Location | Paris: Meet Field School Blogger Erin Campbell

June 08, 2012 in "Paris", "field school"

Erin playing the part of royalty at the Louvre Palace
(Photo courtesy: Kyubo Yun)

Tell us a little bit about yourself—school, background, major, reasons for taking this trip, anything else interesting you want to share.

The group enjoying the view of the Eiffel tower from the
Architecture Museum after the visit to L'Orangerie.
(photo courtesy: Kyubo Yun)

I’m a 3rd year student from Simon Fraser University and was lucky enough to be allowed on this trip thanks to being in a plethora of Dorothy’s classes. At SFU I’m aiming for a double major in Business (with a concentration in Marketing) and Art and Culture Studies. Lately I have been volunteering as a blogger for the Satellite Gallery and have been writing about and studying the art sphere in Mumbai for the past 4 months. Soon after arriving home I jettisoned off to Europe with this group and have been having an amazing time. I feel very fortunate to have met a group of such amazing people and been able to learn about art with and from them. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip will hold! Vive la France!

What has met or exceeded your expectations or surprised you about Paris so far?

I have been to Paris before so things didn’t really surprise me. I was delighted to find that I hadn’t forgotten all my French and that the city was just as beautiful as I remembered. However, I’m not used to travelling in a group and am learning how to deal with the benefits and tribulations of being with so many others. It’s impossible to blend in with the locals when you’re with a group of 25 art students with Nikon cameras hanging from their necks. And it’s impossible to get anywhere on time or to make quick decisions but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. It’s truly wonderful to be able to travel and experience Paris with so many like-minded people. I love the discussions and collaboration and I am learning more from them than I could imagine.

Erin and others perform a spontaneous tableau vivant in front of
David's Oath of the Horatii (photo courtesy: Kyubo Yun)

Give us some insight into your assigned art work from for the Orsay Museum. After seeing the work in person, what struck you most about it and/or how did the art work’s form, content, and context shift for you when seeing it?

Marie Bashkirtseff, The Meeting (1884)

My assigned image was The Meeting by Marie Bashkirtseff a work and an artist who were completely new to me before this class. I have had a relatively blasé relationship with the painting, but have discovered Marie Bashkirtseff to be a fascinating character – she died young of tuberculosis yet produced an amazing body of work and was one of the few women artists to make it out of obscurity. Seeing The Meeting in real life was thankfully less blasé than I expected. The painting was much larger than I anticipated and was hung high on a wall in a hugely ornate frame. This dramatic treatment of a painting I had previously been indifferent to made me re-evaluate my impression of the piece. The paintings which were hung in the room with The Meeting created an interesting context for the piece. The Meeting is hung above a painting of a wrestling match and this really puzzled me. I couldn’t decide if the choice of proximity was a coincidence or if I was missing the link. Were the boys in Marie Bashkirtseff’s work betting on something the way the spectators in the wrestling match were betting on the outcome? Were the bold colours of the wrestling match meant as a contrast to soft pastels of The Meeting? Would the painting be interpreted differently if it were hung in a room with different paintings (perhaps with some landscapes or some of Renoir’s farm girls)? These are questions I still don’t have satisfactory answers for and I hope to return to the Orsay to learn more.

Today’s activity was at the L’Orangerie and Architecture Museum. What were your impressions? What will be your take away of the experience? Any memorable moments?

Going into the L’Orangerie I had relatively low expectations. Monet was never one of my favourite artists despite his incredible skill with paint. To my surprise I found the Nympheas captivating and was drawn into the world he created of colour and sky in water. My one complaint was the music that was playing in the background – I think it was a Debussy symphony. The music clashed strangely with the paintings and I felt the chosen piece to be overly dramatic for Monet’s peaceful style. My discussions with other students about the works tended to be overwhelmingly about the music and less about the works themselves which was unfortunate because the pieces could have generated more positive discussion had the ambience music not provided a distraction.

