Thursday, March 16, 2017

Expo Jardins, Grand Palais

A new, enormous exposition, Jardins has opened at the Grand Palais, on till July 24th. A giant gold flowerpot sits in the waterfountain. To quote the notes, Jardins is a modest attempt to echo the words of Foucault, "The garden is the smallest part of the world and the whole world at the same time". Its essential definition: an enclosure, a delimited area within a territory, an orchestrated area that is a window to the world. 
Two floors of historic and current artworks (mostly French though this fresco is Pompeian), videos, paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, environments with sound and smell, photography, scrapbooks.


A detail of Cezanne's flower pots.

My favorite were these grand landscape overviews of chateaux with tiny red-coated gardeners at work in the foreground.
Another with rustic workers in the foreground while aristocrats romp in the manicured gardens.
All manner of garden tools for manicuring those gardens, beautiful objects in their own right.
Rooms are darkened so the artworks act as windows you can escape into.
Even humorous old bits of film.
The elegiac garden photographs of Eugene Atget.
Karl Blossfeldt's unigue plant photography.

Of course books of exquisite botanical illustrations.
Contrast with wild Matisse paper cutouts filling an entire wall.
Monet's Sunday afternoon garden party
Samples of earth colors.
Paris earth along the Seine is not yet fully green but Parisiens don't mind a bit. I dug up some of my first Springy Paris letters. Do check out the Newest Anniversary special set and other Paris maps and watercolors on Etsy. I hope the snow melts quickly for those of you house-bound.

25 comments:

  1. This is wonderful. It almost motivates me to go outside and pull weeds.

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  2. lovely overview of what must be a beautiful show.
    i discovered over 50 yrs ago when i lived in paris the diff btwn the english & the french version of the garden: the brits (at least by 18th c) in designing the 'english garden" (st james/green/hyde parks + kensington garden) believed u had 2 leave the city to have a beautiful experience (like our central park--olmsted & vaux never figured skyscrapers would surround it). but the french, beginning w works of louis xiv & colbert (& of course le nôtre) believed in bringing 'heaven' so-to-speak to the city itself & merging the 'garden' with the city: the boulevards in place of the walls, the tuileries, the champs-élysées. it's why paris still is a beautiful city to be in. i don't kno if u've read joan dejean's when paris became paris but she brings the point home vividly. she disses napolean III's ramming his blvds thru paris & causing much grief (which he did) but he also realized modern industrialized paris needed truly wide voies to get goods & people from the new (1850s) RR stations into & thru the heart of paris. we curse nap III like we nyers curse robert moses, but we walk the blvds st. germain, st. michel etc.. (creatures of nap III's plan) & admire french urban-ness.

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  3. Love the Matisse since I'm into collage these days. I would love to see a wall full of them, it would be heavenly.

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    1. The one paper cutout show was wall-sized...I should have said.

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  4. I'm gardener..so this would be a great outing for me..Love the big gold pot!

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  5. I would love this show! My son arrived in Paris today, but sadly, I know this wouldn't be his cup of tea (he's 22) ;) Gardening can be so rewarding, yet so infuriating at times (when all our work goes out the window when bugs or animals or disease, or humans, ruin or steal the fruits of our labor (literally). Maybe I'll be in Paris before the show ends to see it myself. One never knows! Thanks for sharing, Carol!

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    1. If you come to Paris Christina let me know svp!
      Funny there are parts of the exhibit a out ruined, wrecked gardens..works of art too!

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  6. ah, paris. enjoy your time there. the french can be so ornery, persnickety but they're an amazing bunch & have given the world so much.
    enjoy the coming of springtime.

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  7. Ahhhh. Thank you! I needed all those beautiful pictures today.

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  8. Absolutely love the sound of this expo. Thanks, Carol. Love the bits of film too. Would go potty over these exhibits.

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    1. Do go Jill! So much to see there. It would be nice if they laid out a picnic space though..

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  9. Lois Bender4:15 PM

    HANK YOU Carol for the Garden post....
    Gorgeous!
    I need Green!

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  10. Beautiful - hope they have something equally as beautiful when I'm there.

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    1. Something is always cooking in Paris Sukie. You can check their schedule here:
      RMN - Grand Palais
      http://www.grandpalais.fr/fr/programmation?state=now

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    2. Thanks for the link, Carol - one I didn't have. And, I love the March map but am concerned as to how we are going to eat at 60+ restaurants and eat pastries & bread at equally as many patisseries & boulangeries in 20 days. And then there is the chocolate & caramel.

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  11. Love those botanical prints! I can hardly wait to see my garden this spring!

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  12. Susie K11:04 PM

    Oh so timely. I'm coming to Paris in early May and this expo was on the top of my list before I received your email today. Now it is even more exciting. Thank you

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  13. Winewalker11:16 PM

    Spring in the garden Cool/

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  14. WATCH the Grand Palais' lill video here:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BRvLWwCBF8K/?taken-by=le_grand_palais
    They call it a #feelgoodshow Ha

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  15. Carolyn I1:42 AM

    Here It still feels so much like winter, I was pleasantly surprised to see the pops of color outside the entrance !!! I just brought some forsythia branches indoors to brighten up the grey Seattle day!

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  16. Carol - How big is the Grand Palais? I just watched the feed of the Saut Hermes 2017 horse show held there. Jardins looks marvelous, especially as we have icey snow on the ground now. With your pictures and the Phila Flower Show (Holland theme), I will make it to the real spring. Thanks.

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  17. Thanks for sharing this lovely exhibition. Personally I'm a fan of the Matisse cutouts and I'd love to go to Monet's afternoon tea party.

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  18. A great compilation of art, Carol. You really tied it all together beautifully.
    I especially like "Karl Blossfeldt's unigue plant photography." Beautiful.

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  19. What a beautiful post! How I would love to walk through those galleries; with your photos, I feel that I have. Your artwork is lovely, as usual.

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