A PAINTER'S PROGRESS

Today is my last day in Paris. How grateful I am to have had this experience! I'll be back, so no regrets for not having seen everything! I saw what I set out to see, did what I set out to do, and saved this last day to gather my thoughts and my things, and prepare for home.

 

I stopped by a little gallery near my apartment to say goodbye to the delightful owner, Nicole, who has owned the gallery for 45 years. She and I spent almost 2 hours together several days ago, when I bought a few pieces from her. A word of advice: if you make a purchase, especially in a private little gallery, be prepared for a visit, not the quick transaction we Americans are used to. Take a seat and expect to spend time talking about art, artists, and the vicissitudes of life—especially if you can manage a little French—while your purchases are carefully, lovingly, slowly wrapped.  

 

                                 

 

Nearby the gallery I passed by the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. A group of art students were mingling outside. Farther up the street I was surprised to see a plaque above a doorway, marking the former residence of the novelist George Sand. I thought about the Unicorns again, because she was also enchanted by them and helped bring them to public attention.

 

I had one more day left on my museum pass, so I walked back over to the Louvre for a few hours. I wanted to see the 18th and 19th century French paintings. It was raining and the pigeons were swimming in the courtyard.

Below are some of the pieces that attracted me today. I saw some lovely pieces by Ingres, the neo-classical French painter, known for his very smooth, almost non-existent brush strokes, as you can see in The Valpinçon Bather, painted in the very early (1802), 19th century. Ingres was a student of Jacques-Louis David who painted this interesting Portrait de Madame Marie-Louise Trudaine in the late 18th century. This piece has more of a modern look to it than some of his other works.

                          

 

Below is a particularly luminous portrait by 18th century painter Baron François Gerard. As we move toward the turn of the century, I notice hints of light and color here and there, changes beginning to emerge from the tonality typical of this era. It's exciting to witness the evolution of painting. It's important for any artist, writer or musician to know and become familiar with what has gone before.

 

This unusual piece is by an artist I had never heard of: Anne Vallayer-Coster. Panaches de mer, lithophytes et coquilles, 1769. It stopped me in my tracks, because it is so unusual to see this kind of still life from an 18th century painter. And a woman, no less, in this very much a man's world! 

 

 

One 18th century painter that I especially admire is Jean-Honoré Fragonard. I enjoy his loose vigorous brush strokes; they are a forecast of the Impressionists to come. Here are a few pieces I enjoyed today. [There is also a Fragonard in the National Gallery in Washington D.C. that I love: A Young Girl Reading. She is wearing the brightest most luminous yellow dress.] Notice the vitality of the brush strokes in these portraits below, very exciting for a late 18th century painting. Unfortunately, most of Fragonard's private patrons were either guillotined or exiled during the Revolution, and this magnificent painter died virtually unknown. For half a century or more he was completely ignored, but subsequent reevaluation has confirmed his position among the all-time masters of French painting. The influence of Fragonard's handling of local color and expressive, confident brushstrokes was not lost on the Impressionists, particularly his grand niece, Berthe Morisot (my very favorite) and Renoir.

                            

 

I was surprised to see a small room with some late 19th century Impressionists: Sisley, Pisarro, Renoir among others. Usually the extent of the Louvre's exhibits ends around 1848. The d'Orsay takes it from there. There were even a few pieces by Pierre Bonnard, part of the Nabis, an early 20th century movement. Below is one of many pieces for which he used his wife Marthe as a model. 

 

Well, as you can imagine, I had to tear myself away. As I was leaving I came upon some school children listening to an art lesson. It was a gift to be in the presence of the handing down—and the wide eyes looking up—of the magnificent history of art.

 

 

Au revoir for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I began the day by walking over to the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral, across the bridge to the Ile de la Cité, the little tugboat-shaped island in the middle of the Seine. The Sainte-Chapelle is not far from the Notre Dame, but this Gothic style church, built between 1242 and 1248 for King Louis IX, is quite different. It's much smaller, and only took 6 years to build. (It was built to house the supposed Crown of Thorns which is now kept at the Norte Dame and shown only on Good Friday!). The outside is functional, but the inside is glorious! Because buttresses hold up the roof, the walls function is to display the stained glass. The ceiling is painted with fleurs-de-lis, and the walls—the walls are made of stained glass! It is impossible with my iPhone to capture even a small hint of the dazzle these fifteen separate panels of stained glass create. Two-thirds of it is 13th century original. It covers Christian history from Genesis to the coming of Christ to—yes—the end of the world!         

