WATERLOGUE WISTFULNESS

I can't believe it's been nearly 10 years since I visited Paris. But I do remember one of my favorite neighborhoods of Paris we visited was Montmartre. I bought my favorite purse there, and we ate lunch at the most charming Parisian café on Place du Tertre.

Located on charming Place Emile Goudeau, the Bateau Lavoir was made up of small painting studios occupied in the very beginning of the 20th century by some of the most famous French painters such as Juan Gris, Amadeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, André Derain, Maurice Utrillo and of course, Pablo Picasso. It is in the building that Picasso painted one of his most famous paintings, Les Demoiseles d'Avignon, considered by art historians as the beginning of his Cubist period.

If you are interested in purchasing variations of this print, please visit my Travels in Watercolor blog by clicking here.

Thank you for visiting,

A Great Europe Trip Planner 

Photo taken by me during my visit to Paris in May, 2006.
Waterlogue image created by me.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.

WATERLOGUE WISTFULNESS

This week's Waterlogue wistfulness is from my trip to Paris in 2006 which was my first European trip since I was a teenager. This was one of the first photographs I took in Paris and it is one of my favorites.

Everyone takes the required photo of the Eiffel Tower, but the park area surrounding the Eiffel Tower also makes for enchanting photographs.

If you are interested in purchasing variations of this print, please visit my Travels in Watercolor blog by clicking here.

Thank you for visiting,

A Great Europe Trip Planner 

Photo taken by me during my visit to Paris in May, 2006.
Waterlogue image created by me.

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC IN THE DALE COLLECTION

Oops! I left out one artist predominate in the Chester Dale collection: Henri de  Toulouse-Lautrec. Chester Dale purchased a total of 25 works by this artist.

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's work was intimately connected to the life of Montmartre from the start of his professional career. His work featured the singers, dancers, and patrons of the nightclubs like the Moulin Rouge, and the cafés and brothels that dotted the slopes of the Montmartre hillside.

Isolation due to physical handicaps and genetic deformities, (perhaps due to too many family marriages of cousin to cousin) helped Toulouse-Lautrec sympathize with those who frequented the seedy places of Montmartre. He was a master at focusing on one person in the middle of a crowd scene.

Maxime Dethomas (1896)

Rue des Moulins (1894)

 




A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette (1892)

Quadrille at the Moulin Rouge (1892)

Alfred la Guigne (1894)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is known along with Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period.  He mastered the new medium of color lithography and produced an impressive body of posters and printed illustrations.  Throughout his career, which spanned less than 20 years (he was only 37 when he died), Toulouse-Lautrec created 737 canvases, 275 watercolors, 363 prints and posters and 5,084 drawings. 

The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets along Constitution Avenue.

• Admission is always FREE.
• Open Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Open Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Closed on December 25 and January 1. 

All photos in this blog post were taken by me during my visit in September, 2013.

VINCENT AT THE ORSAY

Amazing as it is, Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime.  One painting!  Now Vincent van Gogh is one of the most beloved painters.  One of his paintings can sell for tens of millions of dollars. 

The Musée d'Orsay's permanent collection contains some of the most famous and beautiful works by Vincent van Gogh.

Van Gogh often used himself as a model; he produced over 43 self-portraits, paintings or drawings in ten years.
 
La Chambre de Van Gogh à Arles (1889)

I have seen all three versions of this painting: here at the Musée d'Orsay, at the Art Institute of Chicago and in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

L'Arlésienne (1888)

Madame Ginoux ran the Café de la Gare in Arles.  Van Gogh, inspired by the sketches of her by his friend, Paul Gauguin, ended up painting six different paintings of Madame Ginoux.

Eugène Boch (1888)

Eugène Boch was a Belgian painter and a member of the family of fine china manufacturers, the Boch of Villeroy & Boch.  Eugène often exchanged works with other artists, as he did with van Gogh.  Upon his death in 1941, Boch bequeathed this painting, which he received in accordance to the last will of Vincent and Theo, to the Louvre.

Le Docteur Paul Gachet (1890)

After he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent became a patient of Dr. Gachet on the advice of his brother Theo. The portrait of the doctor was painted during van Gogh's particularly intense creative phase. The doctor is portrayed in a melancholy pose reflecting, as Van Gogh wrote, "the desolate expression of our time". The only touch of hope in the portrait brushed in cold colors is the foxglove which brings a little comfort and relief through its curative properties. 

La sieste: d'après Millet (1890)

The siesta was painted while Van Gogh was in the mental hospital in Saint-Rémy de Provence. The composition is taken from a drawing by French painter Jean-François Millet. Van Gogh often copied the works of Millet.
 
La Salle de Danse à Arles (1888)

This painting shows an evening at the Folies-Arlésiennes, a dance hall on Boulevard des Lices in Arles. A reference to Japanese art is evident in the strange, decorative foreground where the curves of the hair are dominant.

In May 1890, van Gogh left the clinic in Saint-Rémy to be closer to his brother, Theo and Dr. Gachet in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise.  During these 70 days van Gogh painted nearly 70 paintings, some of his most beautiful works.
Mademoiselle Gachet dans son jardin à Auvers-sur-Oise (1890)

Chaumes de Cordeville à Auvers-sur-Oise (1890)

L'Église d'Auvers-sur-Oise, Vue du Chevet (1890)

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. Unfortunately photography is no longer allowed at the museum.

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.