The first stop, of course, is the requisite Musee d´Orsay. When I told Dan that I was going there, he said, "Wait, is that the boring museum?" (Because we´ve both been there before)... to which, I took offense, and said that it would NOT be boring. To which he replied: B-O-RING!
Well, let us commence on our non-boring tour of all the interesting art pieces at the Musee d´Orsay... And by the way, Paris museums and palaces are cool because they actually let you take photos of the art!
First up: my favorite painting in the whole museum. I don´t know who she is (actually, I do: Madame de Lyones painted by Amaury-Duval and exhibited at the 1862 salon). But what I mean is: I don´t know the story behind the portrait, but I love it because she looks slightly sinister. And not sinister in an obvious way, but in a sly, subversive, feminine way with her black oil hair and black oil dress. This picture doesn´t show her eyes very well, but they're smokey violet--very Elizabeth Taylor--very "don´t cross me or I will make you pay and you´ll never even know it" kind of way. If you double click, you may be able to see her gaze and her curt little smile and her insinuating gesture with her hand. I love her.
This is a marble sculpture by Auguste Clésinger, called "Femme piquée par un serpent." Can you guess what that means and why she looks like she´s suffering?
What about now?
She´s suffering and writhing because she´s been bitten by the tiniest of snakes, wrapped discreetly around her wrist. I love this sculpture because it´s such a metaphor for how the seemingly tiniest of things can cause us the most pain.
Manet´s Olympia. Perhaps the most famous of all the paintings in the museum. Manet was a predecessor of the impressionist movement, and not really an impressionist himself. He knew Monet and Renoir and Pissarro, but Manet was older and absoluetly intent on gaining notoriety amongst the hoity-toities of the time. And unlike the impressionists (who weren´t ever accepted into the Salon, so they started their own salons), Manet desperately tried again and again to get his work exhibited in the Salon.
This painting, however, ruined his chances for good because it was so scandalous. A courtesan painted in the style of a Greek goddess. How dare he, that naughty Manet!
Renoir: Here´s something I learned while in Paris that I never knew about. This painting cuts off the figures on both sides of the frame in order to give the illusion that the party continues on forever. However, that was also scandalous and daring and shocking at the time (wow, the hoity-toities really didn´t get out much). How dare he, that naughty Renoir!
Monet...ah, his lily pads. I was supposed to visit his studio and gardens in Giverney. It was the one thing that I really was looking forward to...but in the end, I waited until Sunday to do it, and missed the train to go out there. Let´s move on and try not to think about how sad that makes me!
Monet...love him. Never made a dime for a long, long, long time. Always was broke. Always was borrowing money. And yet, never deviated from his experimentations with his art. Love that.
I just happen to know that Monet painted this portrait of his wife on her death bed, who died poor and young, and never benefited from Monet´s success later in his life. And yes, Monet actaully painted his wife on her deathbed. I think that´s very telling in so many ways...
My favorite portrait of Van Gogh (that´s Van Goth, everyone, for the record!) There´s just so much to say about him that I can´t even begin.
I saw a special exhibit (also at the d'Orsay) and it was all about the works of the art dealer Voillard, who handled the sale of so many artists of this period--from Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh to Picasso and others.
Anyway, Voillard persisted and was the single most influencial force in creating a market for Van Gogh´s work. It just goes to show you that genius is an acquired taste.
An old friend of mine loved this painting because he said it sums up the meaning of life. A good hard day´s work and then you lay to rest with the woman you love.
Off to the Louvre. I think is interesting to ponder the fact that IM Pei had the balls to propose such an audacious, distracting, and contrasting structure in such a harmonious historical square, and the Louvre commission actually went along with it.
I mean, really, it´s amazing to think about how much confidence you must have in your own artistic merit to make such a proposal, and it´s amazing to think about the fact that it´s just so accepted now and that he actually got away with it!
Either way, from the inside, it is very celestial in a geometric sort of way.
The Da Vinci Code crowd, huddled around to see the Mona Lisa. Yeah, swept right by that one...
Jewels, jewels, and more jewels. Love them. The emerald necklace on the right was a present to Napoleon´s second younger wife. He dumped Josephine when it was discovered that she was too old to have children. But it´s all good, because Josephine ended up marrying Napoleon´s brother and getting the sapphire necklace, crown, earrings, and broach on the left. Take that Bonaparte.
Is this The Crying Game?
Why no, it´s just Rome´s fascination with Hermaphrodites!
This is a marble sculpture by Auguste Clésinger, called "Femme piquée par un serpent." Can you guess what that means and why she looks like she´s suffering?
What about now?