Monet's famous water lilies (Nympheas) are arranged in panels at the L'Orangerie. Photos are forbidden,
so these are images taken from Wikipedia free domain.

Location | Paris: Meet Field School Blogger Alison MacDonald

June 08, 2012 in "Paris", "field school"

Meet Alison!

Tell us a little bit about yourself—school, background, major, reasons for taking this trip, anything else interesting you want to share.

Hello! My name is Alison and I am a student of the BFA program at Kwantlen University in my third year. I have returned to Kwantlen again after taking several years away and completing my Diploma in Make-up artistry. I have a passion for Art History and hope to get a minor in it. I thought that being able to see some of the artworks we have studied in class would be an amazing opportunity. It is completely different to see the paintings up close than looking at them on slides. I felt that I would be able to grow from this trip both in an educational and personal way, as I would get to experience a different culture. I have previous travel experience from working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and I also lived with a family in Mexico when I was a teen for a rotary exchange. I love to travel and see how other people live. I know a little bit of Spanish and French but I would love to have a second language that I could speak fluently.

The Eiffel tower seen from the L'Orangerie

What has met or exceeded your expectations or surprised you about Paris so far? I am surprised by my reaction to some of the art works that I have seen so far.

Today at the L`Orangerie museum I got to see the fantastic Water Lily paintings by Monet. Previously I wouldn’t have thought that I’d be so excited to see these paintings, as the image of Monet’s water lilies has been reproduced on so many things in our visual culture that I saw it almost as a mainstream commodity. Seeing the images in person was completely different. The way they were displayed added to the beauty; the paintings were in large panels that curved with the shape of the wall and they were lit from above. The colours used and paint strokes were amazing- the blues, purples and greens worked beautifully together. I felt like I could spend a very long time standing in front of these works, being totally captivated by them. Also, getting to see the Eiffel tower today from the Architecture museum was a wonderful experience. The Eiffel tower is another image that is so ingrained into our visual culture that I have probably seen it reproduced hundreds of times before. Again, getting to see the “Iron Lady,” as it is sometimes referred to, in person, is a totally unique experience. I had the opportunity to sit in the gardens of the Architecture Museum and sketch the tower. The amount of detail in this cultural icon is fascinating. I’m sure I will never forget the experiences that I had today.

Pissaro, The Seine and the Louvre (1903)

My assigned art work from the Orsay was The Seine and the Louvre by Pissarro from 1903. This soft and misty landscape was painted the same year the Artist died, from a window in the second floor of a house. Pissarro placed increasing importance on sky and water in his compositions in the last ten years of his life and had an interest in observing the light. This image shows the atmosphere of a winter’s day in soft light. By painting this view of the Louvre, Pissarro pictures himself as away from the Louvre, both pictorially and symbolically. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see my artwork in the Orsay (it was not on exhibition), which was a little disappointing. I did, however, get to see a few other works by the artist. I stood in front of another painting entitled Vue sur la cote des Mathurins, Pontoise, from 1873, and quickly drew it in my sketch book and took notes. This work is different from the one I was assigned. It contains a different palette of mostly earthy browns, yellow and greens, but it’s not as muted as The Seine and the Louvre and includes some vibrant shades of green. The scene in this landscape is of a man gardening in the foreground. Some plant beds are painted on the ground in repeating squares, and behind that is a brick wall and brick houses, painted in similar colours to each other- white with hints of brown and yellow. I found the image slightly hard to read because I think the perspective is off. Behind the houses there is a curved hill painted with stripes of different greens and yellow. The background consists of a light sky with a few quickly painted trees. This landscape has a totally different feeling than the one I was assigned. It doesn’t convey the misty softness of a cold winter day but more an energetic feeling of Spring.

Interior shot of Architecture Museum with view of Eiffel tower.

Today’s activity was also at the L’Orangerie and the Museum of Architecture and French Monuments. What were your impressions? What will be your take away of the experience? Any memorable moments?

