. These are doors that are on side streets or back streets or in other parts of town (rather than smack in the centre). These doors receive little consideration and admiration. In silence (or, perhaps a bit of rusty squeakiness!!) they hold the cold out and the warm in; they keep the things behind them protected not only from the elements, but from certain unkindnesses of this world.

Here is such a door. A wonderful example of Art Nouveau. It is looking lovely for those who have the eyes to see it's beauty; smiling at those who have the spirit to feel it's kindness; and being strong for those who believe in their hearts that a door is not just a collection of wood and metal, but a force that uses it's combined energies to protect the occupants of the house to which it has been given the duty of guarding.

This door has pride despite the fact that it's owners lack the ability to show it kindness. Small things like destroying the door's center line will not ruin the heart of the door, but it does make a heart sad.

At least the flowers, circles and swirls in the wood, the wrought-iron and in the stone-work above the door have survived. In fact, they seem almost determined not to be bothered by whatever life throws at them...they remain strong, beautiful and intact. Bravo beautiful door, bravo!!

Waiting for Glory

If you take a walk around Prague, anywhere around the center, you will very probably come across one, if not several, buildings from the art nouveau period. Some of these buildings have been restored to impeccable beauty while others are waiting their turn to be brought back to their original glory. The building that owns this door is across the street from the Parliament Building so one would assume that it would be admired and respected, but helas such is not the case. Granted, the door is not in a state of decadence, but it isn't glowing in the glory of it's beauty either.

There are some very lovely details such as the sculptures over the door, the lamp, the leafy arch, the beautiful shape of the window over the door, the various elements on door which despite being simple, complete the overall look and feel of the ensemble.

Of course, the door's handle is the smallest detail that completes the art nouveau theme nicely. This is another door that I find truly beautiful...I do hope that one day it will be loved again and respected...and that someone will have the decency to at least move the garbage bins away from it!

Back from the Whiteout!!

A 'whiteout'? In Spring? Well, not a real whiteout as in a snowstorm, but another sort of whiteout. We had several rooms in our house painted (white) during the last couple of days and, of course, it meant a lot of moving stuff around, covering things, taking things apart, hiding things, etc., so TheDoorHunter was forced into a temporary 'whiteout' ('blackout' sounds too drastic!!). Sorry about that!!

Today's door is another 'back door' to Obecni Dum. On 20 April 2010, in the post called 'Simply Golden' I posted a service door to this building. Though today's door is very different from the door posted in April, it does repeat the art nouveau theme and feel to it. I'm not exactly sure what this entrance is used for, but I have the impression it is the entrance for the artists as this building, which contains not only several restaurants and exhibits rooms, also has a fabulous concert hall and several large ballrooms (which include incredible murals by Mucha and other painters). This building is an absolute 'must-see' when in Prague and is called, in English, the Municipal House. I strongly recommend visiting as much of it as possible as you will not be disappointed!!

You might recognise the 'P' on the top of this handle...it is also in the arch of the door posted in April!! This 'P' is very unique...even if you only see it one time you will recognise it every time after! I'm not sure what the 'P' stands for in the context of this building, but for me it means 'Prague'!!

For more information visit: http://www.obecnidum.cz/web/en/homepage

I love the door. I love the frame. And I love the two together!

It's pretty clear why I love the door and frame - it's Art Nouveau!!

But even if this wasn't Art Nouveau, I would still like it. Definitely!

Peaceful and Pleasant

This door (well actually this set of doors since it consists of a wrought iron gate and the actual door) faces a small, quiet little square that has a couple of nice trees and several inviting benches When the weather is nice, you'll be hard-pressed to find an empty bench on that square. Myself, I have often gone to that square to sit and think in peace during my lunch hour. I can imagine that coming home to this door on this square must be nice. To wake up and walk out of this door and see that square would also be nice.

And this door is nice!! So it deserves nice, right? Yes. Let's take a look at this nice door...it has alovely floral motif arch, a pretty and very elaborate wrought-iron gate, art nouveau relief on the walls in the space between the gate and the door and, finally, a beautiful door...green, light and inviting. And a quite unique handle, too! All these things together make for a wonderful package. I'll take it! Or rather I would...if I could!!

Sober but Beautiful

It was a cold, end-of-Winter day when I took these pictures. Nevertheless, I don't know if a sunny sky would have changed the soberness of this door. Either way, the door is beautiful even if, at first appearance, it is somewhat 'timid'. I have no qualms with the brown paint on this door...I can't say whether it would have originally been painted a different color, but I can imagine that it was probably something like this, if not only slightly different.

What I find wonderful about this door is the beveled glass windows!! Sure, they are quite simple...just small rectangles, but they have been framed in such a way as to render the door even more endearing. On each door there is a lower row of three implied windows where, in actuality, only the center rectangle has glass in it; above this row is a row of three windows where the center one is slightly taller than it's surrounding windows, giving the impression that it is trying to pull our eye upward; and finally, above the door is another set of three small windows surrounded by other windows. These are simple elements, but I find them incredibly effective!

