Splendor's Art

[DeepFreeze63]

Regent just released a press blurb on Splendor's art - terrific! See "Press and Media" on rssc.com.

I've planned to do an on-going review during the Inaugural cruise and maybe some photos. I now promise to learn how to send photos ; will have them as DW is a very good photogrpher.

[Boats07]

Looking forward to your on-going review aboard the Splendor.   We will be on the Splendor in April.  Enjoy your trip and we will be following along.  

[Hambagahle]

Very impressive.  I LOVE the dragon at the entrance to Pacific Rim.  Can't wait to see more of what will be on board when we get there (about 90 days from now...)

 

I did find the article a bit hard to find though so here is a link so you can get directly to it:

https://www.rssc.com/news/details?newsid=84906

[taxare]

I had commented after our Explorer cruise in September that I wish they would offer a list of the art on the Explorer (with name of piece, artist, etc). Even if one doesn't like the art, we still find all of this information interesting. They did not have such a list available. 

[Hambagahle]

That is suprising!  Oceania's Riviera - art also "curated" by FDR - has such a list.  Given what they spend on art it seems strange not to "feature" it.   

[xrvlcruiser]

I took an audio tour on the Riviera several years ago - got the information/equipment at reception.

I'd love to do the same thing on the Explorer and - in the future - on the Splendor.

Peggy

[Mudhen]

I don't think there's anything more debatable than food or art...haha! Maybe politics, but we won't go there!!!

From what I can see it looks to me like the Splendor has a nicer selection, more thoughtfully curated, and more color coordinated collection than the Explorer had. I agree that a listing of what art is displayed would be a great and wonderful thing! I'd personally love that! I'm with "hami" in that the dragon looks great. Would love to see it in person. I, ( and I know I'm in the minority here,) am not a fan of the huge and ponderous prayer wheel in front of PR. I like the idea but would much have preferred a smaller, genuine one. I know a small fortune was spent on that thing and it's weight and installation was an issue. All of the above is only my opinion.....

I'm really looking forward to some photos of the actual Splendor, not the artist's mock ups....So, all of you Splendor travelers, I'll be looking for your photos!!!

[ronrick1943]

Have to agree art is part of the ship, but to me it's really accent for the ship.  I would think however nice it is, most people aren't going to be looking around like at being in a museum.  Bet you most people walking pass a great piece of art, when asked s few minutes later wouldn't remember what they saw (including me). Dion't get me wrong, you do need it because it is part of the cruising experience.

[Hambagahle]

I agree -- that said in the days of the art auctions there were some frightful things on the walls on Regent ships and I am delighted "them days is over..."   On Riviera I remember some beautiful sculptures in Martinis, any of which I would gladly have taken home if I could have!  But for the most part the art tends to be "background" stuff which enhances the overall "feeling" of the ship.   It is not "decorator" art but nonetheless...

 

Prayer wheel - I thought it was a genuine one ??   But I can't wait to see the dragon.

[Mudhen]

I could very well be wrong, but to me it smacks of a repro....too perfect, too pristine. If I'm wrong, I apologize to all of the Regent elves who decorate...(giggle!)

[Silver Sweethearts]

5 hours ago, Mudhen said:

I could very well be wrong, but to me it smacks of a repro....too perfect, too pristine. If I'm wrong, I apologize to all of the Regent elves who decorate...(giggle!)

 

This from Travel Weekly:

 

" When the designers wanted to put an authentic Tibetan prayer wheel at the entrance to Pacific Rim, the new Asian restaurant, Del Rio said go for it, even though casting it in bronze would add thousands of extra pounds of weight to Deck 5. The piece ended up costing $500,000".

[Mudhen]

I'm the kind of gal that thinks "more is not always better". I would love to see more photos of the Splendor's dragon....

As far as the Explorer goes, I love the ship....the decor not so much. It would never stop me from cruising on her, but she's definately NOT, on my "most beautiuful" list. On the other hand, her middle of the road cabins are my "high water" cabins....my most favorite!

[taxare]

With all due respect to my fellow cc'ers that I respect very much, the article below was from Seatrade magazine. I personally don't consider a Miro, Picasso or Chagall "accent" pieces or "background" stuff. Ron, while I agree with many of your postings, I must be one of the few or perhaps odd or both, but particularly on sea days I do enjoy looking at the art and a list for me would be helpful.

 

For all the stresses a chief executive bears building a ship, there are professionals to help—except in the area of choosing art, Frank Del Rio said. 

When it came to Seven Seas Explorer, which Regent Seven Seas Cruises touts as the most luxurious ship ever built, Del Rio picked every piece of art. 'I was by myself with the artwork. Nothing stressed me out more,' he disclosed aboard the current pre-inaugural cruise.

 

 

The ship is a showcase for art, particularly bold abstract paintings that make dramatic statements against dark wood paneling. A pair of Picassos flank the entrance to the $10,000-a-night Regent Suite, Mirós are in the Master Suites and a Chagall and two Picassos hang in the bar of the Prime 7 steak house. A Weidemann is on the wall of the private dining room between Prime 7 and the French restaurant Chartreuse.

 

For the past 2.5 years, Del Rio and his wife Marcia spent almost every weekend hunting for art. Some of the works on Seven Seas Explorer he collected in Cuba, the island of his birth, during a family visit in September. These paintings hang in the corridor outside the Meridian Lounge.

 

Del Rio's favorite piece on board is an abstract painting by Eduardo Arranz-Bravo, who some consider Spain's best living artist. It hangs in the Deck 4 embarkation lobby, leading to the atrium.

Three Spanish artists represented on Seven Seas Explorer, including Arranz-Bravo, visited the ship in Barcelona.

'I think he left dancing, he was so proud,' Del Rio said. Five Arranz-Bravo paintings are in the ship's collection, and the artist told Del Rio he'd like to create some large canvases to go in the aft stairwell in place of the mirrors there now.  

Seven Seas Explorer's most monumental installation is the cast bronze, two-ton Tibetan prayer wheel at the entrance to Pacific Rim, the Asian fusion restaurant. According to the venue's designer, Greg Walton of CallisonRTKL, the piece cost $500,000, but that's not what makes it luxury.

'It's the only one of its kind, hand-made,' Walton said. 'We could have made it lighter if we'd built it of resin, but it would not have been authentic. It is luxury because it is the only one in the world. You're not going to find that anywhere else.'

Del Rio said the hardest aspect of curating the art was choosing some pieces he personally doesn't like. Without those, he explained, it would be a one-dimensional collection, and he wanted the art to appeal to different tastes.

 

 

[scuba diver]

No prayer wheel. No problem.  Bringing my own.

[Mudhen]

17 minutes ago, scuba diver said:

No prayer wheel. No problem.  Bringing my own.

Big giggle! Pray for us!

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, taxare said:

I must be one of the few or perhaps odd or both, but particularly on sea days I do enjoy looking at the art and a list for me would be helpful.

Count me in as a member of the "odd" club, but when I am on a ship with beautiful pieces on display, such as Explorer, and O's Riviera and Marina, I do spend time appreciating it.

After looking at the referenced press release, I now have yet  another reason to count down the days until boarding Splendor.