Art, Art & More Art
Les Nymphéas de Claude Monet * Le Collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume
(Point at each photo to read the caption; click to enlarge.)
ABOVE: Because photography is not allowed in the upper level which contains Monet's Water Lily cycle, these are stock photos from the internet. I wanted to include them because the paintings themselves are so impressive and are such an integral part of the museum that to leave them out would be like looking at a picture of Monet without his beard..
THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF JEAN WALTER AND PAUL GUILLAUME
From l'Orangerie, we walked through a corner of the Jardin de Tuileries, and then crossed over the Seine on the passerelle Solférino to reach the Musee d'Orsay. While not an official part of the "Best of Paris" itinerary, William escorted us into the museum before leaving us on our own.
Just another example of the professionalism and gracious hospitality of our tour leader.
Just another example of the professionalism and gracious hospitality of our tour leader.
MUSEE D'ORSAY
From this view, the Musee d'Orsay's former function as a train station
is evident. One of the grand clocks all of which are an integral part of the architecture of this former Beaux-Arts railway station.
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The first time I visited Paris in 1970, the future of the Beaux-Arts style Gare d'Orsay' was in limbo. It was no longer being used as a railway station and was, in fact, scheduled to be demolished for a grand hotel complex. That is until it won placement on the registry of Historic Monuments in 1978.
Saved from the wrecking ball, it slowly morphed over the next eight years into an art museum designed to bridge the gap between the Louvre and the National Museum of Modern Art at the Pompidou Center. When the remodeled Musee d'Orsay finally opened in 1986, it housed the largest collection of impressionist & post-impressionist masterpieces in the world, many of which had previously been housed in the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume near the Louvre. Since that museum had been my most vivid memory of my 1970 visit, I was pleased to see so many of my favorite paintings on display once again. |
The domed glass ceiling lets in diffused light that changes according to the weather and time of day.
With this view through one of the huge clock faces, I was reminded of the boy in the book 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' who viewed much of his life from behind a clock.
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, and Georges Seurat--
These are a few of my favorite painters.
These are a few of my favorite painters.