A Soutine painting Alison especially liked at the L'Orangerie.

As I said in my earlier response, I was very impressed by Monet’s work that was displayed at L’Orangerie. I think that this museum has been one of my favourites so far. It held so much beautiful work by artists like Derain, Cezanne, Picasso, Gaugin, and one artist- Soutine, that I had never heard of. There were a number of his portraits displayed that I found to be quite interesting. Visiting this museum was a good learning experience for me as it further established my admiration for certain artists like Cezanne and Gaugin and allowed me to become aware of other artists.I am not as passionate about architecture as I am about paintings but there were some great things to be seen at the Architecture Museum as well. Seeing all the sculptures of Angels and different religious figures like the Virgin and Child brought me back to the Renaissance Art History class that I took years ago and reminded me of the Catholic Church that I used to go to when I was younger. I think what I will remember most from being at the Architecture Museum was spending time in the surrounding gardens with a gorgeous view of the grand Eiffel tower, peacefully sketching in the sun. That for me was a moment that will last a long time in my mind! J

Location | Paris: Meet Field School Blogger Charis Au

June 07, 2012 in "Paris", "field school"

Meet Charis, posing on one of the many bridges crossing the Seine.

Tell us a little bit about yourself—school, background, major, reasons for taking this trip, anything else interesting you want to share.

I am Charis Au in the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Arts program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and I am a third year student. Apart from going to Paris(!), I came because I saw this to be an opportunity for me to experience Europe in a fascinating way. I think my classmate and I have a different experience as to how to approach gallery spaces. Many classmates that I know well were with me while I become enamoured by the many artworks and having them around me once I processed information provided a wonderful opportunity for me to discuss and compare notes. Before meeting with the class on June 3rd, in Paris, Sam (Stephanie) and I travelled to Italy for nine days. The nine days proved to be spectacular and provided me with a history of art before coming to Paris to study Impressionism.

What has met or exceeded your expectations or surprised you about Paris so far?

Paris proved to be an interesting city for me; she is, unarguably, a beautiful city. Apart from Vancouver, I believe this is the best city I have seen with constant life and activity around all the time. One thing I noticed was the efficiency of the metros around Paris. The metro system is effective and easily navigated. A metro station would be within three blocks of the area I was in. This system, which runs underground avoiding foot or automobile traffic, provides the ability for everybody to walk through Paris. Another thing I really like are the chairs in the Tuileries garden-- allowing all of us to move and sit together to enjoy a public space in the middle of Paris. The chairs are meant for people and there seems to be an honour system in place between everyone and the garden to not take the chairs home.

Renoir, The Swing (1876)

There were many things that changed when I first saw the painting in person. First of all, in a formal aspect, the colour and tone of the whole piece was different from a digital copy. The colours were actually a lot brighter; this applies to not only my painting but almost every painting I saw a digital copy of. I understand now why Impressionism is described as painting with “light”. From the research I did about this painting, as I had spoken before, Renoir played with the colours of the shadows. The shadows were a deep purple colour and the purple defined the painting. Another thing I noticed was a strange line above the little girl’s hat; the line was not ever visible in digital copies but the strangeness of this line becomes an obvious point in the painting. In terms of content, I discovered that many things were not as it seemed. The group of people in the background were actually a wedding that seemed to be happening behind the swing. The expression of the girl, which I had spent a lot of time trying to understand her coy expression, was actually an uncomfortable glance away from the two gentlemen. From looking at the piece in person changed the entire premise as to what I base the feeling extracted from the painting. In the Orsay, the painting was placed on an “edge” of the exhibition called: Paintings of Modern Paris. The painting Floor Scrapers dominated that wall and Renoir’s own Le Moulin de la Galette overshadowed the presence of The Swing. The class differences represented between Floor Scrapers and The Swing becomes obvious as the lower working class and the leisure time of the bourgeois is compared.

Today’s activity was also at the Orsay. What were your impressions? What will be your take away of the experience? Any memorable moments?

