Karolina Blasiak has selected for our readers the museums and exhibitions not to be missed in this month of October.
October is an especially artful month in Paris, a time to consider new exhibitions and stop by at the FIAC art fair to see top notch selection of international art galleries under one roof of the Grand Palais.
https://www.fiac.com/
Two new Paris museums
The museumscape of Paris was enriched this summer with two informative new museums this summer. While their themes may not be attention-grabbing on first glance they’re both capable of drawing visitors into the subject matter at hand.
– Citéco, a delightfully geeky and architecturally quirky museum about the economy, https://www.citeco.fr/en
– the Liberation of Paris Museum, across the street from the Catacombs. https://chantiermuseeliberation.paris.fr/
Timed tickets for the crowded Louvre
Due to excessive crowds, timed entry reservations are now possible and recommended to visit the Louvre, including for visitors with the Paris Museum Pass. Timed reservations are necessary for the major Leonardo da Vinci retrospective, Oct. 24-Feb. 24, marking the 500th anniversary of his death.
Degas at the Orsay
The Orsay (which English-speakers often mistakenly call the D’Orsay) recently opened a newly restored section of the museum allowing for more comfortable viewing, relatively speaking, of famous works by Van Gogh, Gaugin and others. The museum’s current temporary exhibition is Degas at the Opera, showing through January 19. The exhibition will be presented at the National Gallery of Art in Washington from March 1 to July 5 next year. Note for Degas fans: Michel Schulman, a Parisian American-French expert on Degas and other artists of that era, recently launched the digital critical catalogue of the artist’s work.
Marshmallow Tulips near the Champs-Elysées
Paris may be an artful city but some works miss their mark, for example the newly installed Bouquet of Tulips by Jeff Koons, an American gift to Paris. Koon’s sculpture unveiled last week to honor the victims of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, is dividing opinions in the French capital. Koons will donate 80% of the proceeds of the copyright of the work to the families of the victims of the 2015 attacks.
And Beyond Paris: Game of Thrones meets William the Conqueror in Bayeux, Normandy
Sometimes a push from pop culture is needed to get travelers interested in history, art and artefacts, e.g. The Da Vinci Code (2003) leading visitors to Saint Sulpice Church in Paris or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831, English version 1833) bringing visitors to the Cathedral of Paris. Now it’s the turn of the 285-foot- / 8-season-long Game of Thrones Tapestry to lead visitors in Bayeux to examine the Bayeux Tapestry, the 940-year-old embroidery that recounts the Norman Conquest of England by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.
For more information, please contact Karolina Blasiak at k.blasiak@rosemont-mc.com