Nearly every tourist in Paris plans to visit the Louvre. The Louvre is seen as one of the quintessential French experiences, even though most of the art pieces it contains hail from other nations. Yet, when approaching the Louvre, tourists seem to be focused solely on the looming glass pyramid over the neatly cut treetops of the Jardin des Tuileries, completely missing the structure to their left. This imposing yet unassuming wing of the Louvre Palace houses le Musée des Arts Décoratifs, or MAD, one of the premier museums of Paris. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs is itself historical. Opening on May 29th, 1905, MAD has seen two World Wars, the end of the Cold War, and the establishment of the European Union by the time it was renovated between 1996 to 2006.
Physically attached to the Louvre, MAD houses an impressive collection of art, objects, and furniture that rival its conjoined neighbor. According to the Figaro, the Louvre holds pieces recognized as the absolute best examples of fine art in the world while MAD houses art people would have actually owned and used. That does not mean that MAD’s collections are any less artistic. Rather, they are tangibly linked to France’s history and the lives of French people. Take the Soupière made by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot in Paris in 1819. It serves a functional purpose by holding soup before it is served, yet the beautifully crafted silver angels, swans, and ornaments turn the structural components of the Soupière into artistic design elements.
These collections are exhibited in five departments based on the time period of the objects. The first department features pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in France, where authentic bedrooms, friezes, and altarpieces are re-created using objects from the collection. This department is followed by a collection of 17th and 18th century pieces, during the Ancien Régime. Within the 17th and 18th century displays, you will notice the proliferation of porcelain and the increasing ornateness of everyday objects in themed salons. The Ancien Régime section ends with the Revolution, starting a department of 19th century pieces. Here, gold accents dazzle your eyes alongside powerful, opulent color schemes.
After entering the Republic era, the time ranges of the departments become more condensed. The first of these temporally condensed section features objects in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles of the early 20th century, where human-made objects seek to imitate natural forms. These styles were heavily influential in France, and many of the pieces in this exhibit hail directly from various world’s fairs in the 1920s and 1930s. The fifth and final department houses contemporary or modern pieces and seeks to explore the very limit of modern design and fabrication. Many of the pieces in these final displays seek to blend aesthetics with increased functionality. The Bibliothèque des Chaises is a great example of this. This library of chairs is a repository of our modern attempt to make the sitting experience more comfortable, yet visually pleasing.
Within these five departments, the collections are further subdivided. Textiles, jewelry, paintings, toys, furniture, graphic arts, glassware, and advertisements can be found throughout all five departments, creating very diverse and holistic exhibitions. With these diverse collections, MAD aims to be as alive as its contemporary and modern department. Through exploring the history of everyday art, MAD seeks to follow the continuous breath of French taste from the middle ages to today. By exploring MAD’s dynamic exhibitions, you might just feel a hint of this breath, pushing you to design the next object for MAD’s modern department.
References
« Departments. » Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris : n. pag. Web. 2 March 2020. https://madparis.fr/francais/musees/musee-des-arts-decoratifs/collections/departements/
Fauteuil « Œuf 3317 » et repose-pied « 3127 ». By Arne Jacobsen – Photo by Jean Tholance, Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris. https://madparis.fr/francais/musees/musee-des-arts-decoratifs/collections/departements /#&gid=1&pid=70
« Les 5 musées de mode à voir à Paris » Vogue 20 Février 2020 : n. pag. Web. 2 March 2020. https://www.vogue.fr/culture/article/5-musees-de-mode-a-voir-a-paris
Prat, Véronique. « Réouverture : le musée des Arts décoratifs retrace l’histoire du goût. » Le Figaro 4 Septembre 2006 : n. pag. Web. 2 March 2020. https://www.lefigaro.fr/lefigaromagazine/2006/09/04/01006-20060904ARTWWW90415-reouverture_le_musee_des_arts_decoratifs_retrace_l_histoire_du_got.php
Soupière. By Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot – Photo by Jean Tholance, Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris. https://madparis.fr/francais/musees/musee-des-arts-decoratifs/collections/departements /#&gid=1&pid=39
Villa Léandre Road, located in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, sits amidst the bustling hilltop attraction that is Montmartre. Villa Léandre is a relic of the past, as is exemplified by the homey air that its Art Deco style maintains. Renamed in 1936 after the comedian Charles Léandre, the street embodies a bygone era, the Paris of 100 years past. Though Paris and even Montmartre itself have continued to urbanize, Villa Léandre has stayed true to the style of arts décoratifs that originated in France and developed during the 1920’s.
