Nice Saturday morning, drizzly and gray. I still love this kind of weather. It was kind of like this when visiting montmartre, without the drizzle and about 10 degrees farenheit cooler. I have a few good photos of the windmill at moulin rouge and also the one at moulin de la galette (towards top of montmartre). renoir painted this place in a well known work. I will post the photos of the windmills later on as they are on another computer.
renoir, moulin de la galette
First stop going backwards on the walking tour was the moulin rouge – still
appearing is a toulouse lautrec mural (may have been restored/repainted some)
that I found to be beautiful.
Toulouse lautrec mural at the moulin rouge, january 1, 2010
Toulouse lautrec mural at the moulin rouge, january 1, 2010
Nearby yet a short distance away was the cafe used in the film amelie.
cafe used in amelie, january 1, 2010
Reliving feeling of montmartre on new year’s day.
Oddly quiet compared to busy area of paris; could get a
sense of the fact that artists could actually work there.
there was a small amount of traffic with small cars but
so quiet, perhaps muffled by the cobblestone streets.
I did a walking tour to visit the shrines of artists past -
their studios, their apartments. They would have all
lived very close, even if at different times, different decades,
walking distance at a time when cars would not have been
the main mode of transportation. it was a cold gray day as
we went by pigalle to do the montmartre tour backwards.
The street up to Basilica of the Sacré Cœur was packed with
pedestrians moving very slowly upwards – it may have been a Holy Day.
montmartre street to sacre coeur, january 1, 2010
These are not exactly in order – first went by van gogh’s, then lautrec’s,
could not find renoir’s place but wanted to and ended up by picasso’s
studio towards nightfall. I would have really liked to have been here on
a warm sunny day when the museums and galleries were open but felt
fortunate as well. I would like to paint here. maybe a grant idea.
picasso's studio, montmartre, january 1, 2010
van gogh's apartment, 3rd floor, montmartre, january 1, 2010
toulouse lautrec apartment, 3rd floor, january 1, 2010
A Montmartre Gallery that was closed on New Year's Day
Last Sunday a hike in Uvas Canyon to see the waterfalls. Couldn’t get to all of them but saw 4 and hope to go back to see one that was missed. The amount of rain we received in Northern California recently is understood in variaton upon seeing these waterfalls. Easy walks to see them and the drive is gorgeous. The hills are beginning to be that incredible green which I have only experienced out here. Uvas Canyon is a regional park near Morgan Hill, south of San Jose.
Uvas Canyon, waterfall, January 24, 2010, kathryn arnold
I know the next waterfall looks ‘crooked’ and am wondering if the ground and hillside surrounding reflect earthquake patterns as it is near the Loma Prieta area. The trail I did not go on has an overlook – next time!
Uvas Canyon, waterfall, January 24, 2010, kathryn arnold
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
I visited Restaurant George New Years Day 2010 – even before seeing the museum art – for an early brunch/lunch. Amazed by its scope and the sense of space – with almost a complete view of all of Paris through gigantic transparent windows nurtured by a cafe (demitasse style) and watching my companion eat an omelet crepe. Pricey food- even more so after the exchange rate – but like an art experience – felt myself to be a part of the architecture itself – something that cannot be replaced ie. priceless.
I took a number of photographs. I enjoyed the aspect of these organic interiors, each housing separate functions, enclosed in what appears to be spun aluminum. Structurally strong yet womb-like interiors, plain silvery metal on the outside charmed as they are placed together with neon/fluorescent or otherwise bright yet pastelly interiors (think lime, lemon, strawberry). i want to redesign my living quarters, my office, and my car!
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
The pods (which are referred to by the architects as grotto-like) brought to mind an exhibition i had seen at the San Jose Museum of Art in spring 2005 – an Industrial Design exhibition called Blobjects & Beyond: The New Fluidity in Design. more info at http://www.core77.com/reactor/03.05_blobjects.asp
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
“On Level 6, Restaurant Georges has some of the finest panoramic views of Paris. The work of Dominique Jacob and Brendan McFarlane, its architecture conforms to the centre’s novel structure and is decorated with contoured aluminum sheeting. ” from the Pompidou Center website http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Communication.nsf/0/C802434866E91C8CC1256D9800513026?OpenDocument&sessionM=3.8&L=2
French/New Zealand architects designed this in 2000 with a strong contemporary vision. I think of the divisions in space related to varying functions as pods.
