PETIT PALAIS - LES IMPRESSIONISTES À LONDRES
Address : Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris
Transportation : Metro line 1, 13 Champs-Élysées-Clemanceau Station
Opening Hours : June 21st - October 14th / Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00 (Friday until 21:00)
Price : 13 euros (11 euros under 26 years old, free under 17 years old)
Petit Palais is situated just opposite of the Grand Palais, next to the Champs-Elysees. Built in 1900 for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, they exhibit the artworks of Manet, Monet, Gustave Courbet, and so on. There are also temporary exhibitions.
The exhibition 'The Impresssionists in London' is being held from June 21st to October 14th, 2018 at Petit Palais. In 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War began, many French artists left France to find refugee and crossed the sea to reach England. Now, they are exhibiting the artworks from 1870 to 1904 by French artists who moved to London during that time. The impressionists at that time gathered in London and made their own community and later on, contributed greatly to the blooming art scene in Paris and London.
There are some sections with this Audio Kiosk, allowing you to listen to the reenacted audio with specific situations of that time.
Artists used to focus on painting things exactly as they were seen, but after cameras were developed, it became meaningless to paint things exactly the same. With the production of paints in tubes, it became easier for artists to draw outside with portable paints. With the help of versitile paint tubes, artists could then begin describing different sceneries with different lights bring Impressionism into the picture.
In the photo studio of Nadar in 1874, the first exhibition of these painters and sculptors was held. This is where Monet submitted his painting ‘Impression, Rising Sun’. Soon after, an article was released on the newspaper about this exhibition, describing it as ‘Exhibition of Impression’. Monet's painting was disparaged as just a simple sketch in the article, but still, this new style worked well for people giving them new and attractive impressions.
At one side of exhibition, there is a place decorated like an atelier of artists. You can look around to see how the art supplies of artists used to look and also see the procedures to complete one painting. There is a wooden desk where you can freely sit down and draw the scenery spreaded out in front of your eyes like impressionists once did.
LE PONT DE CHARING CROSS - CAMILLE PISSARRO
Camille Pissarro is a painter famous for delicate brush-touches and thick colorings. In May, 1890, 20 years after his first visit in London, Pissarro went back to London and tried to draw the landscape of the city so that his paintings could attract more people and start selling.
LE PARLEMENT DE LONDRES, EFFECT DE SOLEIL DANS LE BROUILLARD - CLAUDE MONET
Monet drew 19 different paintings of the Houses of Parliament London in a series. Monet expressed the Houses of Parliament London in his paintings with various colors, with an attempt to deliver the atmosphere of certain moments, than focusing on how it looks like in reality.
He drew this series from the terrace of Saint Thomas Hospital, and he brought the paintings back to Giverny in France, where he lived in his latter years, to complete them. With the foggy weather of London, and sunshine reflected on the water with different colors of lights, his paintings deliver a very mysterious and dreamlike feeling. Every single touch of his brush adds a mysteriously shiny color.
Monet was a painter who focused on expressing the atmosphere of the moments rather than just drawing the landscape. Painted with soft pastel color tones, his paintings comfort many people giving dreamy and pure feelings.
There is also a free exhibition always available to visit. You can drop by to enjoy the free exhibition or to have a coffee or tea at the outdoor garden. Get impressions by appreciating Impresssionists' arts at Petit Palais on a beautiful sunny day.
Written and photographed by Yuna Lee