A Beautiful Day for Some Art

Paris has welcomed us back from Rome with some stunningly beautiful weather.  The humidity is low, the sun is bright, the clouds are fluffy, and there is a subtle coolness in the gentle breezes.  Yesterday, we had two outings planned--both indoors to see some artwork--but still we were able to take advantage of the beautiful weather during these outings.

In the morning, we made the trek to the Fondation Louis Vuitton (my third or fourth visit this year) to see an exhibit constructed around Matisse's l'Atelier Rouge.  I knew a bit about the piece beforehand:  I knew that it was a painting that Matisse had done of his studio filled with his work, so it included miniature renderings of many of his previous paintings in it.  (I mentioned another such "painting of paintings" in the blog about the Impressionists exhibit I went to earlier this year.)  I find this construct very appealing--an artist can use it to comment in subtle (and not so subtle) ways on the inner paintings and their relationships while also placing them in some sort of greater context.  (I also love the related device, "the play within the play," that Shakespeare used to great effect in Hamlet, for instance.)

This exhibit went into great detail about the actual studio--how and when and why it was built, including floor plans and lists of construction supplies--the process that Matisse went through to paint it--there was even a video of the team of art restoration experts who thoroughly investigated the painting for clues to the process--and the pieces that were depicted in it--collecting all that still exist to display alongside l'Atelier Rouge.

So here is l'Atelier Rouge along with five of the pieces rendered in the painting.

I thought that the notes accompanying the exhibit were thoughtful and useful, pointing out differences between the original pieces and their miniature renditions and offering possible interpretations.  I won't reproduce the analyses here, but rather offer a couple of general comments.  First, I thought it was interesting how much more abstract and less detailed the miniature versions of the pieces are.  The canvas of l'Atelier Rouge is pretty large, and Matisse could have included much more detail than he chose to.  I wondered if he was trying to distill the essence of the pieces, or whether the more abstract versions were how he viewed them or wanted them to be viewed.  Second, I thought that the choice of pieces to depict and their placement on the wall and floor was interesting.  Their placement is haphazard and seemingly random, but still there is a harmonious symmetry to them.

One of my favorite pieces in the exhibit was not by Matisse at all but another artist who painted a scene from a gallery in London which was displaying l'Atelier Rouge:  a painting of a painting of paintings--pretty funny!

We took a leisurely path back to the Metro after the exhibit, enjoying the beautiful weather as we walked through Jardin d'Acclimatation, a small and lovely amusement park.  

Then, later in the day, we visited an art exhibit and poetry reading in a private gallery in the Marais.  The artist was our good friend Astrid, and I enjoyed seeing evidence of the latest plot twist in her career, glitter!  

I always enjoy seeing Astrid and her work, and doing it in a lovely space in the Marais with a bonus poetry reading was a special treat.  (Jacob concluded his reading with a song called "The Strongest Man Alive," a variation on a song by his father David Bromberg.  It was very nice.)

Afterwards, we headed back to the apartment, picked up Sandy, and wrapped up the evening having dinner at an outdoor table at a nearby bistrot, Paradis des Amis.  Sandy always likes it when he can come to dinner, too.