Today we crossed town to the Musee d’Orsay.
This is the art museum stuck in time between The Louvre (old art) and The Pompidou Centre (modern art). That pretty much leaves the 19th century for the Orsay. This is such a vast collection of pre-impressionist and post-impressionist paintings that it is difficult to know what to share with you. We saw many works by famous artists that we had not seen before. Likewise we saw some works by artists who are less well known.
Here are some works by famous artists that may not be what you expect to see. Please be patient there are many paintings and it takes time to load!
Here some highlights of lesser known artists that caught my eye.
Of course we all know Manet’s Olympia:
You might not know that Cezanne had a little fun with his friend with his own version:
Une Olympia Moderne
As always, a visit to this wonderful institution is an education. We ended the day in a rain storm that soaked us to the skin as we ran across the river to the metro station. Dinner was as guests of our friend, JP, who continued his culinary excellence with a cold zuchini soup, vinegar chicken and spinach. Of course this was all washed down with cold Proseco and some great red wine from Les Baux de Provence.
Time for bed.
Paul
Travels With Picasso 
I love the Monet paintings of winter scenes. A few years ago, there was an exhibition in San Francisco called The Impressionists in Winter. The scene with the bird on the fence is one of my all-time favorite paintings. I was fascinated by the shades of blue in the shadows on snow. It made me reconsider what I had overlooked in all those East Coast winters, in terms of the subtle things that an artist’s eye can see.
Yes, an ukulele is not an ocarina; I shall try to remember.
As for Orsay, it has interesting paintings, from the painters whom we all know, the impressionists and around, but also from the painters who were not involved in the novelties of the time. In the nineteenth and twentieth century that gives a group of very academic painters. We tend to consider that they know how to paint or to draw but are less interesting as they have nothing novel to propose. It is déjà vu all over again. Art history of course tends to privilege the innovators. That leads directly to the end of the twentieth century and present day in which there is not much left but exploration for exploration sake. That can quickly become very boring.
Looking’ good, Jean!