A Visit to the Musée d'Orsay, April 16, 2023

 A Visit to the Musée d'Orsay, April 16, 2023

The sun came out today and it was glorious! It was still cool and a bit windy, but it was a beautiful day filled with sunshine and blue skies.  We woke relatively early and had a bit of breakfast in our little kitchen. I mastered the art of the French press and made a fairly decent cup of coffee.  Jeff enjoyed a bowl of cereal and I had a couple of slices of toasted brioche that we purchased at the Monoprix last night.

We made a plan for the day - a walk along the Seine and a visit to the Musée d'Orsay.  It really is just a short walk from our apartment to the museum.  We paused outside the museum to take in all of the sights around us.

Views on the River Seine - Le Grand Palais is visible in the distance

The Musée d'Orsay is located in a former railway station

Two playful sculptures sit outside the entrance to the musée 

Several serious sculptures guard the entrance

The museum featured an exhibit of the works of Manet and Degas, and it was rather crowded due to the fact that it was a Sunday. However, we braved the crowd - which moved along nicely and were able to capture a few pictures.

The exhibit was peppered with commentary about the artists, something that made the stroll through it even more interesting.

An introductory panel

Another panel talked about the relationship between the two painters, stating that "a great deal of mystery surrounds the relationships between Manet and Degas." They met regularly and moved in the same circles, but there is no correspondence between the two - which seems to indicate (to me at least) that they were not "friends" - although the writer George Moore described it as "a friendship ... jarred by an inevitable rivalry." Manet never painted Degas, but there are many portraits of Manet painted by Degas. One famous painting was of Manet and his wife. Evidently, Manet was unhappy with the painting and cut away the part of the canvas that featured his wife, causing a rather famous rift between the two.

Degas painting of Manet and his wife at the piano (as "modified" by Manet)

Some other photos that caught my eye as we viewed the exhibit.

Manet's Boy Blowing Bubbles (also known as Les Bulles de Savon) painted in 1867 depicts Léon Koelin-Leenhoff, the illegitimate son (possibly fathered by Manet) of Manet's future wife, Suzanne Leenhoff. The painting shows him at age 15 blowing soap bubbles, a traditional symbol of the brevity of life.

Being an avid reader of Émile Zola during my college years, I was drawn to this Dega portrait of the man. Jeff was struck by the attention to detail - down to the paintings on the wall and the book in his hand.

L'homme Mort (Manet)

This painting was originally part of a larger composition entitled Episode from a Bullfight, which drew some criticism at a Salon held in 1864. Manet cut it down to depict just the man hovering between life and death, thereby creating a portrait that evokes (at least for me) a strong emotional response.

A Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers (Degas)

The muse of the artwork is believed to have been the wife of Degas’ friend, Paul Valpincon. Degas commonly spent parts of his summer at their country home, where he would spend his time sketching and painting.  I loved the detail on the flowers and the woman's somewhat wistful expression - it made me wonder what she was thinking about.

There was far more to see in the exhibit, but I was becoming overwhelmed by the crowd and decided to exit the space and find a place to sit for a bit while Jeff continued to wander a little more.

When we reconnected a short while later, we decided to find the museum's cafe and have some lunch.  What a treat the cafe was!

We each enjoyed pork ribs that were served with a bit of salad and a potato gratin.  Our server brought us two wonderful rolls of crusty bread, and shortly thereafter brought us two more!  We ended up wrapping the extra two in a napkin and stuffing them into Jeff's coat pocket. I enjoyed a glass of white wine, and we both enjoyed doing some people-watching. It was a much-needed break.

We were back at the museum and enjoying the many sculptures, capturing a few "on film" as they caught our eyes.

Both Jeff and I were captivated by this Denys Puech sculpture titled L'Aurore - Jeff's photo is on the right; mine is taken from the front. The intricacy of the carving of the hair fascinated us both.

Les chasseurs d'aigles (The Eagle Hunters) by Jules Coutan in 1900

My photo of the full sculpture, and Jeff's close-up of the dead eagle and one of the hunters

Nubians, also called The Alligator Hunters (Ernest Barrias,1894)

Auguste Rodin’s Gates of Hell is an oeuvre-monde – a work of art with its own universe – populated by numerous figures and groups that Rodin spun off into individual works (for example The Thinker which we can see at the top of the "gates." 

Rodin had a network of artist friends, notably the painter Laurens and the sculptor Dalou. As a result, he came to the attention of the Directorate of Fine Arts in 1880. Although he had not yet made a name for himself, he received a commission for a “model for a decorative door” intended for a museum of the decorative arts that the State wanted to create in Paris.

Rodin threw himself into the design, clay modeling, and assembly of hundreds of figures and groups representing almost a decade of intense creative activity. However, he was never able to accept that his Gates were finished and only exhibited them once in his lifetime, at the Universal Exhibition in 1900, but without the majority of the figures and groups in the most prominent relief.

This complete plaster model was created in 1917-1918, at the end of the artist’s life and shortly after his death, for the Musée Rodin, which displayed it from 1919 to 1966. It has been on long-term loan to the Musée d’Orsay since it opened in 1986.

I sat and looked at this work for fifteen minutes or more before Jeff finally tore me away from it in order to make our way back to our pied-a-terre. Some photos of our courtyard below.

Ours is on the fourth floor in the recessed location

The door to our apartment - Love the knocker!

What a glorious day it has been!  We both decided that our lunch made a sufficient meal for the day. So we enjoyed some cheese along with the rolls we brought home from the museum cafe and a lovely glass of wine as we watched a bit on news on CNN.

I have decided that a week in Paris is just not enough.  Next time ... we stay for a MONTH!

Tomorrow's adventure ... To be determined!