Taking its name from the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy, la fontaine Médicis is a hidden gem nestled in the popular Luxembourg gardens in Paris. Marie de Medici (1575 – 1642), who was the widow of King Henri IV of France, found herself weary of living in the Louvre after her husband’s death. She decided to have her own palace, Palais des Médicis, constructed (~1623 – 30) on the left bank of the Seine. Feeling nostalgic for the style of the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in her hometown of Florence, she commissioned both her palace and its surrounding gardens to be modeled on this same Italian Renaissance style.
However, much of the original design has been changed or replaced in a number of reconstructions over the years. These include the change in form from grotto to fountain along with other modifications in 1799 by the celebrated Jean Chalgrin (1739 – 1811), architect of the Arc de Triomphe. The most notable changes took place later, between 1864 – 66, when the fountain was moved about 30 meters to its current location in the Luxembourg gardens due to the construction of la rue Médicis. There, the fountain was extensively rebuilt into the version we see today. This final construction was based on the designs of Alphonse de Gisors (1796 – 1861), with sculptures by Auguste Ottin (1811 – 90), and contains a number of decorative elements.
include a central niche featuring Ottin’s statue of Acis holding Galatea, the two lying together under a rock on top of which is perched Polyphemus, ready to launch the stone fated to kill his rival*. The side niches are decorated with a statue of a faun (probably Pan) and a huntress (probably Diana). Because the fountain no longer had a “back” once it was moved to its current location, a large bas-relief by Achille Valois (1785 – 1862), featuring Leda with Jupiter transformed into a swan**, was moved from another salvaged fountain (originally at the intersection of the rue du Regard and the rue de Vaugirard) and placed on the new back wall for the Medici fountain.
The joy of the creative process, minute by minute, hour after hour, day by day, is the sublime path to true happiness. –George Lois
Like many of you, I am beginning my sixth week of extreme social distancing. My work life, social life, and family life have all moved online. I am very happy to maintain my connections with students, friends and family. My advanced literature course has turned into a fabulous Zoom book club discussing Zola’s Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris). And raucous family happy hours (“cocktail hour” as Mom calls it) launch me into each weekend.
Language is evolving as we grasp for ways to express pandemic life. People are not only staying in, but hunkering down and practicing self-isolation. We’re actively engaged in social distancing so we can flatten the curve. Some are suggesting we crush the curve…
The depth of nothingness is directly related to the experience of everythingness. —Matthew Fox
I’ve spent years combing the internet for tips on preparing my own meals for airplane travel. Especially on long haul flights, I like to bring my own food along for the ride—it is healthy and economical. Some food bloggers prepare fairly intricate, time-intensive recipes for their trips, but with the last-minute chaos I inevitably encounter before I take off, I must keep things simple. In this post I share my strategy for putting together meals for travel and give you a few examples of recent meals I’ve packed.
I am just back from a brief business trip to France and basking in the glory of home. My days in Nantes passed in a flash—meetings, a bit of research, a few get-togethers with friends, and inordinate amounts of bread, cheese, and Muscadet. Then… poof! The week was over and I was headed home.
Every so often I take a day or two to engage in extreme rest. I have created a structured life for myself, so it is never convenient, never easy to drop everything in favor of rest. But I’ve found that stillness staves off burnout. Letting my thoughts fall away energizes me. And successive naps in the span of a few days reengage my creativity, helping me to maintain levity and optimism.