In the middle-lower part of each door, there is a Art Nouveau style carving of mistletoe. This mistletoe repeats the theme in the door's arch where mistletoe surrounds the lady's head and flows gently around the top section of the arch. Simple and enchanting!

If you click on the picture of the door handle, a larger version of it will come up in a separate screen. When it does, look closely at the brass plate that goes with the handle...it has small, but simple designs on it...very charming! Speaking of designs, though, I'm not too sure why it was necessary to add the spiral carving in vertical piece that covers the seam of the two doors...Maybe it was put there in anticipation of that part of the door being knicked and scratched by keys when the door is being opened and closed and like that, any small damage won't be so obvious. I don't know, otherwise, why it would be put there. Any ideas?

Watching and Waiting

I love the lines of this door....especially in the window above the door. I like the delicateness of the door coupled with the strength of the columns that stand by it like sentinels. The ironwork in front of the windows is also very nice as is the ironwork of the balcony above the door's arch. Regretfully, the day I photographed this door, a big truck was parked right in front of it so I had to do my best to get a decent picture of it. If ever I go by it when the view is clear, I will re-take the picture. Promise!

I like the lady waiting above this door, however, the wooden lady waiting ON the door looks like she is half asleep. Perhaps both of them would like to hop down and do some shopping. Why would I think that? Well, this door is on the very chic street called Parizska (Paris Street) where all the haute couture boutiques are located (e.g. Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc.). Just next door to this door (and these ladies) is the Dior boutique ... I guess we could say that it is just next dior! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

The door's accessories are nice, but nothing very exciting and it looks like someone's set of keys have, after numerous times of locking and unlocking the door, done a good job of scratching up the varnish...too bad!!

Spring All Year Long

Isn't this just the happiest door? Wouldn't you love to come home to this every day...especially on those dark, cold, nasty days of Winter? What better door to see than one with such cheerful flowers! (I almost expect to hear a bee drifting around among the flowers!!) I love this door! It is so refreshing and warm and friendly. I would love for it to be my front door!!

I'm not sure of the era of this door... I don't believe that it is over 100 years old as its design suggests...but I could be wrong! It was certainly inspired by both the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods, but those periods are often used for inspiration even today. I wish I could give you some precise information about this door, but at this time, I have nothing to tell you, however, I promise to update this post if I learn something. OK?

Simply Golden

Would you guess that this door, which in itself is quite simple, is just a side entrance? Yep, it is. It belongs to the very famous and beautiful Municipal House (Obecny Dum) which is known for it's art nouveau paintings, murals, stained glass work, restaurant, architecture, furniture, etc. If you know this building, you know that the main entrance is 1000 times more exotic, however, if you want to see that door, you'll have to look it up on the web (lots of pictures of it exist on various sites) because I prefer to show you the lesser-known side entrance, or rather, the service entrance. I realise that it's hard to imagine a service entrance having such a beautiful, ornate green and gold art nouveau arch to protect it from the rain, but believe me, I walked by this door nearly every work day for seven years (when I worked in a building just across the way from it) so I can tell you from those years of seeing this door that I only ever saw it being used as a service entrance. Oh what a very lovely service entrance it is!!

See the gold work? The 'P' in gold and the other touches of gold both in the front of the arch and in the sides of it. And the door handle is wonderful...simple, yet beautiful.

Sad Door Saturday

This is an absolute pity. Pitiful. Horrible. The people who allowed this door to devolve into what it is today should be punished for extreme and absolute cruelty. This poor, poor door deserves respect, but what does it get? Graphitti. Horrible signs posted on it. AND a metro station planted RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT!! (Thus the reason the whole picture is taken from the side...I couldn't stand in front of it because the metro station stairs are located about 2.5 meters from the door!) This was once upon a time a beautiful example of what Art Nouveau's charming style is all about. When I see what it has become, I just want to cry. Where-oh-where is the SPCD? Someone call for help quick...PLEASE!!

Simple yet Beautiful

And here we are back in my favourite era....Art Nouveau. This is a rather confusing door because it is so non-typical for an entry directly to the street. But that's just what it is. I can't tell you anything about what is behind this door (though just a few days ago I did see someone using it). It is possible that these doors open up completely to allow a car or large vehicle to pass through and into a courtyard, but somehow I just have a hard time imagining it. In any case, the door (or set of doors) is in great shape, has lovely wrought-iron work on it and the Art Nouveau designs above the door are simple yet beautiful.

Colourful Monday

Ahh...the one good thing about Monday...it's colour day!! Yay! And today's colour is RED (well, it is more of an earthy red than a blood red!)!! We haven't seen this colour since Valentine's Day (the day I started this blog!). Well, this door is not as extravagant as that door was, but this one is in an entirely different ballpark than that one, too.

This door has a bit of both an Art Nouveau and an Art Deco feel to it... this doesn't mean that it is from either of these periods (it could have been made more recently), but as those styles have long been popular, they are used and reused and we fall for them every time (or at least I do!). No matter what, the decoration on this door made me think of Spring and since we have officially entered into Spring, I offer you this Spring-ish door!! Enjoy, and have a nice, sunny day.

P.S. Unfortunately, the handle on this door was not worth photographing up close.