Claude Monet's Nymphéas bleus

English name of the painting:Blue Water Lilies
(Nymphaea" is the botanical name for a water lily)


Monet focused on a small area of the pond, seen as a piece of nature, almost a close-up. No details stand out and the overall impression is one of a shapeless surface. The square format reinforces the neutrality of the composition. The lack of a frame of reference gives the fragment an infinite, limitless feeling.


I love the floating mood in this painting:) such a fantasy!
I would love to have a dream about this blue water lilies, just wonder if I could fly round them~~


P.s. There is a gigantic one in the Musée de l'Orangerie

Animals in the streets of Paris

Randomly find a nice exhibition in Paris!
Have you ever seen animals in the streets?
 "The city is a place of transit and permanent movement, a crossroads conducive to meetings. Thus, unlike the art as set out in a gallery or museum, the works presented are confronted in the street without stops passers who discover his whereabouts during daily. Sophie’s art installations lead the public to question the art and the process of contemplation in a non-formal, particularly bind and ephemeral. In addition, they raise a fundamental question with humor mental: the role of animals in our society. The presence of a Pantherre, or a giraffe at a street corner, that one has the habit of borrowing creates situations intriguing and poetic ... something to ponder ...

"

If you want to view more, please visit: http://www.sophie-photographe.com/ADLRDP%20ang.html

Gustave Caillebotte: The floor scrapers, 1876

It is quite rare that an impressionistic painting reflects the hard life of labour.
It shows the big constrast between the bourgeosis house and the working class.
We can feel the sweat and the hard work of the three men.
They are the modern day heroes.

Alfred Sisley:Boat in the Flood at Port-Marly

西 斯 勒(Alfred Sisley) 是 居 住 於 法 國 的 英 國 人 ， 他 承 襲 了 英 國 風 景 畫 家 所 畫 出 的 戶 外 光 線 的 效 果 ， 在 戶 外 作 畫 ， 觀 察 大 自 然 時 ， 捨 棄 先 入 主 之 見 ， 將 感 覺 即 時 留 在 畫 面 上 ， 終 於 成 為 了 印 象 派 的 大 師 。

In 1874, Sisley moved to Marly-le-Roi and became the chronicler of this village situated a few kilometres to the west of Paris. His most beautiful motif was when the Seine burst its banks and flooded the neighbouring village of Port-Marly in the spring of 1876. The artist produced six paintings of this event. He captured the great expanse of water with moving reflections that transformed the peaceful house of a wine merchant into something mysterious and poetic.

In this version, Sisley positions the house at an angle, leaving a large amount of space for sky and water. For the flooded area he used light colours and broad, brushstrokes placed side by side. Conversely, he expressed the solidity of the house and its pink and yellow walls, with very precise brushwork. Thus, the stability and permanence of the solid elements contrast with the fleeting movements of the water, which at any moment might recede.

The presence of several human figures in boats reinforces the impression of an ordinary day transformed by "a devastating invasion where the familiar, everyday, usual aspect of things was irresistibly substituted by a new, unexpected, enigmatic and disturbing expression''


What I like about this painting:
movement vs still-life
sureallity and dream-like moment
vertical house and trees
movement of the clouds

Edgar Degas: The Dance Class

Another painting by Degas! Also it is about ballet dancers.
We are in the backstage and view in eye level point
Degas recreate the life of the dancers, their realities. We can notice the different personalities of the girls, some are quite relaxed, some are still practicing.
Degas was interested in dancers because the nature of a painter and dancer is quite similar, they need to be perfect.
In the painting, our gaze is focused on the ballet master and his wood. It shows the reality of the scene, to be a successful dancer, you must devote hours and hours of practice.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) The Orchestra at the Opera Circa

There are 2 subjects in the paintings
We are invited to observe it from the area reserved for the audience
The first subject is the ballet performance and the second one is the orchestration which is usually heard rather than seen. They are usually been ignored because they are hidden.

Degas knew the musicians personally. The composer Emmanuel Chabrier can be seen in the box and Désiré Dihau, one of Degas' friends who played at the Paris Opera, is the bassoonist. Degas juggled with the traditional arrangement of the orchestra to place him in the centre of the composition.

