DIY Excursion-September

-DIY Excursion-

-Claude Monet-

For our DIY Excursion, some students and I decided to go and visit a Claude Monet exhibit in an art museum. This exhibit was exquisite and many pieces that I learned about were there. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and loved seeing his work in person.

When we arrived at the museum we saw that it was in an old house from the 18th century, a lot of Parisian museums are made from old houses because of old family money or the famous and priceless relics already in them. The house was beautiful, with high ceilings, molding and painting walls, it was perfect to display artwork. The house was three stories and held different types and styles of art.

The top floor consisted of Catholic and religious artwork, displaying tapestry, paintings, wood carvings, and diptych paintings. The following rooms on the top floor displayed more of Monets earliest sketches and included some sculptures. There were also many paintings of court hearings and gentlemen of the court.

The main floor was the largest and displayed the most artwork. There were serval different artists displayed there including, Duchamp, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, and Manet. I personally loved seeing all of the art pieces as well as artists that I learned about in class. Seeing this art in person is such an honor, and it means much more now that I know the artist and the back story.

The basement was Monet's official exhibit, including some of his most famous pieces like Impression Rising Sun, and The Water Lily Pond. There were many other beautiful paintings of his that filled the walls around the room. It was very interesting to see his style up close and look at the strokes of his paintbrush. It's was almost like following his thoughts, watching where he put the paint and stroked his brush.
It was also very interesting to see the difference between his early work and later work, watching him transition into Impressionism.

This was by far one of the best excursions I have been on and I loved every minute of it. There are many other art museums in Paris that do have more of Monet's artwork that I would like to explore and many others that have other giants of the art world. Paris is extremely cultured and I truly appreciate all of it.