       

 

The Sainte Chapelle sits within in a huge complex of buildings that has housed local government since ancient times. The Palais de Justice, built in 1776 is where the French Supreme Court meets. The only medieval structures that remain are the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie, the former prison that once incarcerated 2,780 souls who were beheaded during France's Reign of Terror after the revolution, September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794. Marie Antoinette was one of these prisoners, and a reconstruction of her cell is on view. There is a tiny chapel built on the very spot where her cell was located. There is a medieval Hall of Men-At-Arms, built in 1302, where the guards dined and a number of interesting exhibits of original clothing, armor and reconstructions of prison cells.

                           

How far could you walk in these shoes?

                

Marie Antoinette's reconstructed prison cell.

 

Back across the bridge, up St. Michel Blvd to the Cluny Museum, also known as the National Museum of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, which is the time between ancient Rome and the Renaissance, Paris emerged onto the world stage. This museum houses old Roman baths, close-up looks at stained glass, Notre-Dame carvings, gold fabrications and jewelry, rooms of tapestries, and the exquisite Lady and the Unicorn series of six tapestries that absolutely thrilled me! I am in love with the Lady and the Unicorn! There are also medieval altarpieces, weaponry, 8th century Visigothic crowns and more. Below are some stone heads (1220-1230) of biblical kings of Judah that once decorated the Notre-Dame, and stained glass depicting the violence of medieval religious superstition.

         

 

Below are the remains of Roman baths, constructed in A.D. 200, with a 40-foot high ceiling was the largest Roman vault in France. The column fragment is one of four remaining fragments that are the oldest man-made objects in Paris. The fragments once supported a 20-foot altar to the king of the gods in the temple of Jupiter, A.D. 14-37.

                 

 

The Lady of the Unicorns! These are breathtaking! You enter an oval room displaying six fascinating tapestries, designed by an unknown artist sometime before 1500. They were woven in Belgium of wool and silk. These are some of the most lyrical and mysterious pieces I have ever seen. I am enchanted! The low light level in the room and my iPhone camera doesn't show their vibrant color and beauty. Take my word for it, these are stunning. I bought a book about these pieces with quotes from Rainer Maria Rilke from his "The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge" describing each tapestry. Can't wait to read it. The themes for five of the tapestries are the senses: Taste, Hearing, Sight, Smell and Touch. The sixth and largest is titled: A Mon Seul Dérsir (To My Sole Desire). Might it refer to the "sixth" sense of intuition? 

         

 

 

It rained today. I took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and spent the day walking all the way down the Champs-Elysées to the Louvre and home, taking a detour to visit the Musée Jacquemart-André.

 

The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victory, against overwhelming odds, at the battle of Austerlitz. It is designed like the arches of ancient Rome, only twice as large. It took about 30 years to complete, and unfortunately Napoleon died before it was finished. His funeral procession passed through it, however, as did Hitler and the Nazis. In fact, a swastika flew from here from 1940 - 1944. In August 1944, Charles de Gaulle led the Allied troops under the arch to celebrate the liberation. The tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I lies under these arches. Every morning fresh flowers are laid there and a flame is lighted.

There are 284 steps inside to the top, where there is a small exhibition area with rotating exhibits about the arch and Napoleon. Yes, I climbed them all, and was rewarded with a glorious view of all of Paris! You can see all 12 boulevards that radiate out from the arch. Did you know that Paris has the densest population of any city in Europe? Eleven million people packed into the size of an average US city—20 times denser than New York City. On a clear day you can see all the way down the Champs-Elysées to the Notre Dame cathedral.

                                   

Back on land, I began my walk down the Champs-Elysées. This is one of the world's grandest streets boasting nightclubs, high fashion shopping, famous cafés, and fancy car dealerships. Louis XIV opened the first section in 1667 as an extension of the Tuileries Gardens. From 1920 to 1960 this was an elegant boulevard of mostly residences, posh hotels and cafés. People dressed in their finest to stroll the boulevard. Then came big business and commuter trains. It is still the main artery of Paris for shopping and watching people. And it leads right down to the Tuileries and the Louvre.

