On May 10th we made our last visit to the Orsay for the year, visiting the Impressionists, a special exhibit on the identification of stolen art in WWII, and a section of non-Impressionist late 19th century work. Oh, and for hard-core art appreciationistas, I should mention that my new article, "Monet in America, 1889-90," is up and ready to view here.
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| Personal favorite, always to re-post, Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, 1862 |
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Gustave Caillebotte, The Boating Party or Oarsman in a Top Hat,
1879; acquired by the Musee d'Orsay in 2022 for nearly $50mm;
Caillebotte painted, usually more realistic scenes, but is most remembered
as a patron and collector of the Impressionists; his collection, donated
to the state, is the core of the Orsay's Impressionist department |
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The identity of the top-hatted oarsman is unknown,
but I vote for Manet, here shown from a nearby Fanton-Latour
group portrait; Manet and Caillebotte were known to be close,
the former much influencing the latter's realist tendencies |
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| Another Caillebotte, The House Painters, 1877 |
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And more famously, his Floor Scrapers...1875; reminded us of scraping
and caulking the floor of our home in Montana... |
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| Very late Renoir, reverting to his Rubens period? |
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| Van Gogh, Church of Auvers sur Oise, 1890 |
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| One of the three Starry Nights |
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The post-Impressionists had an interest in (manually-operated)
fans and designing images for fans...this one by Gauguin |
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| Another by Toulouse-Lautrec |
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| Unusual Renoir landscape...Algerian scene, 1881 |
Henri Gervex,
A Session of the Painting Jury, before 1885;
a raised umbrella (Paris is more beautiful in the rain") was
a yes vote; Gervex himself was disqualified from competition
in the Salon some years earlier (painted a nude that was
considered in poor taste)
An interesting exhibit funded by the American Friends of
the Musee d'Orsay...some of the Orsay's holdings,
recovered from the Germans after 1945, for which proper
owners have never been found...most likely all murdered...
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One of Cezanne's many Mt. Victoix landscapes...ruled a fake after the war, now considered genuine |
An important earlier Renoir,
Madame Alphonse Daudet, 1876
Alfred Stevens,
Brother and Sister by the Sea at Honfleur, 1891;
there were many such paintings, many by well-known artists
From a great video on the whole sordid affair... Goering examining
his latest hoard
Due credit to the US Army "Monuments Men," who recovered much
of what had been stolen; watch the movie! read the book!
Rose Valland, museum curator, member of the Resistance, kept meticulous
secret notes on the German plundering, leading to the recovery of many works
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Now moving on to another part of the museum...a great sort-of Romeo
and Juliet scene, Alexandre Cabanel, The Death of Francesca de Rimini
and Paolo Malatesta, 1870; not Romeo and Juliet... |
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| William Bouguereau, Equality Before Death, 1848 |
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| William Bouguereau, Birth of Venus, 1879 |
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| Cabanel, Birth of Venus, 1863 |
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| Jean-Leon Jerome, Young Greeks Attending a Cock Fight, 1846 |
