We were in Paris in 2014 as the construction of the Louis Vuitton Foundation was in its closing weeks. Having seen Frank
Gehry's spectacular Guggenheim Museum/Balboa edifice (twice; just search
Gehry), we were sure to see
the LVF, another of his works, on our next visit. Our next visit was
in 2016 or so, and the exhibition within was unappealing. The next
year, the treatment of the building, like a huge picnic table cloth, was similarly unappealing. This year, however, the temporary exhibition was of
Impressionist paintings, and the building was itself unadorned, and so,
along with Rachel and Rebecca and Penelope, we took Metro #1 to the Bois de
Boulogne. P and her mom had already seen the LVF and were anxious to
return to the Jardin d'Acclimatation, which adjoins the Foundation.
Rachel had already seen the Courtauld Collection, twice, in London,
but accompanied us mostly to see the LVF building and its permanent
collection. The Impressionist exhibit was fine, even illuminating. The museum structure was, as I sometimes say, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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Approaching view; yes, looks like a Frank Gehry, but it's
fabric, not titanium |
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| Suitably-attired security guard |
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| Gehry's first sketch of the building |
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| Possibly helpful models... |
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| Large format/NBA elevator |
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We took in a bit of the permanent collection; I hope it's not
really permanent |
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Gerhard Richter's Grau #334-3 (1973); so featureless my
camera could find nothing to focus on |
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Vicki assists for scale; and focus; with that, we passed on
most of the rest of the collection |
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| Sculpture |
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From the high terraces one could hope for fine views of Paris from the west;
this is the Bois de Boulogne, a bit of it |
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| But the building's orientation and the sails prohibit views of anything of interest |
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| Just one little snippet |
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| Us, there; note la belle casquette, which I had just acquired from Emmaus |
