Paris

After feasting on what had become our customary lunch fare in Paris—a Mixte sandwich (ham and cheese on a baguette), frites, and a bottle of red wind—at a café near the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, we stumbled upon a humble, inviting gallery just a few feet down the narrow street. As we stepped inside L’art de Rien (translation: The Art of Nothing), an Orwellian aura enveloped the gallery. A alarming warning—”Big Brother Is Watching You”—appeared everywhere. The exhibition (curated by Isabelle Lebre) consisted mainly of posters by various artists, ranging from overtly political to humorously absurd, but also included videos, sculptures and other forms. Spurred on by government plans to install more than a thousand surveillance cameras throughout the city by 2012, the 1984-inspired exhibition extended beyond the gallery, as a group of a dozen artists put up posters in place of the hundred or so proposed CCTV cameras in the 18th arrondissement, where the L’art de Rien is located. “The goal is not to condemn, but to think,” Lebre said.

This random scene along Canal Saint-Martin, comprised of disparate pieces of street art that together form a kooky-but-compelling composition, possessed a sort of magnetism, as Jimi Hendrix keeps a watchful eye on two foxy, albeit alien, ladies. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

Auguste Rodin, the French sculptor best known for The Thinker, was everywhere: at the Musée d’Orsay, in the Jardin des Tuileries, at the Paris museum devoted to his life and work, and even at the Tate Modern in London. It was there, at the latter, that we discovered and admired Rodin’s The Kiss (the second, from 1900, of three large-scale marble versions made by Rodin) at length and in detail. A surprisingly sensuous sculpture, The Kiss depicts 13th-century noblewoman Francesca da Rimini and her lover Paolo Malatesta, who also happened to be the younger brother of Francesca’s husband Giovanni. The couple—immortalized in Dante’s Inferno—fell in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, only to be discovered and killed by Giovanni. Considered controversial at the time due to its erotic nature, Rodin’s The Kiss, like The Thinker and several other individual works, first appeared (smaller in size) as part of his monumental masterpiece, The Gates of Hell. As noted by the Tate Modern’s website, “Its blend of eroticism and idealism makes it one of the great images of sexual love.” Click the image above to see The Kiss from another angle.

If I had to describe the Musée d’Orsay in only one word, it would certainly be a difficult chore. Phenomenal comes to mind, as does magnificent, awe-inspiring and handfuls of other similarly effusive adjectives. First, the museum’s home is itself a work of art. Located on the Left Bank, across the Seine from Jardin des Tuileries, the Musée d’Orsay occupies a building originally constructed as a train station for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. (As an aside, it also served as a set for Orson Welles’ take on Kafka’s The Trial.) Its main hall—a long, glass-ceilinged nave that allows beautiful natural light to illuminate the space—is most impressive.

Even more extraordinary is the collection of art, especially the paintings, that this Beaux-Arts architectural gem houses. The Musée d’Orsay is considered by many the “Temple of Impressionism” with good reason, but the collection—including works created between 1848 and 1914—extends to Post-Impressionist masters as well. Walking through the galleries can be a breathtaking experiences and also a bit of an overwhelming one. The lineup here consists of some of the most popular names in art history: Claude Monet and Édouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas and Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Gustave Courbet. Piece after piece beckons for a closer inspection, longer contemplation. Surely, several works by these admired and adored artists displayed at the Musée d’Orsay will be featured in this series. Above is a Monet from 1877, titled La gare Saint-Lazare (The Saint-Lazare Station), which led to a series featuring the station from various viewpoints.

One of the first items to greet visitors at Musée National d’art Modern’s elles@centrepompidou exhibition, this display of messages—simultaneously humorous, provocative and all too true—from Guerrilla Girls is the perfect welcome to the thematic show. The exhibit seatures the work, culled from the museum’s collection, of women artists of all disciplines in the 20th and 21st centuries. Elles@centrepompidou runs until February 2011. Luckily, the wonderful antics of Guerrilla Girls, the self-described “conscience of culture,” has no end date. Read all about the “feminist counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger” on their website. [Click on the image above to open larger in a new window and zoom in to read.]

I immediately fell in love with this large painting—mural really—covering an entire wall of an approximately two-story building on Quai de Valmy along Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Fun and colorful, this seductive wallflower isn’t trying to sell anything, but she certainly makes one want to recline near the peaceful canal on a warm, sunny afternoon (like on September 14) with drink in hand. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

I spent the first two weeks of September abroad, exploring the sights and sounds of three amazing cities: Paris, Amsterdam and London. Not surprisingly, much of the trip (if not all of it) revolved around various forms of art. Each day and night of the journey was filled with all kinds of discoveries—small and large, planned and unexpected, inspiring and entertaining, captivating and exciting.

From paintings, music and theater to architecture, culinary arts and books, art comprised the itinerary: wandering the magnificent and seemingly endless rooms of the Louvre; watching a Shakespeare comedy come to life, as if written just a few weeks prior for HBO, on the banks of the Thames; experiencing an intimate live performance by Modest Mouse in Amsterdam; browsing the shelves of the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris; spotting some comical or thought-provoking street art; stumbling upon an alternative art gallery on a side street in the City of Light; spending some quality time with the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Kandinsky, Rembrandt, Warhol, Dali, Matisse, Gauguin, Miró, and Picasso while discovering so many others at Musée d’Orsay, Tate Modern and Musée national d’art moderne at Centre Pompidou.

The Madness of Art will feature these delightful discoveries, artistic encounters and inspiring experiences through daily photographic installments in a series titled “Art Abroad” (using mostly original photos I took on the trip, except for memorable pieces I want to share from museums that prohibited cameras). Hope you enjoy the daily tour through the streets and museums of Paris, Amsterdam and London these next few weeks.