Autumn, meet winter
Thinking back to the Monet-Mitchell exhibit, an unexpected neighbor, and pockets of pink
Temperatures dipped into the single digits, Celsius, for the first time this week, and the skies (and our faces) are getting progressively paler as sunshine becomes a precious commodity. Somehow, having grown up in a place marked by four distinct seasons, it feels more natural. Last week, it felt tangibly odd to see the Christmas decorations going up, while people walked around town wearing T-shirts and trees were still filled with colorful foliage (though the contrast was not quite as sharp as in this remarkable photo from Yosemite, aptly titled ‘Autumn, meet winter’).
Stormy days recently made for some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, especially when one is lucky enough to be crossing a bridge during a break from the downpours.
This week I passed a billboard that reminded of the Monet-Mitchell exhibit I saw at the Louis Vuitton Foundation a few weeks ago. One thing I love about Paris is how many billboard spaces — that in other cities are dedicated to commercial advertising — here advertise culture.
The Monet-Mitchell exhibit traces the parallels between the two artists, the renowned French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840—1926) and the American Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) — even if Mitchell disliked the comparison with Monet. You can check out this New York Times profile on the exhibit for more information.
I was lucky enough to visit the opening of this exhibit thanks to a close friend who was part of the team curating the exhibit and writing its catalogue. I thought I’d share a few photos. First, to set the stage, here’s the magnificent building designed by Frank Gehry, which (to me) looks like an iceberg, meets a barn-raising or a cathedral, meets a space ship (especially seen from the side), all made of glass, steel, and wood.
The exhibition was dazzling — the curation was clever and creative, the loans were exceptional, there were many surprises to discover in both artists’ work and the links between them, and the monumental scale and intensity of the artwork found its match within the grand architecture.
One particularly special part of the exhibit is that the museum was able to reunite the three parts of Monet’s Agapanthus triptych — exhibited together in Paris for the first time since 1956. Each part is usually displayed in different American Midwest museums (the Cleveland Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City). According to the foundation, Monet worked on this work for nearly ten years and considered it to be “one of his four best series”. It helped propel Monet’s recognition in the United States. The work seems ‘reflective’ in multiple ways: the water reflects the sky and clouds, and the work invites the viewer to reflect in the special environment it creates. A curious note is that, although the painting is titled Agapanthus (‘Lily of the Nile’), the flower doesn’t actually figure in the painting. It was once depicted in the bottom left corner, but Monet later painted over it.
An optical illusion: my friend told me that the wall behind the Agapanthus triptych (above) is actually not white, but a shade of purple. The walls surrounding this surface (that seem yellowish) are the ones that are actually white.
There were also incredible Joan Mitchell artworks to discover. I particularly like this one with its structured color swaths,
And now a game. Who painted this one: Monet or Mitchell? (Answer at the end)*
An unexpected event of the week was following a friend to a party in the 7th arrondissement — to realize that this was not your average party. It was located in a hôtel particulier, described on wikipedia as a ‘grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion’, but typically free-standing. But in this case, the hôtel particulier does, in fact, share a wall with its neighbor. But not just any neighbor: the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. The living room of this home was formerly a music room for the prime minister, and artisans from Versailles created the gilt moldings. Looking up at the surroundings and then down at my shoes, I realized I was definitely underdressed.
Overhearing a conversation, it turns out this home was on the French Netflix show called l’Agence, or The Parisian Agency (Season 2, episode 2). A main selling point of the home is this home library of dreams (see below). We also explored a mezzanine balcony and a secret area of the home unveiled behind trompe-l’oeil doors that look like bookshelves. Returning home that night, my ceilings have never felt so low and so white!
Even when skies were grey and rainy, there were flashes of color to be spotted, like pink sunrises, or ‘Pink Floyd’ roses and peppery radishes. Rushing home one day, I was also struck by handwritten neon pink sign announcing local quinces at a neighborhood produce shop. The pun coings du coin (quinces=coings, local=du coin) was enough to make me stop and buy one. At home, I had no idea what to do with the alien-looking fruit that kept staring at me from the countertop. Thanks to a YouTube tutorial, it turns out that cooking quince is quite foolproof: poached with sugar, the fruit transforms from a yellow-ish white to a rosy orange when it is tender enough to be eaten. If anyone has ideas for how to cook with quince (like membrillo, or sweet quince paste), I’d be all ears!
To round out, here is a teaser of holiday decorations and lights. One behind-the-scenes shot, as the Christmas trees in front of the Senate went up to be decorated…
And another, of a pseudo-sun that one can admire while window-shopping at Place Vendôme, when the real sun doesn’t make an appearance for days at a time. More decorations next time, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the holiday season has officially begun (for Americans at least)!
Talk to you soon,
Anna Lea
*The work is Waterlilies by Monet, 1917-1919
Yay, I guessed correctly! :)
How nice to read this, what exciting experiences and reading this makes me really want to visit Paris again! I particularly like the stormy picture with the pink/orange sky.