She´s suffering and writhing because she´s been bitten by the tiniest of snakes, wrapped discreetly around her wrist. I love this sculpture because it´s such a metaphor for how the seemingly tiniest of things can cause us the most pain.
Manet´s Olympia. Perhaps the most famous of all the paintings in the museum. Manet was a predecessor of the impressionist movement, and not really an impressionist himself. He knew Monet and Renoir and Pissarro, but Manet was older and absoluetly intent on gaining notoriety amongst the hoity-toities of the time. And unlike the impressionists (who weren´t ever accepted into the Salon, so they started their own salons), Manet desperately tried again and again to get his work exhibited in the Salon.
This painting, however, ruined his chances for good because it was so scandalous. A courtesan painted in the style of a Greek goddess. How dare he, that naughty Manet!
Renoir: Here´s something I learned while in Paris that I never knew about. This painting cuts off the figures on both sides of the frame in order to give the illusion that the party continues on forever. However, that was also scandalous and daring and shocking at the time (wow, the hoity-toities really didn´t get out much). How dare he, that naughty Renoir!
Monet...ah, his lily pads. I was supposed to visit his studio and gardens in Giverney. It was the one thing that I really was looking forward to...but in the end, I waited until Sunday to do it, and missed the train to go out there. Let´s move on and try not to think about how sad that makes me!
Monet...love him. Never made a dime for a long, long, long time. Always was broke. Always was borrowing money. And yet, never deviated from his experimentations with his art. Love that.
I just happen to know that Monet painted this portrait of his wife on her death bed, who died poor and young, and never benefited from Monet´s success later in his life. And yes, Monet actaully painted his wife on her deathbed. I think that´s very telling in so many ways...
My favorite portrait of Van Gogh (that´s Van Goth, everyone, for the record!) There´s just so much to say about him that I can´t even begin. I saw a special exhibit (also at the d'Orsay) and it was all about the works of the art dealer Voillard, who handled the sale of so many artists of this period--from Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh to Picasso and others.
Anyway, it was fascinating because Van Gogh´s work would have been lost into obscurity if it hadn´t been for Voillard.
Since Theo Van Gogh--who had been Vincent´s art dealer--died six months after Vincent commited suicide, there was a big void in the professional dealing of his art. Voillard saw it as an opportunity and bought a bunch of paintings from Theo´s wife. He exhibted them five years after Vincent´s death and the show was a complete failure. Nobody liked Van Gogh´s art. Not even Cezanne, who said it was the work of a madman (I knew there was a reason why I hate Cezanne´s crap).
Since Theo Van Gogh--who had been Vincent´s art dealer--died six months after Vincent commited suicide, there was a big void in the professional dealing of his art. Voillard saw it as an opportunity and bought a bunch of paintings from Theo´s wife. He exhibted them five years after Vincent´s death and the show was a complete failure. Nobody liked Van Gogh´s art. Not even Cezanne, who said it was the work of a madman (I knew there was a reason why I hate Cezanne´s crap).
Anyway, Voillard persisted and was the single most influencial force in creating a market for Van Gogh´s work. It just goes to show you that genius is an acquired taste.
An old friend of mine loved this painting because he said it sums up the meaning of life. A good hard day´s work and then you lay to rest with the woman you love.
-------------
On that note, moving on...to the below sculpture. The only bronze sculpture of the monarchy to survive the French Revolution, which is shocking if you think about how many sculptures there were of the monarchy.
This is a sculpture of Louis XIV, the sun king responsible for setting up public court at Versailles. Apparently, he had 300 illegitimate children. And those are just the ones they know about... I heard a tour guide call him "King Nasty." I thought that was funny.
Off to the Louvre. I think is interesting to ponder the fact that IM Pei had the balls to propose such an audacious, distracting, and contrasting structure in such a harmonious historical square, and the Louvre commission actually went along with it.
I mean, really, it´s amazing to think about how much confidence you must have in your own artistic merit to make such a proposal, and it´s amazing to think about the fact that it´s just so accepted now and that he actually got away with it!
Either way, from the inside, it is very celestial in a geometric sort of way.
The Da Vinci Code crowd, huddled around to see the Mona Lisa. Yeah, swept right by that one...
Jewels, jewels, and more jewels. Love them. The emerald necklace on the right was a present to Napoleon´s second younger wife. He dumped Josephine when it was discovered that she was too old to have children. But it´s all good, because Josephine ended up marrying Napoleon´s brother and getting the sapphire necklace, crown, earrings, and broach on the left. Take that Bonaparte.
Is this The Crying Game?
Why no, it´s just Rome´s fascination with Hermaphrodites!
This wasn´t in the Louvre. I just realized though that I´m in love with Parisian bohemian chandeliers and mosiac storefronts...
