Musée Marmottan

Yesterday, our class spent the morning at the Musée Marmottan, a private home converted to present a variety of paintings. As we walked through, I took notes about what each painting seemed to indicate about its style of painting, and wrap up with general thoughts about Impressionism.

One of the first paintings I saw was Rue de Paris, Temps de Pluie (Paris Street, Rainy Weather). After a very rainy first few days in Paris, it struck me that I think I have seen this particular street corner in the past few days. So many buildings in downtown Paris clearly date back decades that it will be a shock to return to a city that had barely been founded the last time Paris was renovated. I'm off to investigate more of that archaic feel this afternoon, and it's hard to believe I get three more weeks here to look around.

Au Bord du Lac (On the Lakeside), Bethe Morrisot 1883

Paysage de Tours (Countryside of Tours), Berthe Morrisot 1892

The two paintings above showed me one of the more interesting features of Impressionist artists - their ability to use few brushstrokes to give a clear impression of form and substance. In the first painting, Au Bord du Lac, my focus is not on the foreground figures, but on the swan and the horse in the background. The horse is composed of perhaps six brushstrokes, and the swan of no more than twenty, and yet the viewer sees clearly what species each animal is, where it is in relation to the foreground, and what it is doing. At a distance of five feet, it is obvious that each of these animals is no more than a collection of brushstrokes, but from a distance they blend with their surroundings to become something more.

The same is true of Paysage de Tours. Look carefully at the people in the foreground, or the Roman statue in the background and each one is just a collection of a few lines in a neutral background, but from a distance they become something more complex.

Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Rising Sun), Claude Monet  1873

When I found this painting, I tried an experiment - I wondered if I could tell, just by looking at the painting, whether the sun were rising or setting. In the five minutes I stood there, I realized that this was not as simple as I had hoped, and that I had to think about the painting from a different direction. If I thought about the painting as though the title described a setting sun, I got a different impression of the painting - the boats in the foreground were moving in a different direction, or the painter's perspective on the port changed. This is the fun part about impressionism - the painting doesn't strictly define itself to the point that it cannot be interpreted. Whatever the subject, it is the viewer's choice what to see and where it appears.

To close, impressionist paintings strike me more like the description of a location as described in prose than like the Mona Lisa. They suggest a general outline of what can be seen without telling the viewer exactly what is there, so the viewer's imagination fills in the remaining gaps. When I look at the paintings above, it is easy to imagine wind blowing through the trees or rippling the water, and these automatic additions make the painting more than a two-dimensional rectangle on a wall. Instead, it becomes a sort of moving picture with a different character than any precisely painted portrait could have.

AVANT

What do I imagine Paris will be like?

Coming from a lifetime in the Midwest, where Milwaukee and Minneapolis are considered large cities, I know that Paris is an order of magnitude larger than the two cities where I have spent my life. The constant press of French from all directions will likely be disorientating for at least the first few days, but I hope to adapt to it and understand overheard French by the end of my time in the country. As for the surroundings, I remember much more stone and gold in Paris than in any other city I have seen, as well as large courtyards and other grand spaces. The city will be foreign and far from home, but I hope to become comfortable there by the end of my stay.


What do I hope Paris will teach/show/inspire in me?

My time in Paris for this class will be the longest continuous time I will spend abroad in the foreseeable future, so I hope to use the opportunity to learn about another culture's norms and perspective. From art to conversation to people-watching, I expect that even breathing in Paris will show me details of French and European culture that I could not learn from reading an article or watching a video. I'm starting to feel unsure about leaving my base of comfort in America and going to a place where even the language will be difficult, but I know that the novelty of the experience is why I signed up for it.

What is my favorites work of French music, art or literature and why?

In high school, I read Le Petit Prince and found that it had an interesting take on life and existence. The story is very simply told, but the messages contained in it are still profound. In terms of art, I don't have a wide range of experience, but I had the opportunity to see an Impressionist display at the Milwaukee Art Museum a year ago, and found the subtlety of the paintings to be incredibly interesting. Honestly, being surrounded by the architecture of Paris is the singular artistic experience I most look forward to, because the structures are different enough from those I am used to that the difference will be significant.