The Musee d'Orsay opened in 1986, and, according to my journals and pix, we first visited in 1989, on the first Sherouse European Family Vacation. We have visited it every time we've been in Paris since. The period of art history it covers, 1848 to 1914, is one of our favorites, and every visit brings new discoveries and insights. We were there again on June 18th.
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One of the better up-cyclings the world will ever see: the late 19th century railway
portal into Paris from the west and north...just four tracks, according to the exhibit
on the history of the place; and now one of the world's great museums |
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| Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe...compare with |
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Titian's Pastoral Concert, which, I've read, Manet walked past everyday during
his studies in the Louvre |
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On the subject of homage, Fanton-Latour's Homage to Delacroix, featuring
several of the intellectual, literary, and artistic biggies of the day |
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| Extreme close-up: Manet and Charles Baudelaire |
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A favorite view, which you now have to fight to get without all the morons
doing selfies |
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| Some train station! |
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| Renoir's Dance at the Moulin de la Galette |
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French field-trip: they march in quietly, seat themselves in front of the painting,
listen as the teacher tells them about it, take notes on their little assignment sheets,
a few hands go up to ask or answer questions, and they move on; everyone around
them in awe; we've seen this in museum after museum, cathedral after cathedral;
if there's any hope for humanity, it's probably in France |
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Monet, La Rue Montogeuil, fete du 30 juin, 1878; not
Victory over Prussia Day |
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| Degas, The Dance Class |
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| Degas, Absinthe; personal favorite (just kidding) |
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| Monet, Giverny; scene design for recent Woody Allen movie |
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| Look, kids! It's the Houses of Parliament! |
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| Renoir's Young Girls at the Piano |
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Cezanne, The Card Players; wait a second! didn't we just see this at the Louis
Vuitton?! |
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| Cezanne, The Solitaire Player, or, Sacre Bleu, I Ran Out of Canvas! |
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| Love this place |
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| Spare parts |
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But wait! There's more! It's not all in strict chronological or other order, but
rather depends on who donated what, when, and under what stipulations...we'll
seen an extreme case in a later post; anyhow, this is Van Gogh's The Siesta,
perhaps in that same fateful wheat field... |
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| The Orsay's Mona Lisa |
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| Gustave Courbet, The Painter's Studio, 1855; love Courbet... |
