Impressionism

Led by Manet, Renoir, and Monet, the French impressionist painters shunned religious themes and mythological stories for landscapes and more human subjects: pale-faced women in hazy bars, figures strolling in French gardens, the female body, sidewalk cafes, and other scenes from European life in the 1870s and 1880s.  Our first major outing of the day (totally unrelated to our course theme of Tudor England) was to visit one of the world's great impressionist museums, the Musee d'Orsay, and take stock of the artists and cultural forces that contributed to the impressionist movement, and also the lesser-known transitions that came in its wake, including the symbolists, pointillists, nabis, realists, and late romantics.

Here is the class working with guide Gabrielle Greenway to understand impressionist art at the Orsay, a vital stop in any cultural or historical tour of Paris:

The crowds here were small, especially early in the morning when we arrived.  Below the group listens to our guide explain how competitive the art world was at this time, with professors and patrons trying to define popular tastes, and rejecting the innovations of the impressionists.

 Doesn't Thomas look like the man shown to his right in the painting behind him?

 The Musee d'Orsay is housed entirely within this old train station. Can anyone say "Hugo"?

Gabrielle explains color values in paintings from the period using a color wheel and Renoir's Le Moulin de la Galette, first shown at the third impressionist exhibition in 1877.

Time to turn in your headsets and receivers! (We were able to hear all of Gabrielle's comments via private radio transmission in the museum.)

Before the impressionists fully arrived, works like Manet's Olympia, created a scandal in Paris because it depicted a prostitute who looks boldly out at the viewer. We saw this famous work on one of the lower levels:




The class also examined works by Gauguin, Van Gogh, Degas, Whistler (we saw "Whistler's Mother" here), and numerous lesser known painters who contributed to each movement.  The broad experience allowed us to see how art has changed radically since the early modern period, and the role that French painters played in modern artistic developments.

After lunch, we visited the famous Pere-Lachaise Cemetery on the outskirts of Paris, walking the melancholy graves in the cold afternoon, with snow falling softly on our coats and the granite markers in the 110 acre grave site, which has been open since 1804.  The medieval lovers and monastics Abelard and Heloise are buried here, as well as George Bizet, Sarah Bernhardt, Frederic Chopin, Honore de Balzac, Eugene Delaroix, Moliere, Jim Morrison (of Doors fame), Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.  We saw all of their graves.

It was cold and quiet, and yet somehow beautiful and moving. We sang little songs and heard interesting stories from Gabrielle; walking amid the ruins and spooky memorials; seeing how people have remembered the dead, and getting lost in the size and scope of the place, as well as our own thoughts.  Here are a few photos:

Feeling chilled and removed from the hustle and bustle of life, we returned to civilization with the help of a welcoming café, which provided chocolat (hot chocolate) and cappuccino for all.  Later in the evening, we went out as a group to the Hard Rock Café, Paris, with a fun dinner paid for by the Wang Center.  And with that the weekend has arrived; the class is ready to explore Paris on their own.  A few brave souls will head for Italy for the weekend, but mostly we will be around town making further explorations.  Paris in winter has ample charms, and the class has worked hard to find and appreciate them.  I am so very proud of everyone--

Finally, the class sends our greetings to those back home. Today marks the half-way point of our trip--

Mike H.