We started the day feeling very ambitious but it didn't take long to decide that we were not going to try to see half of the museums in Paris today. I continue to have problems with my hip and my foot periodically and yesterday was one of those days.
Instead of our big plans for the day, we went to church in the morning and visited the Orangerie in
the afternoon.
A little art outside of the Orangerie
We spotted the plaque from where we were walking so we decided that it was not
really an uprooted tree before we got close.
I am not sure how we have missed this art piece before since it was installed in 1999.
Maybe that is one plus about winter. No leaves on the trees to mask the art.
"This tree in the Tuileries Gardens did not fall down. Called L’arbre des voyelles (the tree of vowels), it is a magnificent bronze sculpture by the Italian-born sculptor Guiseppe Penone. Born in 1947, his youth in the Piedmont forests gave him a love of nature and trees that one sees in his works of art."
The Kiss by Rodin just outside the front door.
The ground floor of the Orangerie consists of two oval rooms. The walls of both rooms
are the backdrop for these huge paintings of Monet's garden. The lighting suggests
that the paintings move from dawn until dusk.
They were donated to France following the First World War.
The collection displayed in the Orangerie was amassed by the art dealer Paul Guillaume.
After his death Mme Guillaume married Jean Walter who was an architect.
When she bequeathed the art to France she specified that the collection bear both of her
husbands' names. The collection on display is on a floor lower than the Monet work.
Claude Renoir playing
just as some of my grandchildren play with tiny figures.
Argenteuil
Tucked among the Renoirs is this seascape by Claude Monet.
The pastry cook
The choir boy
Landscape
When we saw that this Russian Jew died in 1943, we wondered about what had happened to
him. Was he a victim of the Gestapo in Paris? Fortunately there was a source besides the
Orangerie to learn about this artist. "As a Jew, Soutine had to escape from the French capital and hide in order to avoid arrest by the Gestapo. He moved from one place to another and was sometimes forced to seek shelter in forests, sleeping outdoors. Suffering from a stomach ulcer and bleeding badly, he left a safe hiding place for Paris in order to undergo emergency surgery, which failed to save his life. On August 9, 1943, Chaim Soutine died of a perforated ulcer. He was interred in Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris."
A single painting by Gauguin
Henri Rousseau dit le Dounaier (nicknamed the toll collector)
The Nuptials (Noce)
Child with Doll by Rousseau
Portrait of Madame Paul Guillaume
Portrait of Mademoiselle Chanel
Spanish Dancers by Laurencin
Look closely and you will see a gray horse behind the dancers.
Church at Clignancourt
A subject that Soutine painted frequently
rue de Mont-Cenis
Montmartre
St Peter's church on Montmartre
Flag over the town hall
I wonder if all of the women are wearing bustles. They have a very distinctive look
from the derriere.
Le Maison Bernot by Maurice Utrillo
If you look at the copies of rooms in the Guillaume's homes, you will
see that the Harlequin playing the guitar by Derain is hanging center stage on a wall.
Harlequin and Pierrot by Andre Derain
Sketch of Harlequin
Portrait of Madame Guillaume
Woman in the White Hat
Although there are quite a few paintings by Picasso they are from his earlier years and
may not stand out as work by the artist.
The above picture is actually a room at the museum. The others
are small replicas hanging on the wall.
Small reproductions of rooms in apartments owned by the Guillaume brothers.
I fell in love with the pictures on this blog.
The blogger has some great pictures from all around Paris including rue Cler and Père Lachaise. I think it is well worth taking a look. I suspect that not all of them are someone's "snap shots."
They are far too perfect. Whoever took the pictures did a wonderful job.
Walking in the Jardin du Tuileries (and past the Hotel de Ville
during the race)
Fitbit Semi de Paris
TRIVIA
- Paris H
Paris Half Marathon takes place as a separate event on another date than the full distance. It is one of the most popular half marathon races in the world with 30.000 participants from both France and abroad.
Autism Speaks was one of the charities raising money
Although the fountains/ponds at the Jardin de Tuileries are now filled with water
these birds obviously preferred a bath or a drink in a puddle created by the rain.
The daffodils are not quite in bloom in Paris.
(See London entry)
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