Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Paris :: Part 6 : Le Musee D'Orsay


Here's a drawing of the great hall of Le Musee D'Orsay with it's magnificent gilded clock. This once-upon-a-time railroad station is now housing most incredible 19th-century art, including impressionism, realism, postimpressionism, and art nouveau. Turns out the museum is only 33 years old.  I LOVE this place like no other. There are giant Toulouse-Lautrecs (how DID he paint such huge canvases? "With a broom", jokes my teacher Ronnie, as she walks by.) There are Van Goghs, vibrating with so much energy that they practically emit sounds. There are Degas figurines-a whole wall of them! There is the famous Renoir's "Boating Party" painting  that Amelie's neighbor kept copying in the movie. There's the Monet's "The Picnic" that Picasso studied over and over again with his numerous iterations. There are Bonnards, Cezannes, Daumiers, Gaugins, Monets, Vuillards...all those great impressionistic paintings are so alive in person, so beautiful, that their impact just overwhelms. I get very emotional there. I miss you, D'Orsay. 

p.s. Happy Birthday, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec! 

1 comment:

  1. I'm so with you on the Musee d'Orsay! I could barely sit down to draw at all, I just wanted to keep looking!

    ReplyDelete