  

                                 

 

I took a detour up Franklin D. Roosevelt Blvd, to 158 Housmann to visit the delightful Jacquemart-André Museum, once the fabulous home of a wealthy 19th century Parisian couple who spent their lives decorating it. The story goes that Edouard André, a wealthy bachelor, built and lived in this mansion. He commissioned a well known portrait painter, Nélie Jaquemart, to paint his portrait. Nine years later they were married, and spent the rest of their lives collecting art, furniture, sculpture, fireplaces and ceilings! Paintings by Rembrandt, Carpaccio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Botticelli, Bellini, Fragonard and many more hang all over the place! Not to mention Houdon busts, Gobelin tapestries, antiques, gilded and marble everything! In addition to the extensive permanent collection comprised of 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings, Italian Renaissance works and 18th century French paintings, there was a special exhibit of Rubens and Poussin, and others, focusing on the two art movements that flourished in the 17th century: Flemish baroque painting which gave way to the classical French school. This remarkable collection of 63 paintings was gathered from private collections and prestigious European museums. There was also a tour of the couple's private quarters. Unfortunately, no photographs allowed, but I did take a few. 

           

         

 

It was getting dark when I left the museum. I could have taken the Metro from any of a number of stops along the way, and by this time my legs were tired enough for a sit down, but this was one of my last nights here, and I wanted to experience being in this special place, walking where so many other souls have walked in centuries past, as dusk fell to evening.

                    

         

 

 

 

 

 

The Rodin Museum is housed in a former mansion. Rodin was the modern Michelangelo, creating sculptures on an epic scale. Born the same year as Monet, 1841, his early work comformed to the belle époque style of the time. His breakthrough piece was The Man with the Broken Nose. The Kiss, shown here, was the first piece the public loved. Rodin came to dislike it, thinking it too sentimental. I was disappointed that the garden, with many of his large works, was closed. I didn't even get a glimpse. Much of his work remains unfinished, looking as if it is emerging from the stone, order forming from chaos. Most interesting was a description of Rodin's casting process.

              

 

The highlight of the museum for me was the room with Camille Claudel's work.  The 44-year-old Rodin took the 18-year-old Camille Claudel as a student, a muse and eventually a lover. At first her work looked much like Rodin's, but later it took on a lovely lyrical quality. Rodin eventually left her to remain with his wife. Camille suffered from jealousy and grief and spent the last few years of her life in an institution. Below is Claudel's The Wave, carved in green onyx.

 

I walked down the street to the Army Museum and Napoleon's Tomb, located in the complex of Les Invalides, a former veterans' hospital built by Louis XIV. Napoleon's tomb rests under the gold dome of Les Invalides church.

                  

 

There are extensive military museums, Napoleon's horse stuffed and mounted (I missed this, thankfully), Louis XIV era uniforms and weapons and a lot more. Here is one of Napoleon's saddles.

 

There are rooms and rooms devoted to World War I and II. I paid most attention to the World War II because my father was a B-17 pilot and all of my uncles fought in WWII as well. They all survived, for which I am grateful. I am against war. But let's move on.

The highlight of this museum, for me, was hidden on the 4th floor of the Hotel des Invalides. Up there was a relief map museum! I would not have gone up to this attic, except for the suggestion of a friend who'd been here last year. She wanted to make sure I went up to see these. They are scale models of fortified sites, made from 1668 onwards until 1870, initiated by Louis XIV's Minister of War. They presented an accurate representation of towns and countrysides within artillery range, making it possible to plan sieges. The collection comprises 100 relief maps on a 1/600 scale. They were once kept at the Tuileries, then the Louvre, now here on the 4th floor.

             

 

From here I strolled down to the Rue Cler for lunch. This is a street normally filled with merchants, markets, wine, cheese, chocolates, etc. Today it was sparse. Maybe because it was sooooo cold! Clear plastic sheets were drawn in front of the cafés and the heaters turned on.

