Thursday 6th February 2020
The Musee d'Orsay is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. It contains the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by artists including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gaugin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.
Much of the time I just walked around with a big smile on my face, coming face to face with paintings I had known and loved since I was a little girl. Some of the time I was close to tears. Even looking out the window was like looking at a painting. It was a stunning blue-sky day, and the gallery is right beside the Seine. You could see people on the other side walking or sitting in the sun beside the river, while above them rose the towering walls of the Louvre, which was directly opposite. The bare branches of the winter trees made lacy patterns against the intense blue of the sky.
Not bad for a railway station, but far more suitable as an art gallery.
Photographing paintings does them a disservice, I always think. Firstly, it's very hard to photograph them exactly front-on, so one side or end usually ends up bigger than the other. Secondly, there are often lights or reflections causing interruptions. However, I am including these badly-photographed paintings just to record that I have actually stood in front of them. Still walking on air.
Sometimes, if the painting is too crooked, I have cropped the frame off altogether.
Most pictures are included here with no comment, because none is needed. Just ahhhh!
Jean-Francois Millet: Les Glaneuses 1857.
James McNeill Whistler: Arrangement in Gray and Black No.1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother
1871.
I have always felt an affinity with this painting, probably more for the McNeill part of the artist's name than with the subject. It's even spelt the same way as my maiden name, although on the frame here the spelling is MacNeill. Apparently Whistler designed the frame.
This painting struck a chord with audiences during the Great Depression as a symbol of mothers stoically bearing hardships. The image has been used since the Victorian era as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and "family values" in general, especially in the United States. In 1934 the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp engraved with the portrait detail from Whistler's Mother, bearing the slogan "In memory and in honor of the mothers of America." It has been described as an American icon, and even a Victorian Mona Lisa.
It is said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother, (Anna McNeill Whistler) was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period.
Paul Gaugin: Paysannes Bretonnes 1894
Paul Cezanne: Nature Morte au Tiroir Ouvert 1877-9.
Paul Cezanne: Cinq Baigneurs 1900-04.
Gustav Klimt: Rosiers sous les Arbres 1905
Looking out the window over the Seine to the Louvre. Even the dirty window adds texture to the blue sky.
Gustave Caillebotte: Raboteurs de Parquet 1875.
Looking at this picture, Stuart and I were independently reminded of Tom Roberts' Shearing the Rams.
Tom Roberts: Shearing the Rams 1890 (National Gallery of Victoria).
(Just included here for comparison.)
Georges Seurat: Le Cirque 1890-91
This was Seurat's last painting, in a Neo-Impressionist style, making use of the emotional and symbolic meaning of lines and colours. It remained unfinished at his premature death at the age of 31 from diphtheuretic angina in March 1891.
Seurat even painted the blue border, which is why, although it is distorted, I have left it in.
Paul Signac: Femmes au Puits 1892.
This Neo-Impressionist painting "celebrates the contrast between the primary colours yellow and blue and the complementary colours purple and yellow." (From the blurb on the wall).
Paul Signac: La Boulee Rouge 1895.
Paul Cezanne: La Montagne Sainte-Victoire 1890.
Paul Cezanne: Bathers 1890.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Jeunes Filles au Piano 1892.
(A special one for me.)
Claude Monet: Le Bassin aux Nympheas, Harmonie Verte 1892.
Claude Monet: Londres, le Parlement, Trouee de Soleil dans le Brouillard 1904.
Looking out the window again, this time to Sacre Coeur.
Claude Monet: Preparatory Sketch for Plein Air Figures 1886.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Dance a la Ville, Danse a la Compagne 1883.
These were designed as companion pieces. Renoir exploits the contrast between the cold colour palette of the former and the bright red and yellow of the latter, and between the reserved attitude of the middle-class dancers and the very relaxed manner of the working class couple.
Gustave Caillebotte: Sailing Boats at Argenteuil Circa 1888.
Gustave Caillebotte: Vue de Toits (Effet de Neige) 1878.
Gustave Caillebotte: Trees in Blossom 1882.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Dance at the Moulin de la Galette 1876.
Edouard Manet: La Dejeuner sur l'Herbe 1863.
This painting caused an instant scandal when exhibited in 1863 as it represented such a marked departure from the academic tradition of only depicting mythological figures in the nude - there are no goddesses here! The work was also deemed to be obscene on account of its non-standard techniques. But look at what it started!
Vincent Van Gogh: Fritillaires, couronne imperiale dans un vase de cuivre 1887.
Vincent Van Gogh: La Chambre de Van Gogh a Arles 1888.
Vincent Van Gogh: L'Eglise d'Auvers-sur-Oise, vue de Chevet 1890.
Vincent Van Gogh: La Meridienne 1890.
Vincent Van Gogh: Chaumes de Cordeville a Auvers-sur-Oise 1890.
Paul Gaugin: Et l'Or de leur Corps 1901.
Henri Provensal: Projet Onirique: Tombeau pour un poete 1901.
(Stuart really liked this one.)
