Musee d'Orsay in Paris has Monet, Renoir, Manet, Picasso, Degas, Corot, Van Gogh… to name a few. The paintings are breathtaking and I never tire standing in awe by them. A few years ago while at the Musee d'Orsay I asked if I could take photos. I was surprised to learn that if I did not use a flash I could take as many photos as I pleased.
So I did.
Thankfully I did because now it is not possible to take photos, not even with your cell phone.
Claude Monet. As I was focusing on one of the lilies I noticed his name… Have you ever noticed his signature? I hadn't. The lilies I have seen and admired but never have I stopped to notice the signature nor the frames to these masterpieces.
I became the nutty tourist running around taking photos of signatures, corners of frames and other tiny details such as brush strokes and closeups of hands.
The brushstrokes, the splash of genius, the beginning and end of a painting, each stroke holding an emotion, dabbing, standing back with paint brush handle in mouth, contemplating, retouching, adding a little here and there.
The brushstrokes that paint our lives.
Framed art.
Boundaries to the present, carrying to the future.
Renoir's
What are you painting, what color is your mood, where will I add a bit more here and there.
Van Gogh's golden straw. Van Gogh signed his paintings: "Vincent" and often in the strokes of color of his painting's background.
Though Picasso only signed his paintings when they were sold. And rarely on front of the painting. In the Picasso Museum there are only four that are signed.
Gilded wood and plaster each frame is unique,
artwork in itself.
Rows and rows of art… at every angle, in perfection.
Musee d'Orsay's two famous clocks are surrounded by gilded frames. Chunky monkey frames. The enamelled numerals are my height.
Dabs of paint, splashes of color, defined brush strokes, genius works of art… frame the stories, history and lifestyles of these artists. The expressions of time, place, emotion… moments that do not change with time, layers upon layers of intertwined lives caught on canvas surrounded by golden halos.
Monet's lilies silently float.
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