 

I ate lunch and quickly left in search of the Eiffel Tower. I'm not that interested in this kind of tourist attraction, but when in Paris you've got to see the Eiffel Tower at least once, right? So this was the day. It's HUGE and stands right in the middle of city life. You can see it from far away, and as you walk towards it you think it'll be right around the corner, but it's not. It's a weird structure with no purpose, really. The very top was closed but I was able to get to the next highest level. As I said, it was VERY cold and windy. 

               

              

Back to my warm apartment!

 

 

 

I slept in late this morning, so decided to stay close to home and explore the neighborhood around me on the Left Bank. It didn't take long to find Edouard Manet's birthplace, just around the corner at 5 rue Bonaparte. Up the street a block or two and left into the narrow rue Visconti, I found Frederic Bazille's studio. Bazille was from a wealthy family, and opened his studio to his Impressionist rebel friends to paint, share ideas, offer encouragement and receive financial support. Bazille is not as well known as some of the others, only because he was killed at an early age in the Franco-Prussion war. He was a wonderful painter. He volunteered for this war, when several of his compatriots fled to England. Tragically he was killed on the battlefield at age 28.     

Small shops line these streets including a frame shop and an art store. I bought a small 6 X 6" sketch book and a few pastels.

                 

 

I decided to walk down the Quai along the Seine to the bridge leading over to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a short 10 minute walk from my apartment. The cathedral took almost 200 years to build, from 1163 - 1351. Inside there are countless stunning stained glass windows, including three rose windows. The highlight for me was the girls' choir rehearsal that was taking place, complete with organ accompaniment. Imagine the acoustics inside this structure! I was enthralled! I recorded some of it and I might be able to download it to my web site later.

                 

        

 

Back across the bridge, it was starting to get dark. Commuters were spilling out of the underground Metro (where I've spent a lot of time), and into the evening street.

        

                                     

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A student friend of mine gave me a small marvel of a book:  walking tours of the French Impressionist artists' studios, homes and the sites they painted. While evidence of these artists is vivid on museum walls, it is easily  missed on the streets of the city if you don't know where to look. So today, book in hand, I set out to find these places.

 

I focused on the Right Bank and the environs of the Gare Saint Lazare, site of the famous Monet train station paintings. He was intrigued by the raw power of the engines and the effects of sunlight on the smoke and steam. Monet was granted special permission to paint in the train station. Renoir recalled that his friend Monet had put on his best clothes and presented himself to the station director as the famous artist Claude Monet! The falsely impressed official had the trains stopped and the engines filled with coal to accommodate the painter. Monet set up his easel right beside the tracks and began to paint. He painted twelve pictures over the next few months. I saw this one yesterday at the Marmottan. The station looks very different today with networks of electrical cables.

I walked west to find the residence of Gustave Caillebotte, who painted those wonderful rainy street scenes nearby on the Rue de St Petersbourg. Caillebotte was born into a wealthy family. Here is the familly mansion where he lived at 77, rue de Miromesnil, corner of the rue de Lisbonne.

                 

 

A few blocks northeast was the residence of Monet as a young man, at 26 rue d'Edimbourg.

 

 

Claude Monet's first studio was located about a 20 minute walk away to the east at 17, rue de Moncey. Later he moved his studio several blocks to the north at 20, rue Vintimille. Both pictured here:

             

 

Nearby, at 39 rue de Saint Petersbourg, I found the final residence of Edouard Manet.

 

 

It was quite an adventure, tracking down these unmarked and forgotten landmarks. I paused in front of each of these buildings, envisioning what it must have been like over 100 years ago when these young artists, so excited by their work, walked in and out of their doors, up and down these pavements. All around me mothers with strollers, old men walking their dogs, teens smoking and hanging out, young girls in tall boots rushed by, oblivious to the history that happened on these streets. It started here, it happened here, not in the halls of the museums!

 

I continued my journey up through the hilly Montmartre District, home to the grape-stomping monks of the 1200's as well as the Parisian liberals of the 1800's and Modernist painters of the 1900's who enjoyed cheap rent, untaxed booze and cabaret nightlife. Some of the highlights from this 2-hour walk were seeing Picasso's first studio, a humble looking building, where modern art was born:

 

Renoir's home is located in this district, but after trying to find it for 45 minutes, I gave up. I did find the residence where Van Gogh lived with his brother for two years from 1886 - 1889 at 54 rue Lepic. He lived on the very top floor, overlooking the city.

