MORE MONET IN THE "MAGNIFIQUE" MUSEUM

The Musée d'Orsay is a world-class museum; of course, it is one of the top tourist attractions in Paris with a collection that rivals few other museums.

Ah, so many wonderful paintings by Monet!

Essai de Figure en Plein-air: Femme à l'Ombrelle Tournée vers la Gauche (1886)

The woman in the painting is Suzanne Hoschedé, daughter of Alice Hoschedé, Monet's second wife. 

La Cathédrale de Rouen; Le Portail, Soleil Matinal (1893)

The Rouen Cathedral series captures the façade of the cathedral at different times of the day and year, and reflects changes in its appearance under different lighting conditions. The Musée d'Orsay has at least 5 different paintings from Monet's Rouen Cathedral series.

Les Villas à Bordighera (1884)

Situated on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, Bordighera attracted Monet and Renoir in 1883 in their search for new landscapes.  Monet returned alone the following year, and painted more than 40 views of the area, the town and its gardens.

Coquelicots (1873)

Monet lived in Argenteuil from 1871 until 1878. These years were a time of fulfillment for him. Supported by his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, Monet found in the region around his home the bright landscapes which enabled him to explore the potential of plein-air painting.

Etretat : la Plage et la Porte d'Amont (1883)

And of course, Monet's Water Lilies and Giverny paintings:

Nymphéas Bleus (1916-1919)

Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, Harmonie Verte (1899)

Le Jardin de l'Artiste à Giverny (1900)

Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, Harmonie Rose (1900)

In my next post, I'll show you more of the beautiful permanent collection in this world-class museum including beautiful works by van Gogh.

For more information visit: http://www.musee-orsay.fr.

To get to the Musée d'Orsay, use:

Metro: Line 12 to Solférino
RER: Line C to Musée d'Orsay
Bus: Lines 24, 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, 94

• Regular admission is €9.00.
• FREE with your Paris Museum Pass.
• There may be a charge for special exhibitions.
• Closed Mondays.
• Closed January 1, May 1, Christmas Day.
• Open 9:30-6:00 on Tuesday-Thursday.
• Open 9:30-9:45 on Thursday

NOTE: All photos of the paintings in this blog post were taken by me on my visit to the Musée d'Orsay in May, 2006.

ART IN A "MAGNIFIQUE" SETTING

I was watching the new Rick Steves episode on Paris, and I realized I had never done a blog post on my visit to the Musée d'Orsay.  WOW!  Me, a lover of Impressionist art, and I completely forgot about this museum.

The Musée d'Orsay was installed in the old Orsay railroad station and hotel which had been built for the 1900 World's Fair.  After 1939, the station's platforms had become too short for the longer trains that had come into service.  The station then was used as a mailing center during World War II and several times as a movie set. The hotel closed in 1973, and the building was threatened with demolition.  In 1975, the idea came about to install a new museum in the train station, and in 1977, the decision was made to create the Musée d'Orsay. The building was deemed a national monument in 1978 and the museum was officially opened on December 9, 1986.
 

I recently read on the museum's website that they have changed their policy regarding photography:

In the interests of the safety of works and visitors, and to ensure a more pleasurable visit, photography and filming are no longer allowed in the museum galleries. This measure has been introduced in view of the increased number of visitors taking photographs “at arm’s length” using mobile phones.

Luckily, my visit to Paris was in 2006 was when photography was still permitted.
Photos: www.musee-orsay.fr

The photos above (courtesy of the Museé d'Orsay website) show Gare d'Orsay.  Does it seem possible from my photo below that railroad tracks once ran through these galleries?

The beautiful ornate station clock still hangs in the same approximate place.

 

The idea of the Musée d'Orsay was to house works of art from the second half of the 19th century to 1914, basically bridging the gap between the Louvre and the modern art museum at the Pompidou Center.

Of course the Impressionists are a highlight.  Let's start with some painted before the term Impressionism was even coined.

You might automatically think Claude Monet when you first see this painting, but it was actually painted by a French artist named Armand Guillaumin.

