TBT: THROW BACK THURSDAY: ART, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DECLARE?

Throw back Thursday is really just about the first Thursday we were in Paris.  I won't get to say that too often. LOL.  

After finishing our visit to the DAVID HOCKNEY retrospective, we had some time, not enough, of course, to savor another floor in the Pompidou Centre before closing time. 


What an amazing contemporary collection backdropped with the city. 

Best probably just to post some pics and let you also enjoy the vistas and a sampling of the collection. 

Views of Montmartre 's Sacre Coeur through the sculpture.

And zoomed in... 

Candy for the soul...  

A terrific ending to end Day 2 in Paris. 

Tomorrow, more art. 

What else?

HOCKNEY RETROSPECTIVE AT THE POMPIDOU

The Pompidou Centre in Paris is known for its unusual architecture grid like scaffolding on its exterior creating unusual geometrical views as escalators transport visitors to its different floors in a gerbil-like encapsulated tube. 

It was here where we came to view the touted 'incomparable' collection of contemporary and modern art, specifically the David Hockney retrospective.

Something I should probably mention is the amount of security now in France as any public building we visited would have at least one security checkpoint.  A simple opening of bags usually satisfied the security guards.  The lines moved quickly but unfortunately, it's just a part of the times. 


Anyhow, our second set of tickets after the morning in the Louvre was in the evening for David Hockney, one of the only museum stops which would 'not' allow photography. Interestingly, I only saw a couple folks sneaking pics. So, his works posted here are from internet images.

It was worth being privy to the breadth of 60 years of work in celebrating David Hockney's 80th birthday.   This retrospective included drawings, prints, paintings, videos and photography which illustrated the artist's curiosity and exploration through the different medium and techniques.  160+ works divided by rooms. (BTW there was a download phone app to walk you through the exhibit.) 

In his 20's Hockney questioned artistic dogmas and was influenced by the Kitchen Sink school of politically and socially active artists. This social realism was ever constant in his life work. "Painting has a role to play in society." Everything is political, isn't it? 
Room 1:Works of Youth
Room 2: Abstraction &"Love Paintings" Early 60's series in London caused a stir as his abstract paintings reintroduced narrative and a sexual dimension borrowing elements from great artists. He used photography although he distrusted it for fear of it replacing painting in room 5's double portrait depictions of friends and collectors.
 Room 3:Demonstration of Versatility
                       
Hockney merged both disciplines of
photography and painting. Remember cutting up a magazine photos in squares in elementary school and then reassembling them?

Room 4: California. When thinking of Hockney I always thought 'pop art' and its sharp lines. The late 60's in LA and the influence of the novel 'City of Night', introduced light and a pleasurable type of life style for Hockney. Swimming pool life. Affected by the fashionable movement of the time he created these Pop Art paintings with California modern houses and swimming pools replacing the brush with a roller and use of acrylics.

The Portrait of an Artist.

The exhibit's brochure provided 5 ways of looking at the Portrait of an Artist (above) as a
1. Double portrait: Is the observer seeing the swimmer/ is he     seeing himself?
2. Photographic montage: juxtaposition of two photos
3. Love Story: the observer is Hockney's lover of 5 years with whom he had just broken up.
4. Pool painting: Transparency, diluting the paint with water and washing up liquid applied directly to the raw canvas
5. As a lengthy labor: 18 months to complete with its first version destroyed . 
Let's continue.
Room 5: Double Portraits
Room 6: Confronting formalism
Room 7:Towards the reinvention of space
Room 8: Paper pools, abstraction influenced, 29 pressed pulp 
Room 9:Joiners and Polaroids Finding himself in the 70's leaving obsessive naturalism.
Room 10: Emancipation with 'Enveloping Landscapes.'
Room 11: From Utah to Yorkshire Cubist exploration, representation of space.
Room 12: The Four Seasons

So you get the 'picture',  David Hockney is a very versatile artist with an amazing life of art and social commentary.

My favorite? His portrait of his parents speaks to me.  

So, if you find yourselves in Paris, this exhibit will continue until October 23/ if you have the opportunity to see David Hockney's work, go. 

Happy 80th Mr. Hockney and thank you for your addition to the art world and your advice...

WINK, WINK MONA LISA, DO YOU SMILE TO TEMPT A LOVER?

Our first full day in Paris had definites on our schedule starting with what would be the ritual croissant and museum visits. Day 2: the Louvre followed that evening with the Pompidou Center for a special David Hockney exhibit.

A lot of scandal of this modern
addition to the historic Louvre

Whether one has limited/ unlimited time one might want to anticipate how much time to allow to stroll/visit any museum. BUT when one is tackling the Musee du Louvre, Europe's oldest and largest, one could easily spend an entire day on just one floor/in front of just one painting.  So a suggestion might be to pre-decide which pieces of art are on the 'have to see' list.  Our top choice and everybody else's apparently is the ever popular Mona Lisa by Leonardo di Vinci which once graced Napoleon's bedroom and gained notoriety when it was supposedly stolen by Picasso from the Louvre. (BTW the robber ended up being an Italian carpenter.)

Our game plan was to arrive early and head straight to see the infamous smile of Mona Lisa. She even has her own guide signs to find her. And wouldn't you know all these other folks beat us to her?  I found it much more entertaining to snap a picture of them taking pics/selfies with the famous lady. Isn't this a hoot?

Don't forget to look up!

The bottom line is this 16th century U shaped palace is overwhelming with its humongous halls and countless stair cases. The Vatican is the only other European museum whose guests outnumber this Paris landmark. 

                                                  

Famous Renaissance to Romantic artists line the walls one after another. Knowing we would have the opportunity to see other examples of their work was comforting. 

SO much to see.