                             

The Moulin Rouge is nearby, as is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's house (which I couldn't find).

 

At the top of the Butte Montmartre was the center of bohemian Montmartre, the Place de Tertre, a square lined with cafes and loaded with as many tourists now as artists, who make a living sketching portraits and selling their paintings. The nearby view of the city is tremendous.

   

 

As I descended the hill, I looked back to see the Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica, which took 44 years to build, from 1875 - 1919.

 

One of the sites in the Montmartre District I regret I didn't see was the Au Lapin Agile Cabaret, the village's hot spot where Picasso and other artists and writers gathered. Having seen Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile, a play about a fictional meeting between Picasso and Albert Einstein, I was disappointed not to have see the actual cabaret. Other than that, I came back to my apartment satiated and exhausted!

 

 

 

 

 

The Marmottan Museum, housed in a mansion at the edge of urban Paris, has the best permanent collection of Monet's works anywhere. It also has a large number of his sketches, notes and photographs. It is a virtual walk through Monet's life to visit this museum. This season, because of the retrospective at the Grand Palais, the Marmottan is following suit by focusing solely on Monet. They've pulled out everything they have. Many of the pieces are later works, painted during the artist's struggle with his diminishing eyesight due to cataracts. His pieces are increasingly abstract, painted furiously with large thick daubs of paint swirled together, with hardly any structure, barely a hint of a Japanese bridge or a rose trellis lost in a tangle of brush strokes. I felt sad for his reality at the time: almost blind, aging, yet driven to continue doing what he loved. 

The highlight of the Monet collection is the seminal "Impression: Sunrise". This was the painting that started the revolution. When first exhibited in 1874, the critics were outraged. They called it "Impressionism" as a way of ridiculing the style. The rest is history...

 

The Marmatton is also noted for its large collection of works by Berthe Morisot, my very favorite Impressionist. I was looking forward to seeing this collection, and was disappointed to learn that because of the special focus on Monet, her work was in storage. There were only two pieces on display. I will come back to see the Berthe Morisot for sure. She is not as well known as the other Impressionists, but in my opinion she is the BEST. I saw a solo exhibit of her work in Washington D.C. in 1986 and was swept away with her work. If you have not seen Berthe Morisot's work, give yourself a treat. 

This is what initially brought me to Paris, a major Monet retrospective, held at the Grand Palais, a grand exhibition hall built for the 1900 World's Fair and is used for temporary exhibits. This exhibit of more than 200 paintings was gathered from major international collections.

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is the father of the Impressionist movement, which at the time, was a most radical departure from the popular salon paintings of the day. For Monet, the subject of his paintings became the light itself. He realized how the color of light, the time of day, changed the entire scene. With every plane change there is a color change. This may seem obvious to some of us who paint outdoors, but at the time it was a very alien concept indeed.

 

This exhibit covers his long march from his early traditional style, to the studies of light and atmosphere that ultimately became more and more abstract. What impressed me was his ongoing growth and enthusiasm. He continued to evolve, painting over 2,000 works in his long lifetime, until he could no longer discern colors because of his double cataracts. His vitality was relentless. He revolutionized landscape painting, often working in series, capturing the changing light and weather conditions. He would often work on 12 or more canvases at one time, switching back and forth as the light changed. His Haystacks series comprised about 20 paintings. Here are some examples:

   

   

The exhibit was very large, three floors. The bottom floor was entirely devoted to series: the Haystacks, the Poplars, the Cathedral at Rouen, the Seine near Giverny and several other series. Impossible, of course, to cover it all in a blog. An immense exhibit, well worth the trip, and the two plus hours I stood in line in the rain to get in!

The Louvre today. I walked down from my apartment and across the bridge and there I was: the oldest, biggest, greatest museum in Europe. A 16th century U-shaped palace. A 16th century palace with an I. M. Pei designed 20th century pyramid made entirely of glass panes smack in the center of the courtyard. It looks out of place. I don't like it. I learned later that the pyramid and the underground lobby beneath it were created because of a series of problems with the Louvre's original main entrance, which could no longer handle an enormous number of visitors on an everyday basis. Visitors entering through the pyramid descend into the spacious lobby then re-ascend into the main Louvre. I still don't like it, but let's move on.