Chemin Creux, Effet de Neige (1869) by Armand Guillaumin

  






























There are currently 88 works by Monet in the museum.  Here are some earlier works:

Régates à Argenteuil (1872) by Claude Monet

Le Déjeuner : Panneau Décoratif (1873) by Claude Monet

Le Dindons (1877) by Claude Monet

La Rue Montorgueil, à Paris. Fête du 30 juin 1878 (1878) by Claude Monet

Auguste Renoir was known more for his portraits, many of fleshly women, but look at this gorgeous landscape by him!

Chemin Montant dans les Hautes Herbes (1877) by Pierre Auguste Renoir

 
Of course, one of Renoir's early works is also one of his most beloved and Impressionism's most celebrated paintings.  The painting was part of the personal collection donated to the French government by French painter Gustave Caillebotte upon his death. Caillebotte was friends with the Impressionist painters, often purchasing their works to help them financially (he came from a wealthy family), but he himself did not paint in the Impressionist manner.

Bal du Moulin de la Galette (1876) by Auguste Renoir

Édouard Manet is considered a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.  This controversial painting by him was rejected by the jury of the Académie des Beaux-Art's annual Salon de Paris art exhibition in 1863 because of the realist nude portrayed.  Thus, he exhibited the painting later in the year in the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected).
Le déjeuner sur l'Herbe (1863) by Édouard Manet

Two years later Manet continued to shock audiences when he exhibited this painting at the Salon de Paris. This time it wasn't the nudity that shocked people, it was how Manet portrayed the model as an obvious courtesan, right down to the title: the name was associated with prostitutes in Paris during this time.

Olympia (1863) by Édouard Manet

Much less controversial is this beautiful portrait of his sister-in-law, Berthe Morisot.  Though she married Eugène Manet, it is widely suggested that Berthe Morisot had a romantic relationship with Édouard Manet prior to her marriage to Eugène.

 



































These are a few of the masterpieces hanging in the Musée d'Orsay.  In my next post, I'll show you more of the beautiful permanent collection in this world-class museum including beautiful works by van Gogh and later works by Monet.

For more information visit: http://www.musee-orsay.fr.

To get to the Musée d'Orsay, use:

Metro: Line 12 to Solférino
RER: Line C to Musée d'Orsay
Bus: Lines 24, 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, 94

• Regular admission is €9.00.
• FREE with your Paris Museum Pass.
• There may be a charge for special exhibitions.
• Closed Mondays.
• Closed January 1, May 1, Christmas Day.
• Open 9:30-6:00 on Tuesday-Thursday.
• Open 9:30-9:45 on Thursday

NOTE: All photos of the paintings in this blog post were taken by me on my visit to the Musée d'Orsay in May, 2006.

MORE MUSEUM MASTERPIECES

To finish up my visit to the Toledo Art Museum, here are a few more masterpieces in their permanent collection.

Paul Guillaume (1915) by Amedeo Modigliani

Paul Guillaume was a Parisian art dealer who became one of Modigliani's earliest supporters.  Along with paintings by Modigliani, Guillaume also dealt with works by Matisse and Picasso.  After his death and the death of his wife, Guillaume's personal collection became part of the permanent collection of the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.

Speaking of Picasso...

Woman in a Black Hat (1909) by Pablo Picasso

 








































This early Cubist painting shows Fernande Olivier, one of Picasso's many mistresses.  This type of Cubism was called analytical cubism where the palette was severely limited, largely black, browns, grays and off-whites and the figures rigidly geometric.

Street in Tahiti (1891) by Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin, dissatisfied with life in Europe, traveled to Tahiti for the first of many times in 1891.  His renewed enthusiasm shows in the brilliant colors he used in the paintings.

Regatta at Trouville (1884) by Gustave Caillebotte

Not as well known as his Impressionist friends, Gustave Caillebotte came from a wealthy family.  An engineer by profession, he also studied at the Fine Arts School of Paris where he met Degas, Monet and Renoir in 1874 and helped them organize their first group exhibition in Paris this same year.  He also helped them financially by purchasing some of their paintings.

Speaking of Degas...

Victoria Dubourg (1866-1868) by Edgar Degas

A painter herself, Victoria Dubourg was married to French painter Henri Fantin-Latour. Degas went to great lengths to perfect this painting...on the wall behind Victoria you can see the slight images of two framed paintings that Degas removed by changing the wall surface.

