Monday, November 19, 2007

Edward Steichen at the Jeu de Paume

As we crossed the Place de la Concorde, we decided to stop in the Jeu de Paume, if it was still open. Lucky us, they were open until 7 p.m. and I still felt like I could do more, even though I was beginning to feel tired. (Aaagh, the head cold!) The Edward Steichen show was so good. It was the first retrospective in Europe, since his death in 1973. There were over 450 prints in the show. Amazingly early works from the late 1800s, when he was just a kid, through to his time at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. We remembered seeing his famous portraits of people like Greta Garbo and Marlena Dietrich, but hadn't realized he did a lot of advertising photos. Also, He started the photography office of the military, doing aerial photos during WWII. Of course, I couldn't take photos in the exhibit, but I couldn't resist a reflection in the window. This is a view out the back of the museum looking towards the Louvre. By the way, You'd probably recognize his work if you saw it. When we finished with the exhibit, we stepped out into the night, it had gotten dark while we were in the museum, and oh it was magical looking out onto the Place de la concorde. Doesn't the Ferris wheel look magical? With this sense of awe and satisfaction at seeing all of the wonderful art work, we descended into the Metro for a quick ride "home." oh yeah, and it was free. The turnstiles were open. I guess because of The Strike!

1 comment:

Wendy Northup said...

On Friday, Nov. 16 I also visited an Edward Sheichen exhibit at the Courtwald Gallery in London. It was the Camdentown Nudes and it was so interesting. I happened to wander in during a "lunchtime lecture" which I appreciated since I didn't have you two to give me the necessary background! Reading your experience reminded me again of how much we enjoyed our visit! Wendy

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