A slice of culture...

Never tiring of the challenge of increasing Mr B’s cultural capital, Mrs B had spotted that the picturesque town of Cavtat (and long-time package destination for Brits) was home to a permanent exhibition of the Croatian artist Vlaho Bukovac, who painted in the latter half of the 19^th and early 20^th century.

No doubt encouraged by the positive response to a similar visit in France when we visited the town of Sant-Rémy-en-Provence to see where Van Gogh had produced some of his work (see the Jura to Provence blog entry in 2015), Mrs B had calculated that a visit to Cavtat may get a similar response. It’s easy to see why it’s long been a popular destination for tourists as it’s very difficult not to be wowed by the views all around the town and harbour.

And sure enough it did! Finding a space in the small municipal car park on the quayside was pretty easy, and the lovely tourist info staff just near there helpfully directed us to the building that shows some of Bukovac’s work. The gallery is actually the house where he grew up, and part of the fascination of the visit was being able to see not just a range of his paintings, but also where, as a young man, he had decorated the walls of his family home with a series of murals and stylised decorative techniques.

Mrs B was much taken by the paintings – some produced for wealthy clients, and some for his own pleasure. There were, we noted more than just a few self-portraits…

Mr B, whilst also enjoying the paintings, was as much taken by the range of everyday items that the exhibition’s curators had restored from the original house when he lived there.

It was certainly a unique experience to wander around not only the house where an internationally famous artist had lived and worked, but to also his studio, set up with a variety of paintings and a ‘working area’ as if Bukovac had just stepped outside to admire the view of his own town…

After a couple of hours of enjoying the exhibition it was time to head north back past Dubrovnik and onto the Pelješac peninsula – this time in search of a different type of culture – food and, more specifically, the wine for which this peninsula is famous!

S&J.