Unbelievably grateful to have stood in front of so many paintings which are a part of me, in this beautiful setting. A day to treasure.
The Musee d'Orsay is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. It contains the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by artists including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gaugin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.
Much of the time I just walked around with a big smile on my face, coming face to face with paintings I had known and loved since I was a little girl. Some of the time I was close to tears. Even looking out the window was like looking at a painting. It was a stunning blue-sky day, and the gallery is right beside the Seine. You could see people on the other side walking or sitting in the sun beside the river, while above them rose the towering walls of the Louvre, which was directly opposite. The bare branches of the winter trees made lacy patterns against the intense blue of the sky.
On the way to the gallery. Such a beautiful blue-sky day.
Not bad for a railway station, but far more suitable as an art gallery.
Photographing paintings does them a disservice, I always think. Firstly, it's very hard to photograph them exactly front-on, so one side or end usually ends up bigger than the other. Secondly, there are often lights or reflections causing interruptions. However, I am including these badly-photographed paintings just to record that I have actually stood in front of them. Still walking on air.
Sometimes, if the painting is too crooked, I have cropped the frame off altogether.
Most pictures are included here with no comment, because none is needed. Just ahhhh!
Jean-Francois Millet: Les Glaneuses 1857.
James McNeill Whistler: Arrangement in Gray and Black No.1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother
1871.
I have always felt an affinity with this painting, probably more for the McNeill part of the artist's name than with the subject. It's even spelt the same way as my maiden name, although on the frame here the spelling is MacNeill. Apparently Whistler designed the frame.
This painting struck a chord with audiences during the Great Depression as a symbol of mothers stoically bearing hardships. The image has been used since the Victorian era as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and "family values" in general, especially in the United States. In 1934 the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp engraved with the portrait detail from Whistler's Mother, bearing the slogan "In memory and in honor of the mothers of America." It has been described as an American icon, and even a Victorian Mona Lisa.
It is said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother, (Anna McNeill Whistler) was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period.
Paul Gaugin: Paysannes Bretonnes 1894
Paul Cezanne: Nature Morte au Tiroir Ouvert 1877-9.
Paul Cezanne: Cinq Baigneurs 1900-04.
Gustav Klimt: Rosiers sous les Arbres 1905
Looking out the window over the Seine to the Louvre. Even the dirty window adds texture to the blue sky.
Gustave Caillebotte: Raboteurs de Parquet 1875.
Looking at this picture, Stuart and I were independently reminded of Tom Roberts' Shearing the Rams.
Tom Roberts: Shearing the Rams 1890 (National Gallery of Victoria).
(Just included here for comparison.)
Georges Seurat: Le Cirque 1890-91
This was Seurat's last painting, in a Neo-Impressionist style, making use of the emotional and symbolic meaning of lines and colours. It remained unfinished at his premature death at the age of 31 from diphtheuretic angina in March 1891.
Seurat even painted the blue border, which is why, although it is distorted, I have left it in.
Paul Signac: Femmes au Puits 1892.
This Neo-Impressionist painting "celebrates the contrast between the primary colours yellow and blue and the complementary colours purple and yellow." (From the blurb on the wall).
Paul Signac: La Boulee Rouge 1895.
Paul Cezanne: Bathers 1890.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Jeunes Filles au Piano 1892.
(A special one for me.)
Claude Monet: Le Bassin aux Nympheas, Harmonie Verte 1892.
Looking out the window again, this time to Sacre Coeur.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Dance a la Ville, Danse a la Compagne 1883.
These were designed as companion pieces. Renoir exploits the contrast between the cold colour palette of the former and the bright red and yellow of the latter, and between the reserved attitude of the middle-class dancers and the very relaxed manner of the working class couple.
Gustave Caillebotte: Sailing Boats at Argenteuil Circa 1888.
Gustave Caillebotte: Vue de Toits (Effet de Neige) 1878.
Gustave Caillebotte: Trees in Blossom 1882.
Pierre Auguste Renoir: Dance at the Moulin de la Galette 1876.
Edouard Manet: La Dejeuner sur l'Herbe 1863.
This painting caused an instant scandal when exhibited in 1863 as it represented such a marked departure from the academic tradition of only depicting mythological figures in the nude - there are no goddesses here! The work was also deemed to be obscene on account of its non-standard techniques. But look at what it started!
Vincent Van Gogh: Fritillaires, couronne imperiale dans un vase de cuivre 1887.
Vincent Van Gogh: La Chambre de Van Gogh a Arles 1888.
Vincent Van Gogh: L'Eglise d'Auvers-sur-Oise, vue de Chevet 1890.
Vincent Van Gogh: La Meridienne 1890.
Vincent Van Gogh: Chaumes de Cordeville a Auvers-sur-Oise 1890.
Paul Gaugin: Et l'Or de leur Corps 1901.
Henri Provensal: Projet Onirique: Tombeau pour un poete 1901.
(Stuart really liked this one.)
Unbelievably grateful to have stood in front of so many paintings which are a part of me, in this beautiful setting. A day to treasure.
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