The day started bright and early. Our first plan was to get on the metro and visit the Musee d’Orsay. I can definitely say that this museum was one of my favorites because of their rich collection of art pieces. Fortunately, I had the opportunity of studying some of those art pieces and artists; therefore it was truly fulfilling to be able to actually see those paintings in person.
Furthermore, while in Musee d’Orsay, we saw some of these famous artists and paintings:
1. Theodre Chasseriau: Naked women/holding water
2. Jean Leon Gerome: Fight of roosters
3. Exoticism paintings
4. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux: Inspired by Divine Comedy/Master of Orientalisme
5. Couture: Inspired by Roman statues, Roman antiquity
6. Courbet: Funeral in Village
7. Courbet: The Workshop
8. Vincet Van Gogh: Before coming to Paris, dark colors. After coming to Paris, yellow colors
9. Paul Gaguin: He painted nature simplified
10. Edouard Monet: Olympia, Impressionist painting
11. Paul Cezanne: Read his book, “Moon and Sixpence”
12. Monet: The Lunch
13. Armand Guillaumin: Impressionist paintings
14. Edgar Degas: Italian impressionist painting, statues of dancers
15. Henri de Toulouse-Laurtrea: Caboret paintings
16. Henri Matisse: Inspired by neo-impressionist
17. Paul Signac: Leader of neo-impressionist
18. Georges Seurat: Circus painting
19. Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Impressionist painting
Soon after visiting Musee d’Orsay, we took a walking tour in Paris. We visited the Chanzelize, a tiny location where artists sell their paintings, and the Louvre. The Louvre is one of the most famous museums in Paris, France. I enjoyed hearing the history of how the Louvre came about, and how it grew to hold some of the most amazing artifacts, paintings and statues. According to our tour guide, the Louvre used to be a royal palace, which then the king later moved his palace to Versailles and opened a museum, Louvre, in 1973. What I truly loved about the Louvre was its pyramid-like architecture and its unique appearance.
While in the Louvre, we saw some of these famous artists, paintings and statues:
1. Egyptian objects: Louvre holds the biggest collection, other than Egypt.
2. Pallas de Velletri: Antiquity of Greek Gods
3. Venus: Helonistic period; Greeks came up with the unique Greek position of leaning on one leg more than the other leg.
4. Botticelli: Fresco paintings found in a house
5. Leonardo de Vinci: He was an inventor, artist, war weapon, creator and scientist; Direct model of painting to audience
6. Mona Lisa: Famous in 1911; several myths include, (a) model is unknown (b) Leonardo dressed as a drag queen (c) staring at you
7. Liberty Guarding the People: Revolution of France
8. Cupid son of Venus
After the Louvre, we went to a famous French café “Les Deux Magots,” to have dinner. Apparently, this café was home to man famous writers, such as Oscar Wilde and Hemingway.
Clearly, today was a fun-filled, educational and tiring day for all of us. However, the opportunity to be able to visit these famous sights was one of the best moments during the trip. I feel like I was part of the European history because of our chance to hear the stories accompanying those famous statues and paintings. It was truly an educational experience.
