Ping, Pong

It is hard to imagine that during the 17th Century the Classical inspiration of the gardens-facing facade of the Chateau de Versailles sparked as much buzz about its inventiveness as the most advanced architectural creations of our time. What is modern at any point in time isn't so for very long. Modern means: of the latest most advanced kind. It relates to using ideas and techniques that have only recently been developed and may still be considered experimental. Two random architectural examples of that fleeting definition are portrayed here. On the left are pictures of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and on the right of the Chateau de Versailles. They were planned and constructed roughly 4 centuries apart. Both buildings represent a new, daring aesthetic at their time and were considered very modern. Both received a lot of attention, were praised and critisized as groundbreaking designs that strayed from traditional styles. Though the Walt Disney Concert Hall can still hold on to the definition of being modern, the Palais de Versailles has long lost it's new, innovative and trendsetting aura. It won't be long before the Walt Disney Concert Hall follows the same fate. Versailles became the undisputed leading example of a new worldwide movement in style. Only history will tell if the Walt Disney Hall and its variations will create the same effect. The big difference between these two examples is that one was a modern adaptation of solid Classical architecture, while the other - in sharp contrast -is entirely abstract in concept.

Cars Can Be Artfully Too

The financial difficulties that the American automakers are experiencing today is by their own choice. For years they have been fooling the public into believing that there was no interest in hybrid or electric cars, while they continued promoting the giant gas guzzling monster cars that they put on the market. Nobody wants them. People bought them simply because there was no choice. Proof that it can be different are these models by Toyota, on display at their showroom on the Champs Elysees in Paris. The design of these cars is appealing. So much so that people were lining up for a chance to admire them up close.

Ceilings

Contemporary taste has lost affection for elaborate ornament. Especially ceilings are the most popular victim to minimalism. Perhaps rightfully so. To turn a ceiling ino a breathtaking work of art takes enormous talent, skill and financial budget. With lack of any of these, it is best left plain and simple. The ceilings pictured in this post are superb examples of a lost art.

Above: Ornate ceilings of different period styles in the Louvre, Paris, France.

Left: Beaux-Arts ceiling in the Louvre, Paris.

Below Center: Frescoed ceiling in the chapel of the Palais de Versailles, France.

Left and above Right: Ceilings in the Palais de Versailles, France.

To the Right: Contemporary ceiling at a restaurant in New York City. This is as much visual interest as todays' low plasterboard ceilings can bear.

Living Statue

... or statue for a living? It certainly can be enjoyable to admire, like this girl near the Notre Dame in Paris. Her costume is beautiful in a cleverly stylized interpretation of 18th Century fashion. Creativity with dress and make-up is as old as Civilization, and at no time more popular and folksy than during the period of Carnival.




Why are our eyes so attracted to people in outrageous dress? And how did fashion, or costume, become such an important medium of expressing ourselves?

Architectural Frivolity

The Paris Opera makes me think of a fancy chocolate box... totally unnessary but always pleasing that certain people thought about creating it and leaving it as a fancy gift to future generations.

La Gare d'Orsay

One of the highlights of this trip was our visit to the Musee d'Orsay. I knew already very well the collection of paintings it houses, and I was strongly anticipating to see them in real.... again. Some of these paintings I had seen already in 1978 in the Musee du Jeu de Paume, which held the impressionist paintings until 1986. Others I had seen before at some of the important exhibitions of Europalia in Brussels.

The interior of the museum itself remained for the most part a mystery because I had never seen images of the building itself. I knew it was a restored former train station from the Beaux-Arts period. However, that did not prepare me for the spectacular view of the main hall and how this vast space has been divided into exhibition rooms. Wow! It surpassed my wildest expectations.

Serra In The Tuileries

See that barrier of rusty steel in the distance, behind the people, forming a gate toward the Place de la Concorde? That is another Richard Serra sculpture. You will see it better by clicking on the picture to enlarge it.
Now I regret not having walked closer to be near it but on that afternoon my feet were whining relentlessly to walk back to our room and change to a horizontal position for a while. It's one of the things I miss so much from Europe, the ability to walk a lot on a daily basis. I am not used to it anymore!

Inspiring Attraction

Paris is filled with interesting architecture and it reminds me a lot of New York City in that aspect, be it that Paris is a lot more user friendly, better proportioned to fit humans. The architecture appears at the same time diverse and coordinated. It is an attractive city that is a candy box for the eyes, very livable and inspiring.

Memories

I had a great time at the Louvre and learned a lot, despite the crowd. I remember when museums were less visited ... at least on weekday mornings. I remember walking through the halls at the Louvre and only occasionally encountering other living souls. That could be a guard, or a couple of visitors, or here and there an art student, sitting at his easel in front of a painting that he/she was meticulously copying. In my earliest recollection, these art copiers were older men, some wearing a beret, indicating they must have been French. In later years they were younger and mostly Asian. And now there are none because museums became appealing to the general public and are busy as department stores on sales days. It's a great development, to see art is being appreciated by so many, but it also makes me feel nostalgic to quieter times.

Famous Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is a celebrity. She only gained that status during the last 100 years or so, which it is remarkable. Paris Hilton won't last that long (luckily).
I like the new location and the lighter colored wall much better. It is intriguing why this particular painting is so popular. Marketing is to a large degree responsible, because the painting is not particularly different in quality from the other paintings by this artist in the Louvre. My personal favorite is his lesser known portrait of St. John the Baptist (bottom picture)

Airy Hall

I remember the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre received a lot of criticism when it was newly built. I have no idea what the general opinion about it is nowadays. It does not bother me personally and I found the central hall beneath it very functional, well lit with natural light and providing easy access to different sections of the museum. It must be hot under all that glass in the summer though.

Treasures From The Past

The honest boldness in Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture continues to stupefy me, bringing me on the verge of tears. There are a few posts on the subject in this blog already. Now again, at the Louvre, I stood face to face with some truly amazing artistic feats of around 2000 years ago.

These examples below are not simply a likeness of a certain person of that age. The marble portraits are injected with life, personality, a certain energy, making them incredibly beautiful. They are testimony to a time when unashamed admiration of the human body was not yet adulterated by the rigors of Christianity.

Adios La Esmeralda

The link Vacation Rental on the Arris Studio website has disappeared last week. Villa La Esmeralda is no longer available. It has been sold. Here is a last look on a project that I have fully enjoyed working on and hope to be able to repeat in the near future. For before and after pictures, go to Arris Style.