Paris: Art of My Choice
While walking around in the D’Orsay I came across a beautiful piece that I loved. It is titled La Falaise by Jules Breton. It made its debut in the famous Salon of Paris in 1874. The reason it caught my eye was because it gave me “Wanderer Above a Sea of Mist” vibes. The female figure stares contemplatively toward the horizon, and a soft breeze plays across the beach. She has set her spindly aside and seems to be taking in the vast expanse, which really does seem similar to the work of Friedrick. She seems to be finding peace in the simplicity of nature. Along with this quiet scene, the brush strokes are looser and the palate is very natural. For these reasons I feel that this piece could be classified as demonstrating Romanticism.
Anything that made it into the salon had to be selected by a jury that was under the direction of some higher ups. This is how art made it to the public eye and gained notoriety. Famous pairings hung in the salon and this painting remains famous today. As far as I am aware, this piece made no huge impact, but it did contribute to the overall clout of Paris’s art scene. It remains a beautiful piece that can show what the art critics of the time were in favor of. Later down the road the impressionists would cause a stir, but this piece did not fall in this category.
Like I said, in my opinion, Bretons’s piece contributes to this city's status as a cultural capital because it added to the illustrious collection of what was considered “top standard” art. I believe that good art makes one think deeply, feel inspired, and maybe even pause, and self reflect. People still travel from around the world (like me) to visit museums such as the D’orsay! If there wasn’t amazing art, then I wonder how much Paris would be different. I feel like it would attract a lot less influx of tourists. There is something to be said of Paris’s vast collection!
Anna, wonderful post! I so enjoyed learning about a new piece of art and its connection to Paris. You mentioned that art critics of the time were in favor of it--could you expand a little more on what exactly they appreciated about it? How do their opinions and preferences compare to modern art critics? Are there new complications and critiques that this piece might run into today?
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post! You could use this post to answer question number 3 about artistic masterpieces to add to their status as cultural capitals. You have explained this well in your post by talking about the salon and how paintings have become famous. You also talked about how it could contribute to its cultural capital by talking about the top standard art and how it makes us feel! This is why lots of people come to visit it.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I'm not going to say too much just because I think that you did a really good job with this post. Here's what I have. Your thoughts on the Jury process in deciding what art should be made famous and should be presented to the public is fascinating and should be really easily applied to questions 2 and 3. I would be interested to learn more about the jury process. If you have more information on that subject, it might have been good to include that. I agree that good art makes us think. I think that discussing how that balances with the capital interests of art collectors and the statuses of both individuals and population centers.
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