At the Musée d’Orsay
It was such a pleasure returning to the Musée d’Orsay during this recent trip to Paris. Set in an old train terminus by the Seine, just across from the Tuilieries Garden, this museum houses some of the finest French art from the mid-19th century onwards, including a huge collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works – surely the highlight of any visit. I was last at the Orsay back in the summer of 2003, and it was a real treat stepping back into its galleries, and finding many of my old friends exactly where I had left them.
The curious thing is that although France is the birthplace of Impressionism – the art movement which swept through the world, moving from high culture to kitsch – many of the real masterpieces are actually not to be found in the country. I think the reason might have been because the works were initially not well received locally. Instead, they sprang into prominence only after many wealthy American collectors acquired them, which might explain why some of the best Impressionist works are to be found across the Atlantic.
Nonetheless, the Musée d’Orsay certainly does offers a wide selection, including some of the more seminal pieces, such as this one, the Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Eduoard Manet, which shocked the artistic sensibilities of his time with his stark portrayal of the naked woman who stares at you directly. And you can see she isn’t awkward or embarrassed in any way. And that’s part of the reason why it was controversial. It wasn’t the nudity, per se, for artists since antiquity had rendered the female nude form frequently, whether in painting or sculpture. But this was so removed from any religious or classical context, and served therefore as affront to existing artistic conventions.
Pierre-Auguste Renior’s Moulin de la Galette can also to be found at the museum. Along with his Luncheon of the Boating Party, which hangs at the Philips Collection in Washington DC, this is one of Renior’s most famous works which features a multiplicity of faces, conveying the charm of 19th century French social life. This is classic impressionism, not only in terms of the artistic style, but of the subject matter - ordinary people, not gods, not figures from antiquity, not the nobility, but the depiction of common everyday life.
Whistler’s Mother, by the American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, is one of the museum’s star attractions. But I’ve never been able to figure out why this image has become so popular and iconic, with so many people being familiar with it. To me, it just depicts an old hag. But I can even remember that it was featured in the 1997 movie Mr Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, with our eponymous hero being charged with escorting the delivery of the painting from Britain to America.
There were a few paintings from Claude Monet’s famous Rouen Cathedral series, where he sought to portray its façade under different lighting conditions. Monet usually painted from an angle, but the Musée d’Orsay included a rare full-fronted depiction of the Cathedral as well. How did he perceive these blurry and indistinct hues? Through sheer creative genius? But just a couple of weeks ago, speculation emerged that Monet’s cataract problems may have meant that those fuzzy images he painted were an actual representation of how he saw the world.
One of the movements in post-Impressionism could be located in the works of the Pointillists – artists who sought to introduce a supposed scientific method of painting by creating very many small points of colors, which, when viewed collectively by the human eye, presented the viewer with a fuller range of impressions. The following four paintings were produced by a different artist, yet with each using the same technique. I was amazed to learn that even Matisse, whom we know mainly as a twentieth century painter, and who is represented in the fourth image below, even dabbled with that technique.
Finally, moving away from the visual arts, here’s one of the real delights of this most engaging of museums – the original sculpture of the white polar bear by that French creator of animal works, Francois Pompon. How friendly it looks. I truly enjoyed this visit to the Musée d’Orsay. And if not for the museum’s liberal camera policy, I wouldn’t have been able to reproduce these images here. One day, but perhaps not in the near future, I hope to be back.
The curious thing is that although France is the birthplace of Impressionism – the art movement which swept through the world, moving from high culture to kitsch – many of the real masterpieces are actually not to be found in the country. I think the reason might have been because the works were initially not well received locally. Instead, they sprang into prominence only after many wealthy American collectors acquired them, which might explain why some of the best Impressionist works are to be found across the Atlantic.
Nonetheless, the Musée d’Orsay certainly does offers a wide selection, including some of the more seminal pieces, such as this one, the Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Eduoard Manet, which shocked the artistic sensibilities of his time with his stark portrayal of the naked woman who stares at you directly. And you can see she isn’t awkward or embarrassed in any way. And that’s part of the reason why it was controversial. It wasn’t the nudity, per se, for artists since antiquity had rendered the female nude form frequently, whether in painting or sculpture. But this was so removed from any religious or classical context, and served therefore as affront to existing artistic conventions.
Pierre-Auguste Renior’s Moulin de la Galette can also to be found at the museum. Along with his Luncheon of the Boating Party, which hangs at the Philips Collection in Washington DC, this is one of Renior’s most famous works which features a multiplicity of faces, conveying the charm of 19th century French social life. This is classic impressionism, not only in terms of the artistic style, but of the subject matter - ordinary people, not gods, not figures from antiquity, not the nobility, but the depiction of common everyday life.
Whistler’s Mother, by the American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, is one of the museum’s star attractions. But I’ve never been able to figure out why this image has become so popular and iconic, with so many people being familiar with it. To me, it just depicts an old hag. But I can even remember that it was featured in the 1997 movie Mr Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, with our eponymous hero being charged with escorting the delivery of the painting from Britain to America.
There were a few paintings from Claude Monet’s famous Rouen Cathedral series, where he sought to portray its façade under different lighting conditions. Monet usually painted from an angle, but the Musée d’Orsay included a rare full-fronted depiction of the Cathedral as well. How did he perceive these blurry and indistinct hues? Through sheer creative genius? But just a couple of weeks ago, speculation emerged that Monet’s cataract problems may have meant that those fuzzy images he painted were an actual representation of how he saw the world.
One of the movements in post-Impressionism could be located in the works of the Pointillists – artists who sought to introduce a supposed scientific method of painting by creating very many small points of colors, which, when viewed collectively by the human eye, presented the viewer with a fuller range of impressions. The following four paintings were produced by a different artist, yet with each using the same technique. I was amazed to learn that even Matisse, whom we know mainly as a twentieth century painter, and who is represented in the fourth image below, even dabbled with that technique.
Finally, moving away from the visual arts, here’s one of the real delights of this most engaging of museums – the original sculpture of the white polar bear by that French creator of animal works, Francois Pompon. How friendly it looks. I truly enjoyed this visit to the Musée d’Orsay. And if not for the museum’s liberal camera policy, I wouldn’t have been able to reproduce these images here. One day, but perhaps not in the near future, I hope to be back.
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