Warning: Naked People Ahead!
Saturday morning was grey and cool as we left our studio to catch the Metro to the Musée d'Orsay, one of the highlights of our trip to Europe. It was for me especially after studying this period of French art, 1848-1914 (from the succession of the 2nd Republic to the start of World War 1), during my four years at the Ottawa School of Art. We had to wait in line for almost an hour, the clouds spitting and a cool breeze fluttering the French Tricolour over what used to be the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built in 1900 for the World Fair. With the modernization of trains the station was gradually abandoned and in 1977 the French government decided to transform the building into a museum. It was inaugurated in 1986 and many famous artists from Acadesism, Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism and more are presented here - Bonnard, Cézanne, Courbet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Rodin and others I remember so well. I think it was the first time I had actually felt weak in the knees as I gazed upon some of the most recognizable works of art of all time!
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| Renoir, The Bathers |
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| Monet's Woman with a Parasol studies |
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| Renoir's Dance in the Country and Dance in the City |
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| Degas' The Ballet Class |
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| Renoir's Young Woman in the Sun |
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| Olympia by Manet |
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| Manet's Luncheon on the Grass |
During my Diploma year at the Ottawa School of Art I was required to submit an hour long video and audio presentation on Gustave Courbet's
L'Origine du Monde, the Origin of the World, an oil-on-canvas painting done in 1866. As it is a close up of the genitals and abdomen of a naked woman (the
bas-ventre as it has been coyly described), lying on a bed with her legs spread I wondered how I was going to escape the obvious titillation and voyeurism that is associated with this work, especially in a class with half a dozen young ladies. The painting itself was thought to be commissioned by the Turkish-Egyptian diplomat Khalil-Bey while in Paris, disappearing for years and resurfacing again in 1995. This work was a radical move into new realism by Courbet and the identity of the model is still being questioned, usually said to be the Irish woman Joanna Hiffernan. To many this painting and many of Courbet's works which I have included here demand a physical reaction, not having much to do with the brain, but simply a glorious celebration of woman, open to the male or female gaze. Gustave Courbet will always be one of my favourite artists and I am unbelievably lucky to have been able to stand before his magnificent paintings. Thanks again to my Art History teacher for introducing me to him and his amazing piece,
L'Origine du Monde!
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| Courbet's "L'Origine du Monde" |
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| Courbet's The Wounded Man |
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| Courbet's A Painter's Studio |
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| Courbet's A Burial at Ornans |
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| Courbet's The Kill of Deer |
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| William Bouguereau Les Oreades |
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| The excommunication of Robert le Pieux by Jean-Paul Laurens |
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| Jean Lecomte du Nouy's Ramses dans son harem |
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| Gabriel Ferrier. Scenes from the Spanish Inquisition (partial close up) |
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| EDouard Maxence La Legend Bratcare |
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| Toulouse-Lautrec |
Reluctantly leaving the d'Orsay Marie and I walked under threatening rain clouds to the Eiffel tower, following the Seine past the National Assembly and the Grand Palais. By the time we got there it was pouring but
voila! the sun poked through the clouds and we managed to take some decent photos. Security was evident everywhere and took away from the romanticism I associate with this place but it was still worth the walk. From there we crossed the Seine and walked up Ave George V to the Champs-Elysees, called by every Frenchman
la plus belle avenue du monde.. It was there we discovered where the population of Paris spends its afternoon! The wide boulevard was crammed with thousands of people jostling for position along the sidewalks, either heading back towards the Louvre or towards the Arc de Triomphe as we were. Expensive shops line both of the street of elegant facades and leafy plane trees. It was mass tourism at it's worst. The crowds didn't slow a bit as we crossed under the roar of traffic circling the biggest arch in the world and stood under one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz and as I walked around this massive monument I wondered how many of the milling Asian and American tourists taking selfies or lining up to get a panoramic view of Paris from the top had an inkling of what it was all about...We caught the nearest Metro back to our apartment after stopping to buy supper and, exhausted,were in bed by ten. Tomorrow the Louvre...
gws
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| outside the Musée d'Orsay |
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| River Seine by the Musée d'Orsay |
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| on the Champs-Elysees |
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| Arc de TriompheAdd caption |
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| boulangerie near the studio |
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| our studio, 6th floor |
