Paris: Art, The Metro, Churches & More

While preparing this blog, Steve informed me that I don't have to share everything I do and see. While my posts are rather lengthy, trust me, there is no way I can showcase my favorite city as thoroughly as I would really like. You are seeing but a fraction. So sit back with a strong cup of café and enjoy our day with us.

The Musée d'Orsay was a must see to reacquaint ourselves with our favorites and to discover artists we have never known. The museum itself is one of our favorites- intimate with a great deal of history. "The museum was installed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. So the building itself could be seen as the first work of art in the Musée d'Orsay, which displays collections of art from the period 1848 to 1914."
We went specifically for the newest exhibit, Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism.
150 years ago, on April 15, 1874, the first Impressionist exhibition opened in Paris. “Hungry for independence”, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and even Cézanne decided to free themselves from the rules by organizing their own exhibition, outside official channels: impressionism was born. To celebrate this anniversary, the Musée d'Orsay is presenting some 130 works, and taking a fresh look at this key date, considered the kick-off of the avant-gardes.
Paris 1874 takes stock of the circumstances that led these 31 artists – among whom only seven are now universally renowned – to join to exhibit their works together. The climate of the period is that of a post-war period, following two conflicts: the Franco-German War of 1870, then a violent civil war. In this context of crisis, artists are rethinking their art and exploring new directions. A small “clan of rebels” paints scenes of modern life, or landscapes in light tones and with a lively touch, sketched in the open air. As one observer notes, "what they seem to be looking for above all is impression."
"In Paris 1874, a selection of works that appeared at the Impressionist exhibition of 1874 is put into perspective with paintings and sculptures shown at the same time as the Official Salon. This unprecedented confrontation allows us to recreate the visual shock of the works then exhibited by the Impressionists, but also to nuance it, through unexpected parallels and overlaps between the first Impressionist exhibition and the Salon." What surprised us the most was the complete separation of the two art genres. It was like an artistic Civil War, something unknown to us. Wild.
The  background history is so interesting. In the late 1860s, artists including Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro and Bazille were developing a new style of painting, conveying with a spirited touch, in natural or urban settings, their own perception of the world. United by aesthetic affinities, these friends envisage joining forces to organize their own exhibition, outside of the official circuit and the Salon system, from which they were all too often excluded. Bazille is confident: "We are sure to succeed. You will see. People will talk about us." Killed in combat during the Franco-Prussian War, Bazille never found out just how right his prediction was.

When the exhibition of the "Anonymous Society" opened its doors, it featured some 200 works selected by the artists themselves, without the authority of a jury or the involvement of a dealer. The artists hung the pieces themselves, in Nadar's former studio, on walls covered in reddish-brown woolen fabric. All that remains to give us an idea of this exhibition are written accounts, and its catalogue. The first room, evoked here, likely set up by Renoir, gives his paintings pride of place, with dazzling snapshots of modern life: Paris – the city of fashion and entertainment - with its boulevards, dancers and spectators, subjects that were also observed by Monet and Degas.


I delighted in seeing all my favorite artists and their pivotal works. I was giddy. Every note card I have ever sent was on display which cracked me up.


I wanted to sit down with these children and join in their artistic fun. So cute.




Oh and I got to see my Degas!



I will always have a spot in my heart for Van Gogh.


No one can paint sorrowful like Vincent.
While far from Impressionism these "grandes machines" were impressive. For many years large formats were the exclusive 'preserve of history painting' devoted to mythological, historical, and religious subjects, as the monumental scale was restricted to the depiction of noble and edifying events.
"Post-1900, cinema gradually began to take over from these paintings, which had become a source of popular public entertainment." Hmmm.

This is the iconic photograph everyone captures when coming to this Musée. It rates as my favorite photo of the day. I absolutely love this museum. In Paris 1874 was a perfect introduction to all things wonderfully Parisian. This video is an incredible glimpse of 1900 when this train station was built. Si merveilleux!

In the book 111 Places in Paris That You Shouldn't Miss, #7 was the Arts et Métiers Metro Station. This station is like something from a Jules Verne book. Are we in the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?
Created in 1994 for the bicentennial celebration of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, the station is entirely copper colored- even its vaulted archways. It is a tribute to the technical and industrial heritage of the Conservatory, as are the enormous gearwheels on the ceilings, which also hint at the many constructed-themed works on exhibit in the nearby Arts et Métiers museum (which we will have to save for another visit).
Line 11 is, at 4 miles, the shortest of the Parisian Metro lines and one of the least used. It was also one of the last to be put into service, in 1935. But how many other lines get to boast a station like this one? We went here just to ogle its uniqueness. We're so glad we did.
The final stop was at Sainte-Chapelle.
With Notre Dame still closed due to the 2019 fire, all the Paris churches are feeling love. A precious vestige of the royal palace of the City , the Sainte-Chapelle was built in the middle of the 13th century by Louis IX, the future Saint Louis, to house the most prestigious relics of the Passion of Christ: the Crown of Thorns and the fragment of the True Cross.





The walls of this small chapel, one of the supreme achievements of the Middle Ages, consist of more stained glass than stone-all told, it forms the largest expanse of stained glass in the world.



The 1,113 scenes depicted on the 15 stained glass windows tell the story of mankind from the Creation to Christ's Resurrection, through a series of episodes from the different books of the Bible. The windows date from the 13th century (1242 to 1248) and spread over an area of almost 7000 square feet.
Rose Window, which depicts St John's vision of the Apocalypse, is 30 feet in diameter, and dates from the 15th century.


This photo sums up the weather we've had for the last two days.
And here is today's Eiffel Tower sighting. I feel like I'm getting closer! This quote, by  Samantha Schutz made me laugh, “Even the pigeons are dancing, kissing, going in circles, mounting each other. Paris is the city of love, even for the birds.”

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