A Trip to the Louvre

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind comments regarding my last blog post about my trip to France. I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed my photos!

I didn't really cover my trip to the Louvre in that post because the Louvre definitely deserves a post of it's own. That place is mind boggling with the sheer size of the building and it's quantity of art! It contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 652,000 sq ft! It also gets approximately 15,000 visitors a day! I only spent a day there and felt like my head would explode if I took in one more piece of artwork.

I would like to share with you some of my personal favorites that I saw while there.

A Detail of Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss by Antonio Canova - one of my favorite Neo-classical sculptures.

   Young Christian Martyr by Paul Delaroche I had never seen this painting before but feel instantly in love with the dramatic composition and lighting. SO beautifully executed.

                           Diana and Actaeon by Francesco Albani
This piece is beautifully executed like most Baroque or Rococo paintings, but I'll tell you WHY I loved it so much. This piece tells the story of the hunter Diana's bath being disturbed when the mortal man, Actaeon,  accidentally stumbles into the scene. She ends up turning him into a deer who is then killed by his friends when they fail to recognize him. Typical tragic story. Diana stands in the center pointing in an accusatory fashion towards the unfortunate Actaeon while her nymphs try vainly to shield her nakedness. Here is the part that I love. Check out the face of the young nymph to the bottom left of Diana's figure. ( Diana is actually resting her foot upon the nymph's thigh) This nymph is shielding herself like the others, but actually has a slight smile on her face. Does she find the whole situation amusing? Is she slightly enamored with the young man? There is a shy, but definitely intriguing look upon this nymphs face and it's HER face that made this painting one of my favorites. I could spend hours just looking upon the story and trying to determine what exactly she might be thinking or feeling.

                  A detail from The Slumber of Titania by Richard Dadd  I've always loved Midsummer Night's Dream and have myself done several pieces depicting Titania asleep. I hadn't even realized that this piece was at the Louvre so I was delighted and surprised when I stumbled across it. The thing that is so unbelievable about this piece is that it is SO SMALL! All of this amazing detail is done in a 25 x 30 inch painting!

Here are a few more that I really love, but can't give credit to because I forgot to write down the title and artist's name. (the Louvre's database is a bit difficult to navigate if all you have are descriptions) If any of you recognize the painting, or artist, PLEASE share it with me so that I can add it under the pieces! Much obliged... :)

             This sculpture depicts Joan of Arc as she hears the voice of God. I love that the artist placed her in a standard dress, but has the foot peeking out from under her dress in armor. It's a lovely sculpture that beautifully tells a story.

 This is a detail from a portrait of a young girl. ( The photo I took of the full piece had some light glare from the window behind me ) The soft light and way in which this piece was painted just stole my heart immediately. I absolutely love it!

     This sculpture just looks so real to me! I love his gnarled, lined face and hands. The amazing folds in his cloak!  He's just beautiful!


A few other shots of the Louvre itself.

                               Being inside the glass pyramids are super cool!

                      The architecture inside the museum is stunning!

                                The ceilings are breathtaking!

 If you would like to take your own tour of the Louvre, you can take a 3-D tour by going to their website. 
I hope that you enjoyed this brief trip to the Louvre!

Thanks for checking out my blog and have a wonderful weekend!

Highlights from Paris

I am finally back from my trip to France. It was a wonderful experience immersing myself in a different culture. Come with me on a quick trip to France as I share some of the highlights of my trip.

              The stained glass dome ceiling of Galleries Lafayette

      The Beauty of Parisian Architecture (especially the roof tops)

                                  The Gothic Grandeur of St. Eustace

                              Quaint Medieval towns with Castles

                                French Desserts! Ooh La La!

                                 The Eiffel Tower at Night

                             A Walk Along the Seine River

                          The Romance of Paris at Night

                          The Rose Windows at Notre Dame

                               Monet's Garden in Giverny

                      The Louvre (highlights of my visit to come soon)

                           The Opulence of Versailles

                    My Favorite Fountain. A Fallen Giant in Versailles

                        The Stained Glass Splendor of St. Chapelle

   Spiral Staircases, Spiral Staircases and MORE Spiral Staircases

                                       Fashion in Paris

                                       Old vs New

                            Awesome Street Entertainment

I hope that you enjoyed your brief trip to France! I'll be sharing some my sketches/ paintings from the trip as well as pics of my favorite artwork from the Louvre, d'Orsay, etc in upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful week and thanks for visiting! :)

Painting in Progress

I leave tomorrow to go to France with my family. I have never been and am excited to immerse myself completely in all that art and culture! I'm also grateful that I've been given this amazing opportunity to be with my family. It will be wonderful to be able to share all of this with them.

I am hoping to be able to keep up with this blog while I'm gone,but as I'm not sure about the internet/computer situation over there, I felt that it would be smart to post something now before I leave. This is the current painting that I am working on. Perhaps it is because of my little sister having a little girl of her own, but I've definitely been finding myself drawn towards the pure, beautiful love that a mother has for her child. Either that or my "biological clock" is finally ticking.... yeah, right! Hahahaha! Anyway, I've been doing a lot of mother/child related sketches in my sketchbook and have finally taken one of them and am bringing it to fruition. I have always wanted to work on wood, but never really gave it a chance. This is my first time working on it and I'm really loving it! It feels so much more natural to me than painting on canvas.

Here are some quick mother/daughter sketches that I have done in my sketchbook.

Here are some images from the painting I am currently working on.

 I'm having a lot of fun with this one and am sort of sad to be going on my trip right now, only because it's inevitably going to effect the momentum that I've worked up with this piece. C'est la vie!

I wish everyone the very best and hope that you have a wonderful June! See you again in two weeks! (sooner if I can.... )