Sketching in Parisian Art Museums

Sketching in museums is way I can make sense of the visual richness that has the potential to otherwise overwhelm me. My body & brain work together with the intense energy that comes from being surrounded by so much magnificent art.

 

It's a different experience for me than just looking. This woman at Musée d'Orsay spent a long time with Cezanne's Le golfe de Marseille. During one visit to d'Orsay I heard a Mom say to her family: "Hurry up! We still have 3 more floors to see!" An opposite approach from mine, I'm happy if I only see a few works each time. But, when you're far from home, you do want to see as much art as you can...

 At d'Orsay, during my first visit to the Van Gogh paintings, I not only got to see & sketch, but I heard 2 lectures: for elementary & for high school school groups. Having been an art teacher & being a French language student, I was in a state of bliss. An Asian woman tapped me on the shoulder at one point & said: "You~ charming. You~ happy." Taken out of my reverie, & having been witnessed, I burst into tears (of joy) & I thanked her. (I admit, not the first time I have cried happy tears in an art museum.)

 

 "Magnifique! Magnifique!" said a senior Frenchman looking at Cezanne's Mont Sainte Victoire. J'étais d'accord. The brush strokes took my breath away.

 

 A mother & daughter spent a long time in front of one of five Monet's Rouen Cathedral paintings. They were very serious. The daughter was reading a pamphlet describing the painting.

The people at museums are their own works of art. Magnifique!

 One time I was in the Louvre sketching Renoir's Portrait de femme assise. A fellow sketcher, a Parisian, sat down next to me. From sketching to conversing, it was a memorable experience. I'm grateful to him to this day for all of the information about Paris & art that he shared. Lately I'm getting messages from different sources: Copy master works in order to see them better & to learn from them. Above you can see how my sketch missed so many subtleties that are in the painting. 

Centre Georges Pompidou & the Musée d'art National Moderne, the largest modern art museum in Europe is also magnifique. Kandinsky, Matisse Miro! This collection pushes edges more than the other museums do. It has humorous, provocative & disturbing art, along with lovely abstractions. Centre Pompidou, as well as the other Parisian museum buildings & spaces are also masterpieces...There is so much, so much to discover! I would love to live in Paris for the museums alone!