Landscape (1906) by André Derain

André Derain also studied engineering but after meeting Henri Matisse and George Rouault he began to pursue an artistic career. A 1901 Vincent van Gogh exhibition influenced the style of Derain and his peers, and they began their use of bold colors and abstract form.  After a 1905 exhibition a critic called them fauves or wild beasts, thus beginning the Fauvism movement.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the fabulous Toledo Art Museum.  I hope you have enjoyed my blog posts showing my favorite masterpieces in the museum.


For more information visit: http://www.toledomuseum.org/.

Toledo Art Museum

2445 Monroe Street

Toledo, OH   43620

Phone: 419.255.6000

For directions: click here.

• Admission is FREE every day for all visitors.
• There may be a charge for special exhibitions.
• Closed Mondays.
• Closed January 1, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day.
• Open 10:00-4:00 on Tuesday-Thursday.
• Open 10:00-10:00 on Friday.
• Open 10:00-6:00 on Saturday.
• Open 12:00-6:00 on Sunday.

NOTE: All photos of the paintings in this blog post were taken by me on my visit to the Toledo Art Museum in May, 2012.

AMERICAN ARTISTS ABOUND

Several excellent paintings by American artists are part of the permanent collection at the Toledo Art Museum.

Princess Demidoff  (1895-1896) by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence, Italy to American parents.  He became known for his elegant and glamorous paintings of the rich and famous in the late 19th century.

Near the beach, Shinnecock (1895) by William Merritt Chase

The Open Air Breakfast (1888) by William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase was one of many American-born artists who traveled to Europe to study. In addition to his painting, Chase became an esteemed art teacher. Chase was the most important teacher of American artists around the turn of the 20th century.

The Bridge, Blackwell's Island (1909) by George Bellows

I introduced you to George Bellows in my blog post about American artists at the Art Institute of Chicago.  I particularly like this painting since I just visited New York City last month and saw this bridge.

The Flying Horses (1901) by Maurice Prendergast

Maurice Prendergast often made paintings from the many sketches he drew of the colorful scenes of people enjoying themselves at the beach or park near Boston.  He had studied in Paris during the late 19th century; he embraced many of the same qualities as Manet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Vuillard and Cézanne.

Movies (1913) by John Sloan

John Sloan was one of several New York-based artists (George Bellows was part of this group) who created an American style of painting showing gritty, urban scenes. However, Sloan and his peers found beauty in these ordinary realities of city life.

Rainy Day, Boston (1885) by Childe Hassam

Summer Sea, Isle of Shoals (1902) by Childe Hassam

Frederick Childe Hassam was an American Impressionist painter noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in introducing Impressionism to America. Hassam, along with Twachtman, studied in Paris in the 1880s, Impressionism's most important time.  Returning to America in the 1890s Hassam, Twachtman and eight other painters formed a group known as The Ten; The Ten were basically an American version of the French Impressionists: revolting against the restrictive, accepted academic style of painting.

Sunlight on the Coast (1890) by Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was an American painter originally from Boston who moved to Maine in 1883.  He established a seaside studio and became well-known for his monumental sea scenes.

Crepuscule in Opal, Trouville (1865) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Though born in Massachusetts, Whistler (most famous for Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, the official name of the portrait Whistler's Mother) spent most of his career in Europe. Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler titled many of his paintings arrangements, harmonies or nocturnes.

I will do one more blog post on this museum to show the last few masterpieces from my visit to this museum.

For more information visit: http://www.toledomuseum.org/.

Toledo Art Museum

2445 Monroe Street

Toledo, OH   43620

Phone: 419.255.6000

For directions: click here.

• Admission is FREE every day for all visitors.
• There may be a charge for special exhibitions.
• Closed Mondays.
• Closed January 1, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day.
• Open 10:00-4:00 on Tuesday-Thursday.
• Open 10:00-10:00 on Friday.
• Open 10:00-6:00 on Saturday.
• Open 12:00-6:00 on Sunday.

NOTE: All photos of the paintings in this blog post were taken by me on my visit to the Toledo Art Museum in May, 2012.

DUTCH PAINTINGS AT THE TOLEDO ART MUSEUM

After my Netherlands trip two years ago I really became enamored with paintings by the Dutch and Flemish Masters.  The Toledo Art Museum has many excellent works by the artists of the Dutch Golden Age in their permanent collection.