I hope this guy realized he didn't need to jump that he could return another day. Some folks just plan on returning over and over again.  It's wonderful if you have that luxury. Most of us never do. 

Leonardo di Vinci never thought much of this later piece of his art. Don't tell that to the throngs who flock to see her. Wink, wink. In fact, I zoomed in on her and I swear I saw her wink at me.

Most folks allow 2 hours as their max for a visit to any museum including the Louvre. If you have the time, take breaks, eat some lunch and give yourself the ultimate gift of enjoying the treasures of the Louvre.

Do you remember Nat King Cole's rendition of Mona Lisa? Take a listen :MONA LISA followed by Unforgettable which Mona Lisa has become throughout time. Who knew? 

HOP ON, HOP OFF: DAY 1

Some of the best travel advice I received was to be sure and take advantage of the Hop On, Hop Off double decker Paris city bus tour for an overview of the main sights. It was the perfect intro on our arrival day and if we hadn't been with Jim, a long time French resident who knew his way around the city, a two day pass would definitely have been the way to go for day 2 too. 

Due to our long travel day the 1 1/2 hour 8pm tour was ideal since we stayed aboard the entire loop accompanied by the prerecorded dialogue shock full of  historic interest.  In fact, there was so much to see, it was virtually impossible to take copious notes.  You will hear more about many of these sights in future entries. 

The moveable canopy top came in handy during our excursion as there were was an earlier light rain shower and during our ride some rain drops but the top opened up easily, allowing nice airflow and picture taking as you can see by this sampling of museums, monuments and government buildings.

Yes, perfect viewings of Paris from the upper bus deck above the bustle of traffic and people worked super well for these travelers. 

* During my research I learned the city bus Route #69, an east-west line is terrific for walkers as you can use your carnet ( tickets for bus/metro ) to stop at many of these sights. Do get on near the Eiffel Tower heading east to ensure a nice view from the bus. 

I would concur to use public transportation as the bus and metro routes are far superior than one finds in the States and can get you right to/within a couple blocks of your desired destination. Handy color coded route maps are available at the airport when you arrive/ the metro station/ some kiosks.

So welcome to Paris where we would spend 6 nights in order to see a lot of art during our Fantastic French 2 week adventure... To this visitor everything is art.

FOTO FRIDAY: PARISIANS AND BIKES

FOTO FRIDAY: Despite the fact the Tour de France ended on July 23rd on Paris's Champs-Élysées stage while we were there, one cultural surprise was the lack of seeing folks actually using bikes as a major form of daily transportation. Then again this is a major urban city and after witnessing its drivers , I don't blame its residents one bit in preferring other transportation methods.

The following shots are a couple favorites of a series of catching Parisians in their daily lives... A Mom and Her Two Kids.

So do you have a favorite bike shot to share? Send it my way and I will include it!

Last FOTO FRIDAY was Best thumbs Up Ever with an addendum.

YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW SOMEONE UNTIL...

There are so many endings to the saying "You never really know someone until..." and after having completed a 2 week visit in France with my friend Sally and her brother Jim, neither of whom I had travelled with before, I can attest to a lot of things you can learn about traveling with others and especially one's self.  In fact, isn't there a suggestion that couples travel together before getting married?  Today's travel uncertainties help bring out both the best and the worst in folks... 

Our very last day was the epitome of the travel experience. We had received some early delay emails regarding our return flight with the suggestion to still arrive 1 hour prior to the original flight time in case the scenario changed. It was a good thing we heeded Sally's suggestion to allow even more time. Hey, we had some euros to spend anyway and could fill the time with only 2 stops to travel from our airport hotel on the courtesy terminal train, it would be a no brainer.

Outside the hotel an overburdened harried Asian gentleman needed help with his many parcels and, fortunately, we had time and hands to spare to aid him onto his platform and train. He was so very appreciative and I hope he made his flight. 

We found our train on the opposite track which arrived shortly thereafter. Yet when we disembarked, there blocking the escalators up to our desired terminal were not very friendly looking security personnel with their walkie talkies, shaking their heads no. A couple more trains deposited more travelers into our station when the bilingual announcements began: "This station is now closed. FIRME. Please read information boards." No information boards. I had started eyeballing the space, calculating how many more bodies could fit comfortably into the space. How edgy would folks become with the possibility of missing their flights/ late arrival to work/ missed breakfasts?  During the hour wait body odor started to grow and waft in the air.  Would I find and destroy the speakers where the obnoxious message kept repeating itself ? Did we need to be reminded we were caged? 

Minutes seemed to tick by so slowly, yet folks behaved. Nobody started yelling/ complaining loudly. I knew my thoughts were on surmising whether this was a bomb scare/ threat. Large glass panels surrounded us. Not a very good place to be stuck in at all. Folks discussed the possibility of a dignitary...  The guards didn't help ease any of our concerns/thoughts. 

Finally, we were allowed access up the escalators as we joined the throngs of others from all sides of the blocked terminal area. Now the Disney like lines to get baggage tags were enormous slowed by tempermental machines, a personal exit interview, baggage drop off and more security check points before even heading to to the gate. 

We learned when they say you don't need your passport anymore to still keep it in hand.  We had left the hotel at 9:30 ish and finally arrived at our gate at 1pm. 3.5 hours later. Sally, my traveling companion, was a trooper and we were surrounded by tired folks who didn't panic, push nor raise their voices. OK, truth be told, one kid was hit by his father as those surrounding the family raised eyebrows. We were all tired but it's our choice how we behave, isn't it? 

20 minutes before another delayed boarding time allowed a bathroom visit (with a line, of course) and a little shopping therapy helped. Didn't have time to spend all those remaining euros... So, if you need some euros, be sure and let me know.