I really like the contrast between the two subjects and the idea of the painting:)

Morisot: "Butterfly Hunt"

Berthe Morisot: Butterfly Hunt

Morisot is unique as one of the two women Impressionists.(another one was Mary Cassatt).It was Manet who noticed her talent and the two developed a close bond and Manet painted her regularly. Although it is suggested that they became quite close, Manet was married and as it happens, Morisot ended up marrying Manet's brother, Eugene. She generally painted both landscapes and portraits, however, as she progressed as an artist she tended to lean towards portraiture a lot more focussing on family and children, much like Mary Cassatt did. She is undoubtedly important as being one of the first ever recognised woman artists and the fact that she was part of one of the most recognised movements in art history confirms her excellence in the world of art.

I like this painting because:
it captures the real sensation:)
The light and colour matches perfectly



Edouard Manet: Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet

Berthe Morisot became Manet muse for 7 years:) It is the famous painting.
I like this painting because
it has a strong contrast in the background:white background vs black clothes, hair and eyes
Love the gaze(seems telling us sth about herself)Is she happy?
Love the shape of her face

Monet:poppy field

Cont. the tour in Orsay Museum



Claude Monet: Poppy field

I have a poster in my room:)
I think it is one of the masterpiece in the impressionist period
It is a snapshot.
The light is constantly changing and Monet was so good at capturing the moment at the poppy field
I love the landscape of the painting, blue sky and white clouds in the background, 2 people (a bourgeosis woman and a child) in the background emerging in nature, a small house hidden in the trees. Then another pair in the foreground:) The four people are all enjoying the hot summer day walking around the poppy field:)
It gives a sensation of a relaxing afternoon

A trip to Orsay Museum, Paris

Only stayed in Paris for one day:)
Chose to visit Orsay Museum because of the impressionist collection. It is one of my favourite art periods and although I was there two years ago, I would love to revisit again to have some new inspiration.

I rented a audio guide so I can have a better understanding of the paintings and I hope to learn more about art.

I will introduce some of the best paintings in the museum. Hope you enjoy the tour:)



Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870), Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Bazille's Studio

French Impressionist, Frédéric Bazille was one of the greats of his time, in the same tier as Monet, Manet, and Renoir. Born in Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Bazille came from a wealthy family who encouraged his love of painting only if he studied medicine. So 1859, Bazille began studying medicine, moving to Paris in 1862. There, he met Renoir and Alfred Sisley, drawing him into Impressionism. In 1864, he failed his medical school exam and began painting full-time. He began close friends with Sisley, Monet and Manet as evidence in the painting shown here.

The full title, L'Atelier de la rue Condamine, Bazille’s Studio on 9 rue de la Condamine, was completed in 1870 and shows the artist and his friends within his apartment studio. Inside the studio, Bazille is showing one of his paintings to friends and fellow painters, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir(who he shared the studio with) and famed French writer Émile Zola. On the left, we see Renoir in conversation with Zola who stands on the staircase. In the center of the painting is Bazille himself showing one of his works to Manet and Monet, who stands behind him. At the piano on the right of the painting is one of Bazille’s musician friends, Edmond Maitre, who is entertaining the artistic geniuses present. The painting is a clear example of Impressionism, showing the details of studio and the features of the artists present. This en plein air painting shows the artist in an open area to give the views the sense they are there, in the moment. Ironic enough, this painting was rejected shortly before Brazille’s death.

The painting shows Bazille’s bold modeling of figures, and the broad handling of colors that became his hallmark. Dying four years before the first Impressionist exhibition by a bullet while serving in the Franco-Prussian War, Bazille is linked to the movement for his radically new way of painting that recorded his everyday life.

information from http://artstoryinamedium.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/bazille-artists-studio.html

What I like about the painting: the setting of the painting
The half curtain--enable the light to get in
Paintings inside the painting-includes still-life, nude woman, landscape, so in love with the details
everyone in the painting is occupied with sth. Playing piano, talking
The empty chair in the foreground, who was sitting there before?