April 23 – Musee d’Orsay & David Hockney

I secured timed entry tickets for Musée d’Orsay and the David Hockney retrospective at the Louis Vuitton Centre. I know, I’m asking a lot of myself to do TWO BIG THINGS in one day. But Fuck It, I’m in Paris!

Former train station turned amaze-balls museum.

Musée d’Orsay could do a little work on their entry system. It was a big confused mess, people cutting in line right and left, and a complete lack of clarity about which lines were for reserved tickets. I waited outside for over an hour before getting in. My audio tour on my phone did not work, so that was a little disappointing, since I had paid for it. You’d think this museum was not in the tourist trade. But everything was forgiven immediately upon entering. Simply amazing space, and collection. I didn’t even mind the begrimed hoards.

Finding all the kitties. Pierre Bonnard, La Femme au Chat.

Beautiful. Femmes au Jardin, Pierre Bonnard. I like Pierre, he liked cats!

I failed to get the artist on this one. Google sez *Ravageot* and *Ravachol* by Emmanuel Fremiet.

Took this snappy for my husband, who loves trains.

The Knight of the Flowers, by Georges Rochegrosse.

Following are four photos and some detail of Rodin’s Gates of Hell. Pretty appropriate for a train station! More here.

And speaking of Danté, the following two plaster sculptures (bronze versions at Musee Rodin) are from The Inferno. The sculpture portrays Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, a traitor who was imprisoned and starved to death with his sons. The work captures the moment of his extreme suffering and desperation as he crawls over the bodies of his dying children. More here.

Fact is, he was starving to death, and ate his dead and dying children. I am more than a little grumpy at myself for not getting to the Musée Rodin.

Wilhelm Hammershoi, Interior, Strandgade 30. I was captivated by another of his works at the National Gallery in London.

Paul Cezanne, La Femme Étranglé. Very grisly scene of a woman being strangled to death.

Cuno Amiet. Snowy Landscape (Deep Winter)

Edouard Villard, Octagonal Self-Portrait

The special exhibition at the museum was a Norwegian painter, Christian Krohg. The next four photos details and full painting of his “Struggle for Survival.” Krohg was well-known for his heightened sense of social justice for the poor and struggling, prostitutes, and laborers. I was thrilled to be introduced to this extraordinary artist!

The Bohemians. The individuals in the painting are believed to be Krohg’s friends, students, and fellow artists, including Edvard Munch (seated at the left), Constance Bruun, Oda Krohg (the artist’s wife), and Kalle Løchen

Oda, Krogh’s wife. They had, by all accounts, a pretty fiery but long-lived marriage. Her spirit is on display here!

Man Overboard. Fascinating in it’s action and immediacy.

The Morning After, an obvious homage to his student Edvard Munch.

No comment needed! Pretty awesome to see this in person!

Scene of War in the Middle Ages,” also known as “The Suffering of the City of New Orleans,” by Edgar Degas. The painting uses a medieval setting to symbolize the suffering of the American city of New Orleans, which was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War. A pretty shocking departure from what I’m used to seeing from Degas.

Thomas Couture, The Decadence of the Romans. Fabulous detail in this. Some folks are not so happy at all this revelry. Others merely look bored. The beginning of the end.

Chassériau’s Le Tepidarium. Languorous lesbians?

In Greek mythology Orpheus was the son of a Muse, probably Calliope, the patron of epic poetry. He was known as the greatest musician and poet, having no equal. He perfected the lyre after Apollo taught him how to play. There are many stories about Orpheus’ life (one of them I saw a musical of in London, Hadestown!), but this painting focuses on his death. According to Aeschylus, Orpheus only worshipped the god Apollo, which angered Dionysus, who had Maenads rip Orpheus apart in a Dionysian frenzy. Lévy gives us the moment of Orpheus’ death before the horrific dismemberment.

Emile Lévy, The Death of Orpheus. Brutal.

And speaking of brutal: the following painting depicts a scene from Dante’s Divine Comedy, which narrates a journey through Hell by Dante and his guide Virgil. In the scene the author and his guide are looking on as two damned souls are entwined in eternal combat. One of the souls is an alchemist and heretic named Capocchio. He is being bitten on the neck by the trickster Gianni Schicchi, who had used fraud to claim another man’s inheritance.

But um it’s kind of sexy, too. You know you think so.

Gustave Courbet, The Origin of the World. Until 1995, one of the most famous never-seen paintings.

Millet’s “Spring” — Lord, that light. Just gorgeous.

Daumier’s The Celebrities of the Juste Milieu.

Impossibly beautiful stormy sky. Downright painterly, innit.

Some photos of my very brief time in the Tuilleries.

I mean, seriously! The leaves have a light of their own.

The Louis Vuitton Centre feels like it’s on a different planet from Paris. Has a distinctively suburban or exurban feeling, because of the extensive grounds. I was, I will admit, feeling a little neutral about going to this show, but it was recommended by my friends John and Louise, and it seemed right to go. Hockney has never been one of my favorite artists, but this show spun me round and blew my mind. Just wonderful!

Takashi Murakami’s “The Flower Parent and the Child.” The rain was threatening, but I’m still quite sorry I didn’t go closer, and enjoy the gardens a little further. But home beckoned.

Le Sanglier Bleu was my choice for my one and only fancy dinner out in Paris. It was close to my flat, easy to reserve for an early dinner, and one of the most perfect meals I’ve ever eaten. I was super happy that some friends who visit Paris quite often tried it and loved it as much as I did! I must add that the service was subtle and impeccable.