Today’s activity was at the Orsay Museum and I was really excited to see some of the masterpieces that I admired so much including Manet’s Olympia. After a quick debriefing, a classmate and I went along the first floor of the Orsay and we were struck by the beautiful brushstrokes of these many artists. We spent over an hour to go through three exhibitions on the first floor of the museum. My brain was completely overwhelmed and I realized for the first time that the best paintings on this earth were in this building and I occupy a space with it! After a quick lunch, all of us headed over to the gardens and sat around a fountain to sketch. The activity of a collective sketching seemed to create a spectacle and we had many people came up to us to either take a picture of us or look on as we draw. This feeling of being a type of spectacle feels surreal.

Group of field school students sketching in the park with Nancy

Location | Paris: Meet Field School Blogger Stephanie MacKay

June 06, 2012 in "Paris", "field school"

Meet Stephanie (Sam) MacKay.
Picture taken in Rome where she was traveling ahead of the Paris trip.

Tell us a little bit about yourself—school, background, major, reasons for taking this trip, anything else interesting you want to share.

Participating in this Paris field school was an unexpected opportunity for me while pursuing higher education. During my previous career as an AME, I was fortunate to be able to travel; however, cultural history was something I knew little about. As an avid camper/backpacker, I usually avoid cities and venture out into nature based settings. I am a BFA student (at Kwantlen) and one of the most surprising and enjoyable parts of my program so far have been my art history classes. The history of art juxtaposes socially and politically within society in engaging and interesting ways. These complex, tangled relationships fascinate me and I think that combining an open studio class with an intensive and specific art history course is a brilliant and effective way to learn. My name is Stephanie MacKay ☺

What has met or exceeded your expectations or surprised you about Paris so far?

I try to keep an open mind and absorb experiences as they arise. Paris has a larger-than-life reputation and I had no idea what to expect upon arrival. I spent 9 days in Italy prior to meeting up with the class, and was already neck-deep in history by the time I got here. Adjusting from low key stays in convents and budget hostels to being part of a large group has been a huge shift. I have thoroughly enjoyed observing the reactions of those new to travel as their senses are inundated with new sounds, smells and sights. I find the architecture here exciting, but I also love the interesting and chameleon-like graffiti that I have seen around the city. Space invader tile work, clever stencils and wild colours prevail. We have only been here a couple of days, but my favourite sight so far has been the stalactites growing from the ceiling at Jaurès metro station.

Discovering street art in Paris has been one of Sam's favourite passtimes

Lautrec, La clownesse Cha-U-Kao (1895)

La clownesse Cha-U-Kao (1895) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was my assigned image for this term. The painting became larger than life in my mind as I meditated on its meaning, on the artist’s experiences, used it for inspiration in my own work, and wrote papers about it. I entered the museum without a map and let my senses guide me. Immediately separated from the group, I took the path of least people. I stumbled upon the Lautrec exhibit shortly after and was pulled in. A dimly lit room, with dark walls and low ceilings house the Orsay’s impressive collection of Lautrec’s work. The write up near the door describes Lautrec’s brush as caustic. I found my painting off in a corner, juxtaposed with an enormous family portrait: a strange combination. I watched while lines of people paused for the obligatory 3 second blurb on their rental headsets before finding myself a suitable gap to move in for a closer look. Pushing my face as close as I could without touching the glass covered card, I saw the spaces between. Lautrec’s brush strokes were indeed caustic, frantic, and provocative. He was a man with an insatiable fire to create; I could feel both his passion, and his release in this work.

Today’s activity was also at the Orsay Museum. What were your impressions? What will be your take away of the experience? Any memorable moments?

