Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Pieces of Paris 2 -- Galerie du Jeu de Paume


A quick view of the Jeu de Paume Gallery as we were waiting in line, until our daughter bought tickets with her iPhone

Despite a lazy morning and having to leave Paris a bit after 2pm on Sunday, we were able to squeeze in an exhibit at the Galerie du Jeu de Paume. 



Looking up from the entrance hall

I'm a bit ashamed that I hadn't been there since its impressionist museum days, and downright embarrassed to admit I was only very vaguely aware of its tranformation into a contemporary art gallery (in 1991...cringe...)


Sunday gallery visitors heading down to the bookshop 

This place has definitely been done up right. It was a grey day, but the open spaces were still flooded with light. 



I like the idea of inventing the possible, but we didn't have time to go to the video area. I guess we weren't able to invent that possibility.


What we did get to see was this exhibit, now transferred to the Jeu de Paume, of the American photographer Garry Winogrand. 

The Met site for the show explains: "While Winogrand is widely considered one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century, his overall body of work and influence on the field remain incompletely explored."

It has certainly been completely unexplored by me! I somehow had never heard of this most intriguing American photographer, and frankly didn't recognize any of his photos. But they were fascinating, depicting American life in New York, California and other regions in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Another exhibit, another discovery...


3 comments:

wcs said...

Cool. I haven't been since the transformation, either. But I have been to the Orangerie, which underwent a similar, and to my mind, highly successful renovation/modernization. I recommend it.

Betty Carlson said...

I haven't been back to the Orangerie either, but after this, it is definitely on my list. With time I am really coming to appreciate smaller museums more -- there's some satisfaction in feeling like you've seen everything.

Perpetua said...

I too haven't been since the transformation. I'm afraid my last visit to Paris was in the late 1980s. Where have the Impressionist paintings gone?