Van Campen Family Portrait in a Landscape (1620s) by Frans Hals

Along with Rembrandt and Vermeer, Frans Hals was one of the Netherlands' 17th-century Dutch Masters.  This painting is one of Hals' earliest examples of group family portraiture. A year or two after completing the portrait, for some unknown reason, another painter was asked to add the figure of the child in the lower left corner; the style is noticeably different from that of Hals.

Young Man with Plumed Hat (1631) by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt painted many exotically clothed character studies which he used to display his skill at depicting textures and light effects.

The Happy Child (1645-1650) by Carel Fabritius

Carel Fabritius is often considered Rembrandt's most gifted student.  Tragically he died in 1654 at the age of only 32 at the height of his career in the massive explosion of the Delft gunpowder factory.  Many of Fabritius' paintings were also destroyed in the explosion.

Allegory of Vanity (1633) by Jan Miense Molenaer

Haarlem artist Jan Miense Molenaer was one of the leading painters of genre scenes, scenes of everyday life, in the first half of the 17th century.  He was also the husband of Judith Leyster, a female artist who I have previously written about.

Peasants before an Inn (1650s) by Jan Steen

 

Like Molenaer, Jan Steen was a master of the genre scene; however, Steen became known for his boisterous scenes full of humorous anecdotes that often carried messages warning of foolish behavior.

Courtyard, Delft (1650s) by Pieter de Hooch

Like his fellow Delft painter Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch specialized in quiet scenes of Dutch domestic life especially courtyards at the back of upper middle class homes.  This painting may be de Hooch's earliest example of the subject.

Landscape with Cattle (1660s) by Salomon van Ruysdael

Salomon van Ruysdael was called De Goyer until he and his brother Isaack changed their name to Ruysdael, after the castle near their father's birthplace.  He was known for his landscapes and river scenes.

The Water Mill (1664) by Meyndert Hobbema

Meyndert Hobbema was a student of Jacob van Ruisdael (Jacob's uncle was Salomon, but Jacob spelled Ruisdael with an "i" instead of the "y".)  Hobbema specialized in forest landscapes.

Still Life with Oysters (1642) by Pieter Claesz

Pieter Claesz was one of the pioneers of a type of Dutch still life known as the "breakfast piece" which featured simple meals painted in tones of gray and brown.

Winter Scene on a Canal (1615) by Hendrick Avercamp

Hendrick Avercamp was known as the "Mute of Kampen" due to his deafness.  He was one of the first Dutch artists to specialize in winter scenes.

Supper at Emmaus (1616) by Hendrick Terbrugghen

According to the Gospel of St. Luke, after the death of Christ, two of his disciples traveling down the road to Emmaus met a stranger and invited him to join them.  At supper the stranger blessed the bread and broke it to give to the disciples.  Immediately the disciples saw the stranger was Christ risen from the dead.  After spending ten years painting in Italy Terbrugghen brought back to his native Utrecht a style with dramatic contrasts of light and shade influenced by Caravaggio.

Portrait of a Man (1630) by Anthony van Dyck

By the time he reached his twenties and after years of working as an assistant to Peter Paul Rubens, van Dyck was sought after by distinguished patrons in Britain, Italy and southern Netherlands due to the easy grace, aristocratic reserve and elegance that he imparted to his sitters.

The Crowning of St. Catherine (1631 or 1633) by Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens was one of the most sought-after artists during the 17th century.  Based primarily in Antwerp, Rubens was hailed as the "God of Painters".  He worked for most of the courts of Europe.

In the next post I'm going to show you my favorite American paintings plus other favorites.

For more information visit: http://www.toledomuseum.org/.

Toledo Art Museum

2445 Monroe Street

Toledo, OH   43620

Phone: 419.255.6000

For directions: click here.

• Admission is FREE every day for all visitors.
• There may be a charge for special exhibitions.
• Closed Mondays.
• Closed January 1, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day.
• Open 10:00-4:00 on Tuesday-Thursday.
• Open 10:00-10:00 on Friday.
• Open 10:00-6:00 on Saturday.
• Open 12:00-6:00 on Sunday.

NOTE: All photos of the paintings in this blog post were taken by me on my visit to the Toledo Art Museum in May, 2012.