Hiroshige

It's closed now, but there was a really interesting exhibit at the Pinacotheque. I had stopped by the museum with intentions to go a few times, but I was totally discouraged at the size of the line. It's a small museum (I saw a Soutine exhibit there last spring) and the single cashier at the ticket booth is rather unhurried, so the line can stretch well down the block. The sheltering effects of the lobby only accommodates a couple people, so you better be dressed for a long outdoor wait. Oh, and don't even try to convince me to buy tickets in advance on line. I've tried so many times in France- from movies to museums- and I've had things go wrong each time, and getting refunds when things go wrong here is not a cakewalk.



So the reason why this exhibit was so crowded was because it was a joint Van Gogh and Hiroshige exhibit. Hiroshige, despite his influence, has never been part of a major exhibit in France- you will know him best from his "Great Wave" and views of Mount Fuji. He is Van Gogh's main influence and they had a lot of interesting parales between the two of them.



Apparently, Van Gogh wasn't just inspired by being in the South of France in Arles, but he actually thought of himself to be in Japan.





















So, the Van Gogh portion had some beautiful works, but the Hiroshige was a bit of a crowded mess. His works were small, delicate affairs, and they were all set well back in glass display cases, leaving people to crowd in front of each one with their foreheads pressed against the glass in a grand smudge-fest that made it hard to see anything.


But still. What could be seen: They were amazing.

Hiroshige's main theme was travel. His delicate Ukiyo-e woodblock prints were astoundingly realistic and creative. His scenes of travelers embarking from Edo to Kyoto were touching, surprisingly modern depictions.

 






  








All images are from either WikiCommons or http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/.  Photos are a big no-no in La Pinacotheque.

Fantastic, right?

Artsy Amsterdam

One thing I really wanted to do while I was in the Netherlands was to take the trip out to Oostvaardersplassen, a nature reserve on reclaimed land that is an attempt to re-wild Europe with a wild grassland. Apparently, you can't really go until May though, so I scratched that off my list. Happily, Amsterdam is a place I can keep coming back to and I'm sure I will get to it one day.

Never mind, plenty else to see and do. The Rijksmusuem is coming to the end of a 10-year renovation and has a very limited collection on display, and the Van Gogh Museum relocated most of their collection to the Hermitage down the street, but neither disappoints.
The Dutch painters were always my favorites. I love their super realistic still-lifes and their dark palates. It just made everything else cartoonish.

You really feel like you are peering into an open window with some of these, and not standing in front of an canvas.

Oh, Vermeer. The details are just brilliant.

Oh, and I found a super cute yarn shop:

Another great museum was the Nemo:

We only went in because we walked all the way over to it and just might as well. It's a children's science museum, but it was fascinating both inside and out.

Because it's the super-progressive Netherlands, they can have exhibits all about sex!

And I mean, ALL ABOUT IT. Trying to be mature in this place was a herculean tasks, and giggling was mandatory.

This was in the 12+ section. I totally saw a museum worker throw some eight year olds.

It was hilarious that this was in a children's museum. Oh, America. Nothing to see here. Keep your children ignorant as long as possible, it always works out for the best. Right?

And drugs, too!

It wasn't the attitude of, "don't do it", but more of, "this is what will happen when you do take drugs". So there was a virtual woman dancing on a computer screen, and you could feed her more drugs or a cocktail of drugs, and her dancing either got really crazy or really messy before she eventually dropped. So entertaining. It's apparently a bad idea to mix speed with mushrooms and booze, and too much coke gave her a nosebleed.
Since the weather was just peachy, there was also a great maritime museum nearby.
The Dutch have such a long and lustrous history of seafaring, so it's worth checking out. They were the first to trade with the Japanese, giving the people of Japan a very dutch-centric view of European cultures. You can really see the connection in the art as well- especially with Van Gogh. Which reminds me, I have to get to the Japanese/Van Gogh exhibit in Paris as it closes this week!

It was nice to see that Paris wasn't hogging all the clouds for herself.

Most of the canal-side old houses had a lean to them- some alarmingly so.

I was told that if it was leaning forward towards the canal, it was constructed like that on purpose to add a few more square feet to the footprint. The buildings leaning to one side means the pillars they are sitting upon are starting to shift and rot. It seems like an expensive problem here, as some of them were really giving their neighbors something to fret about.

Rembrant's former house is now a museum:

It's a cute house and they did a nice job with restoration, but most of art inside were repros or sketches.

People here seemed genuinely nice and helpful, although they seemed weary of certain types of tourists. Understandably.

We found several cozy places to rest our feet, caffeinate or imbibe.

French wines were standard issue here, but they really dug on Belgian beers. I drink my oh-so-girly cherry lambic when need arose.

Arles

Compared to the countryside and tiny villages we had been frequenting, Arles seemed downright bustling. Provence is much more touristy then Languedoc.

Arles is where Van Gogh lived when he painted "Starry Night" on the Rhone.





This cafe still stands in Arles, except they painted it a gaudy yellow and green colors so it looks like it was illuminated much like the picture.





It's a beautiful, sun-baked city.



They have some spectacular Roman ruins, including the 1st Century BC arena that is still in use.



We happened to be there for market day. Arles has one of the largest markets in the area, and the whole town turns out to do their shopping.















This farmer had organized all her berries and currants in tiny containers with such care. She was so enthusiastic about what she did.





I was in foodie heaven. Each tomato I tried was better than the last. Oh, and the stone fruits were amazing- cherries, peaches and apricots were in peak season and really put American grocery store produce to shame. The wines were delicious as well- lots of crisp whites and roses that made for a nice, lazy afternoon.