Tag: Orsay Museum

A Sunday Walk

We had another great Sunday morning walk (this post was done back in June). The day started out cloudy but then the sun came out and there was blue sky between the clouds and it was just beautiful.

The Orsay Museum across the Seine with a reflection in the smooth water.
The sun reflected in the Seine. Sort of Van Gogh looking.
The serene Place Dauphine full of mulberry trees. One restaurant was setting up tables outside for lunch.

King Henri IV called the Vert Galant, a ladies man. The original statue was torn down during the French Revolution so a replica was put up afterwards. It is said that part of the original statue is inside this one.

There he is from a distance on the Pont Neuf which he had built in the 1600’s. He was a very giving king and wanted to help his people and is said to have originated, “a chicken in every pot”.
The nearby Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was kept prisoner before she was beheaded.

Another Day Another Walk

We met at the Orsay Museum again for another walk.

A long boat serenely going by the Orsay Museum.
A statue of Thomas Jefferson. He was the ambassador to France before he became president of the USA.
The gardens are now open. This was the first day to enter the Tuleries Gardens. It was pretty empty at 8 am but I bet it was really full by the afternoon.
The flowers bloomed even though there was no one there to see them.

Orsay Museum (Exterior)

We did another walk with our friend on yet another beautiful morning. This time we met at the Orsay Museum just for a change of scene. I sure hope it opens soon. It’s really a great museum.

I saw this gorgeous building as I near the Orsay.
There are a series of iron sculptures of wild animals such as this rhino in the front of the museum.
And this row of figures that were once on another building each representing different areas in the world.
I wonder if we will be able to see this exhibition when it opens?
The Orsay was once a train station that wasn’t large enough when the trains got longer and there are two clocks on it. Inside you can look out and see Paris views. They almost tore the building down but, luckily, someone got the idea eventually to make it a museum.

Orsay

I haven’t been to the Orsay Museum in quite a while so made a visit to see what is new. They have recently started changing the locations of many of the paintings so you have to hunt them out.

The Statue of Liberty copy is somewhat new.

A look from up above at the lower floor. You can tell that it was at one time a train station.

There are some good views from the windows as well.

A painting by, I believe, Cross. A lovely refined evening at a party. Look at those tiny waists on the women.

By Seurat, a master of Pointillism. This caught my eye because it is of la Rochelle, near our place at the beach.

As you can see, it hasn’t changed.

Views and Paintings

It’s hard to beat a stroll through the Orsay Museum, once a train station that they had to foresight to preserve and use.

A look down at the main gallery from up above. You can see that it was once a train station.

You can see Sacre Coeur on top of Montmartre from various windows.

I love the color of the dresses on these dancer by Degas.

Lots of sculptures to see.

That beautiful clock.

 

Artist

I went in the final days to the Orsay Museum to see an exhibition of an artist unknown to me named Frédéric Bazille. He went to medical school as his parents wanted but ended up in art school and eventually became friends with Monet, Manet, Sisley and Renoir. He often shared apartments with them and, because he wasn’t a starving artist, provided studios and art equipment for them. He joined the military in the Franco-Prussian war where he was killed and died at the age of 28. The exhibit showed many of his works and also showed those painted in the same place by his friends, along with Cezanne and Pissoro. He might have become even more famous than them, had he lived.

A self portrait.

Excuse me for not cropping my photos. This shows one of his studios where he and his friends worked. They often shared models. The is him in the right corner playing the piano. He was also a very good musician.

The Girl in the Pink Dress. This was a cousin of his looking at a view. He loved painting out in the open air with natural light.

This was my favorite painting of his that I saw. In person it looked like a photograph. Really amazing.

A good view in the room where the exhibit was.