Interior shot of the Orsay Museum

Today was our first day of class in Paris. We embarked on a metro adventure, wandered through the Tuileres Gardens, crossed the Seine River on a bridge covered with love locks and found our first museum. The Orsay is breathtaking; as a converted railway building, the architecture is stunning. A vaulted ceiling draws your eyes immediately upward as you walk through the doors. After the initial awe, many hallways, rooms and floors present themselves for further exploration. Artistic highlights of today for me were Gustave Caillebotte’s Raboteurs de Parquet, Edgar Degas’ Petite Danseuse de 14ans, and Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait. Between feelings of being swallowed whole by the crowds, intense gratitude for the opportunity to be here, and the vast visual bombardment of masterpieces, I was captured by the children, with long lines of red hats holding hands, clutching notebooks, and each other’s hands. How privileged they are to visit a place like this on a school trip. They walked in order; following their teacher, and sat cross-legged in neat little rows in front of various masterpieces to listen, to look. Some fidgeted, but most sat hypnotized. The honesty and raw emotion of these paintings landed perfectly in these open, young minds. We should all be so lucky.

Clockwise from left: Andres, Rosaura, Sam, Charis, Courtney, Wei, Tessa

Sam spotted this gem just outside the Orsay.

Location | Paris: Field School Blogging Project

June 05, 2012 in "Paris", "field school"

Looking at the Louvre through one of the famous windowed clocks of the Orsay
You can spot the Sacre Coeuer on Montmarte in the background. (photo by author).

Arriving in Paris late on Sunday night, I was finally able to realize a long-standing desire to travel with a group of engaged and passionate students to see in real life the art works they had come to know in their classes through textbooks, visual reproductions, and the screen. It is very difficult to describe that moment when one first glimpses a work of art they have been deeply inspired by, and it is an experience I wanted to share. There is the initial recognition, the quick scan for all of the features that one loves most, and then the deeply satisfying process of discovering the nuances and contours of the art work in its original form. But for many people, especially art historians and artists who travel great distances to see inspiring art, it is one that is usually experienced alone or in isolation. I don't know how many times I have had just such a "moment" in a gallery or archive and nearly burst with excitement to share my observations with anyone near me. As such, it is almost impossible to describe how much more amazing these moment are when you witness someone else, or a group of people, making that same discovery. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to be part of this trip, and I, together with my wonderful colleague, field school partner, and artist Nancy Duff, have had the pleasure of witnessing many of those moments already in the short time we have been here.

Students Jessica, Yvonne, and Courtney capturing the views
(photo by author)

To understand Paris is to experience it. It is a city designed to be walked and viewed from many different perspectives. To this end, over the next two weeks, you will be introduced to the students of the field school through their own words, thoughts, and reflections. Each student will be composing their blog post in response to a set of questions that provides some insights into what has interested and surprised them most about Paris, and later on the Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany. In addition, students are being asked to share thoughts about their assigned art works from the Orsay Museum, which have formed a core feature of the studio and art history classes they have taken with Nancy and I (to see all of the assigned art works, check out the dedicated Pinterest board assembled here). We developed the courses carefully and in close connection to one another, addressing the themes of modernity, urban transformation, and avant-garde experimentation associated with the art of Manet and the Impressionists. Before leaving for Paris, the students spent three intensive weeks immersed in the core critical writings, theories, formal approaches and techniques surrounding the Impressionist movement. This culminated in several writing and studio assignments, together with two art exhibitions which demonstrated how students negotiated and developed a visual response to the artist/artwork assigned to them.

While in Paris, students will be continuing the coursework through a more intimate practice of journal writing and the production of mall scale artworks. Prompted through a daily question connected to the activity of the day, and taking full advantage of the experiential nature of Paris and all that students bring through the knowledge gained in the first part of the courses, each blog post will share some sense of how the trip is being processed through the students' many senses. We invite you to join us and share the journey.

You can find the dedicated blog, along with daily postings and other images from the trip here-- also see the navigation bar at the top of this page marked "Paris Field School" for a quick link. I will also post all of the individual student entries on my blog mixed in with my own entries for the duration of the trip. We are very lucky with the group we have here in Paris-- I think you will find that out over the next several weeks!

Tuileries Garden (photo by author)