Friday, January 21, 2011

Mad for Monet

The Monet exhibit at the Grand Palais has been the hot ticket for art lovers this season -- perhaps too pedestrian for the serious art critics but dearly beloved by the rest of us.  But if you've put off going until now, you might think twice.  The show closes on Sunday and my guess is that all the advance tickets are sold.  When I finally got my act together to go earlier this week, the wait for walk up visitors was 7 hours.  The crowd was such that even those of us with the season pass (which normally allows you to waltz right in) had to wait a good 40 minutes to get through the front door. 

Once inside, the first two or three rooms were no picnic -- simply wall to wall people with lots of jockeying and a little bit of shoving for a better view.  But the crowds thinned as I moved through the exhibit and by the time I got to the series of haystacks, the cathedral in Rouen, and the houses of the British Parliament at different times of day, there was plenty of space to breathe and admire.   While I had seen many of the pieces before -- at the Musee d'Orsay and the National Gallery in Washington (which donated a considerable number of works to this show) -- there was something about seeing them after having visited Giverny, Vetheuil, Chatou, and other Monet favorites that made it extra special.

If you're in town and lost out on the show, there's another one at the Musee Rodin through the 30th and at Musee Marmottan through mid February.

7 comments:

MJ said...

Hey there, Just Another American! Happy New Year! I just read on Paris Weekends that the Grand Palais is staying open all weekend this weekend -- as in ALL weekend, 24-hrs. a day, to squeeze in as many last minute visitors to the Monet exhibit as possible. So if your readers don't have anything to do at, say, 3 a.m. Sunday morning, they may have a decent shot at getting in.

Elizabeth said...

I am so so so so so glad I bought my Carte Sesame. I am flying to Paris tonight for two nights just to see this. I can walk right in. yay!

Anne said...

MJ: Good to know. So I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, I'll know just what to do.

Elizabeth: Good luck with that. You will still stand in line. Dress warmly.

Starman said...

Did you happen to find out why there were no paintings contributed by le Musee Marmottan ?

Anne said...

Starman: Here are the gory details: http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=3173
Turns out that grownups pick fights in the sandbox just like kids although their sandboxes are fancier.

Starman said...

Thanks for the link. Children will be children.

Virginia said...

You were very brave. J'adore Monet but not line waiting. The exhibit at the Marmatton is excellent. I love the paintings from the years when his eyesight was really failing, bold splashes of color!!
V

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