 

This immense building houses the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Michelangelo statues, medieval jewels, halls and halls of Greek and Roman masterpieces and paintings from the greatest artists from the Renaissance to the Romantics (mid-1800's). There are 12 miles of museum space, over 30,000 works of art that would take a person 9 months to see. I contained my visit to the usual suspects, paid my respects to the Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 B.C.), the Venus de Milo (100 B.C.), a fragment of the Parthenon Frieze (440 B.C.) and the Mona Lisa, who was sequestered behind glass and kept her distance.

                                                                           

 

I also saw medieval paintings by Giotto and Botticelli Frescoes; Italian Renaissance paintings by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Veronese and sculptures by Michelangelo; French Neoclassicism paintings by: Ingres, David; French Romanticism: Delacroix, Gericault; more sculptures, jewels of Louis XIV, and much much more. 

            

Even if you have not studied art history, you will be awed to simply stand in the presence of the evolution of art. For me it is a spiritual experience to be enveloped in the bounty of centuries of the human creative spirit.

 

P.S. There is also a section of the Louvre dedicated to the decorative arts, textiles, furniture and toys. There was an exhibit of Haute Couture fashion from the 1940's to the present. No cameras allowed, but I was able to sneak a few pics before getting caught. 

                                              

As I was leaving the museum, walking through the Tuileries Gardens, I stopped to watch some children who were playing with toy wooden sailboats. They were pushing them in the pond, with long poles. The sounds of play seemed to be coming from another age. No shouting or shoving, just innocent fun. I thought about how this scene would not have differed much from that of centuries ago, when the souls from the Louvre once lived and loved.

           

Today was the BEST! I spent the entire day at the Museé d'Orsay. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed in the museum, so no photos this time. Formerly a train station, the Orsay Museum houses some one of the best collections of Impressionist paintings in the world. It picks up where the Louvre leaves off, 1948, the second half of the 19th century. The museum is under renovation right now, and some of their paintings are on loan to the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. I was lucky to have seen both the "Birth of Impressionism" and the "Van Gogh, Cezanne and Beyond" exhibits in San Francisco. And now here I am here in Paris to see the rest of the collection! How grateful I am for this amazing experience. 

 

The exhibit starts with the Neoclassicism of the mid 1800's. I loved Jean-Francois Millet's "The Gleaners". What a thrill to stand before this beautiful powerful piece! And to see Edouard Manet's "Olympia" and "Luncheon on the Grass" in person, so exciting. Enter Monet, Degas, Renoir and others, who turned the art world on its ear with their new way of seeing and painting: using color to show form instead of value. Their challenge was to show how the color of light changes the color of objects. I love Degas' work and was delighted to see a number of Degas' pastels included. They were wonderful! I wish I could post some photos here. There were some beautiful works by Pissarro and Sisley too. 

 

Next came the Post-Impressionists, my favorites: Van Gogh and Cézanne. To see these pieces in person after having examined them in books and prints, is an astounding experience. I am amazed how off the color reproduction is in many of these prints, now having seen the originals. The color on the paintings is so much lighter and more delicate. The Van Gogh portrait is actually quite a high key painting. Light turquoise.  Next came the Primitives: Rousseau, Gauguin, Seruat and Toulouse-Lautrec. Loved Toulouse-Lautrec. There are also some beautiful Rodin sculptures and some fabulous objects of art and furniture as well.

 

It is simply impossible to cover more than a cursory review of my day at the d'Orsay, but I hope this short blog will inspire you to consider coming to Paris to see these amazing pieces. I can tell you I practically floated through the day. I arrived at the museum at 9:30 am and before I knew it, the place was closing at 5:30. 

 

I walked back to my apartment, which is just down the street from the museum. When I turned into my street, there was a mariachi type band playing and acrobatic dancers dancing in the street. My apt is in the heart of the left bank, and tonight is Saturday night, so it's party time! There's a lot of action all over the neighborhood. People are out in the cafes and there is food being prepared on every corner. Here is a shot just up the street from my apartment.

Tomorrow the Louvre...