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
The writer at http://intypes.cornell.edu/expanded.cfm?erID=71 refers (cannot find the name) to the practice of this type of installation/architecture as White Out. “Architects Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane called on the practice of White Out to create the Georges (2000) in Paris. Experimenting with spatial forms and volumes, innovative materials and new technologies, the restaurant has become almost as iconic as the building in which it resides, the Pompidou Center designed in 1977 by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. The dining space is populated with amorphously shaped blobs finished in aluminum panels for their exterior and rubber for the interior. The floors are also aluminum panels; both the walls and floors are finished with a smooth wax. The interior walls of each organic pod are brightly colored (light green for the coat check room and restaurants, yellow for a multimedia room, gray for the kitchen and red (Red Room) for the VIP Lounge. Glass topped white tables were paired with injection-molded polyurethane chairs.8 . For a definition of White Out and its contrast of White Box see “White Out: White Out describes a space in which all planar surfaces (wall, ceiling, floor), as well as furnishings and furniture are a bleached, bright white.”
http://intypes.cornell.edu/intypesub.cfm?inTypeID=50
“
Pompidou Centre, Restaurant Georges, January 1, 2010, kathryn arnold
Musee de l’Orangerie: Vertical Window, evening
Originally uploaded by kathryn_arnold
Monet Waterlily in Musee de l'Orangerie
Monet's Waterlilies at Musee de l'orangerie Paris
Here are a few photographs from Musee de l’Orangerie. It is a museum that recently was redesigned and now contains an amazing skylight/natural light features in rooms that are beautiful ovals. I have also given some of the brief history plus web links below for more specific information. I am also posting some images in Flickr (the link for my Flickr photos are over in the right column, scroll down a bit until your find them. I was there both during the evening/night hours (December 29, 2009) and then returned to view the Lily Collection in daylight on January 2, 2010. The lower level is filled with Matisses, Derains, Cezannes, Picassos and many more from La Collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume. Wonderful experience.
Monet's Waterlilies at Musee de l'Orangerie
Monet's Waterlilies at Musee de l'orangerie
one of Monet's Waterlilies housed in Musee de l'Orangerie
The musee de l’orangerie has an amazing website with panoramic 360 QT of the top floor with Monet’s lillies plus has an online catalogue of La Collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume which are held on the bottom floor. Both are very much worth seeing in person but the website is too amazing to pass up:
http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/homes/home_id25184_u1l2.htm
Some history on musee l’orangerie in paris from
http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/
translated by google http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/homes/home_id24798_u1l2.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmusee%2Bd%2527orangerie%26hl%3Den&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhgoiqRYxkvM4lv2Ng3okiWlmpLZTw
“Until the late 1970s, a brilliant exhibition program continues to make the Orangerie, until the actual entry of the Collection Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume and the triumph of late Waterlilies – a Mecca of cultural Paris. Puis la roue tourne. Then the wheel turns. De nouvelles et puissantes institutions (galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Centre Pompidou, musée Picasso, musée d’Orsay…) occupent le devant de la scène et font paraître l’Orangerie bien désuète. New and powerful institutions (Galleries Nationales du Grand Palais, Center Pompidou, Musée Picasso, Musée d’Orsay …) take center stage and the Orangerie are published rather outdated. De plus, l’entrée de la Collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume à la mort de Domenica immobilise la totalité de l’étage, ne permettant plus que de minuscules expositions. In addition, the entrance to the Collection Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume’s death Domenica immobilizes the entire floor, not allowing more than minute exposures. “…
“Work (2000-2006) are done in close collaboration with the designer, Pierre Georgel, the architect Olivier Brochet (Pike agency / Lajus / Pueyo) for the interior, and for the Outside, the chief architect of historic monuments, Michel Goutal. Les Nymphéas retrouvent la lumière du jour et un environnement en accord avec leur sens, la Collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume affirme son identité historique et esthétique, l’architecture du Second Empire redevient lisible… et le public jouit enfin de conditions d’accueil dignes de sa fidélité et de sa ferveur. Waterlilies found daylight and an environment consistent with their meaning, Collection Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume says its historical identity and aesthetics, the architecture of Second Empire becomes readable …”
above from http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/
‘after Cortazar – in form of Hopscotch’ is the next in my series of 100 piece works. In it, I have included multiple twitter feeds (of my own) and inserted them into hand-drawn text bubbles along with some hand-drawn text.