 

Visited the Palace of Versailles today...all day. Took the RER train, a 40 minute ride out of Paris. The place is spectacular! Indescribable. It was the residence of French kings for 100 years, until the revolution of 1789. It is the largest palace in the Western World. Louis XIV built it by adding to his father's hunting lodge. In addition to the immense U-shaped main palace, there are two Trianon palaces and also the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette. Opulent beyond belief! There are acres of manicured gardens, fountains, statues and lakes. Words hardly capture the grandeur of the place—either does my iPhone camera, but I'll post a few photos just to give you an idea. Everywhere painted ceilings, marble, gilded everything! It was interesting to learn that Louis the XV, who succeeded Louis XIV, was actually his great grandson, Louis XIV outlived the other two heirs.

  

 

I walked through all the rooms available to the public in the main palace, and also the three other palaces. Also walked through much of the gardens. I was at it ALL DAY! I should have gone to the gym to prepare for this trip! I think I walked 10 or more miles easily...well, not easily.

 

I landed in Paris yesterday. Since I am traveling alone, I plan to blog about my trip as a way of inviting you to come along with me as I explore this fabulous city, the art mecca of the world. I am excited and find it hard to sleep. I spent half the first morning traversing the whole of Paris' underground, until I finally figured out the metro system. My apartment is in the heart of the Left Bank, a "4 story walk-up" that is actually 9 flights up a winding staircase. Outside it is gray and cold, just like Monet's winter street scenes. I am the only soul in Paris wearing a red coat.

 

The Musee l'Orangerie, located in the Tuileries Garden, was a treat. This museum was chosen and arranged by Claude Monet to showcase his immense series of 6' tall curved panels of water lilies, a series that took him 12 years to complete. During this time, he struggled with cataracts that severely compromised his vision. (I thought about Beethoven going deaf.) There are two rooms of these masterpieces. Moving your eyes clockwise when entering the rooms, you can watch the time of day change from morning to afternoon to evening. 

    

Wow, as I write this post, there is a loud ruckus going on in the street below that is now reaching a crescendo. I hear the "four/one" musical interval of the French police car warnings. I'll go out on my balcony to check it out: dozens of Frenchmen below in a heated argument. About 10 police cars arrive to break it up. No actual fighting happening, just a lot of raised voices. I notice the police are not really strong-arming anybody. Nobody is bloodied, just loud fast talking. Finally the crowd disperses.

 

Back to l'Orangerie. There are also some wonderful pieces here by Renoir (shown below), Matisse, Picasso, Derain and others, from a collection of 1920's trend-spotting art dealer, Paul Guillaume. This is a small museum, a lovely gem, showing the transition from Impressionism to Modernism.

 

I also visited the Petit Palais, across from the Grand Palais which is where the special Monet Exhibition is being held (which I will visit later). The Petit Palais is a free museum that houses paintings and sculptures from the 1600's to the 1900's. Most of it is second choice art, but the building is very impressive and well worth the visit.

 

 

On Friday a painter friend and I drove to Sacramento to see the American Watercolor Society's 2010 traveling exhibition at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center. What an inspiration it was to see these excellent pieces, each so unique and imaginative! We spent quite a bit of time looking, looking again...and again. We recognized some of the techniques, puzzled about others. We picked our favorites and compared lists. It was fun to go with another painter because both of us were familiar with many of the exhibiting artists. Our shared understanding of the medium, and appreciation for the dedication required to produce these works, enhanced the experience for both of us. I would encourage all of you to find a painter buddy and take the drive to Sacramento to see this exhibit. 

 

On the way home we stopped at the John Natsoulos Gallery  in Davis to see the American Folk Art exhibit, featuring Roy De Forest. Here is a table that caught my eye:

If you've never been to this gallery, it's a rare treat. The gallery hosts many widely acclaimed, world renowned artists. Make a point to put this gallery on your list for an artist date. Below is a still life painting that I loved. I am embarrassed to say I can't remember the name of the woman artist who painted it.

I hope you will make a commitment to visit as many museums and galleries as you can this year. Whenever I do, I come away with so much inspiration, so many ideas that inform my work and my teaching. I'm off to Paris on Tuesday. I will try to blog a few times while I'm there. Au revoir for now.