The overall idea is a non-linear book/text that can be read in any direction, forwards, backwards or just jumping around as in Cortazar’s Hopscotch. Unlike Cortazar’s novel, my non-linear text is not a narrative exactly, but mirrors our route today in acquiring information/ even storylines by this hop, skip, and jump method. The work is 100″ x 100″ when assembled as you see here. (The work on the right is the next one to complete.)
This ‘after Cortazar – in form of Hopscotch’ piece is on paper, using mixed medias and copy and paste from twitter and more and also additional collaged elements.
So much for words, I hope you enjoy. Feedback is enjpoyed.
I hope your days are great and love it that you have visited my blog. Thank you.
If you would like to exhibit this work and/or others, please contact me using my email on http://www.kathrynarnold.com.
Kathryn
After Cortazar - in the form of Hopscotch, 100\
The following are a selection of photos I shot in Bruges. This is the area where many Northern European masters lived and worked, such as Robert Campin, Van Eyck, Memling and many more. A magical place. Food and art are excellent here and the city boasts of a Michelangelo pieta housed in one of their many churches. One restaurant where I ate brought the raw fresh fish to the table along with veggies and I cooked directly on a hot stone at the table, something I am going to try at home.
bruges canal, january 3, 2010, kathryn arnold
bruges canal, january 3, 2010, kathryn arnold
bruges canal with swans, january 3, 2010, kathryn arnold
bruges canal, January 3, 2010, kathryn arnold
bruges canal with swans, january 3, 2010, kathryn arnold
All of my winter January classes were cancelled this year due to california budget crisis’s effect on higher ed so i took the opportunity to travel.
I just returned last evening from europe journey where i mainly was in paris and bruges. delightful! I have over 1000 images to share that over the next few weeks will post to both here and flckr. Probably not all of them!
Felt like an art pilgramage and gave me opportunity to practice my french speaking abilities. Along with, of course, viewing the very great and magnificent historical works in the many museums – the pompidou has an exhibition on their 4th floor of all women artists – all contemporary but a few who are no longer with us. I really got into the contemporary video works. More on this later – I took some short clips of them and will be posting them in wordpress if i can get the technology to work for me and make sure I have the artists’ names.
i totally fell in love with the numerous van eycks, memlings and more that i saw…the museums like groeninge and jacquemart-andre do not let you take photos however so i do not have the images from those museums…and i saw a full size pieter bruegel to die for (le massacre des innocents a bethleem) at jacquemart-andre. also saw a small bosch alterpiece (not in france but at belgium’s hospital museum in brugge) which is so very remarkable.
at pompidou contemporary design works, architectural elevations/plans and models are exhibited alongside artworks 1900 and after. SF MOMA does this a similar way but with more separation. Loved seeng this integration of design movements/styles integrated with the finearts in Paris. gave so much inspiration and also an awareness of shared aesthetics/theory. they also have an entire room dedicated to marcel duchamp!
i also was able to see some contemporary work in the galleries at both locations 
overall a great time!
Winter Solstice, 2009, Mirror Lake, Yosemite, CA
Originally uploaded by kathryn_arnold
Winter Solstice, 2009, Mirror Lake, Yosemite, CA
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kathryn arnold