Upcoming EXHIBITION

The artistic community at the Fondation is having an exhibition and concert, with works from the visual artists and performances by the musicians. The opening is November 11, from 7 - 10 PM. I will have some paintings in the show. All invited!

Fondation des Etats-Unis

15 Boulevard Jordan

75014 Paris 

Singing Bird Market

I was there

The banks of the Seine, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower. Will get to Arc de Triomphe ASAP. xo

Out and about, Musee D'orsay again

They had this really nice John Currin!

 sike :-/

Verrry interesting

"Many writers have remarked that Manet's dark-and-light tonal separations resemble those of contemporary photographs. Farwell was the first person to think about this resemblance carefully and to frame it in studio terms, focusing especially on the issue of lighting. She began by observing that a large group of Manet paintings, including nearly all his best-known, breakthrough images ( Olympia , Dejeuner sur l'herbe , The Fifer and 16 others) were lit in an unusual way: the depicted light shines forward , from the viewers' position. Lighting professionals sometimes refer to frontal lighting as "flat lighting" because of its peculiar effects: shade concentrates at the edges of forms; light areas bleach; surface texture and detail are suppressed; backgrounds go dim or black. Art historians had noticed these effects in the paintings, but interpreted them as stylistic choices--Manet's famous "elimination of middle tones," his flatness, his Hispanicism. Of course, they were stylistic choices--but they were also consequences of a prior choice, a studio decision. Frontal lighting should have been recognized long ago as a precondition of Manet's breakthrough style. It gave Manet's early images their startling, nocturnal brightness. Frontal lighting made possible the look that we associate with Manet."


- "The Lost Photographs of Manet," Alexi Worth Link

What I'm reading

From Yves Klein: Some (false) foundations, principles, etc. and the condemnation of evolution

.. Errors! And new foundations! Advances towards and discovery of truth by "analogies." Nothing in the universe can be compared, nothing resembles everything else. Everything is unique, different, privileged. Two visually distinct and different beings are required to make a third.

Nice Vocabulary

être tout miel

to be all sweetness and light

My new favorite thing

yogurt that comes in a pot

déjeuner

figs - muscat grapes - instant pumpkin soup - hummus - pain du mie (pain du OMG)

IN WHICH I go to museums, part 2

The Louvre:

IN WHICH I go to museums, part 1

Now that I’m not spending every moment scrambling for paperwork, I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of Paris’ famed museums. The best part is that I go for free.

I went first to the Musée d’Orsay, which was just heart-stopping. The museum itself is gorgeous. It’s in an old train station with a ceiling is high and arched, and full of light. (It’s also really well organized and easy to navigate <3 ) To see so many paintings that I’ve seen reproductions of for years…  It feels so good, so rich.

My favorite to see was Courbet’s Un Enterrement à Ornans (1850), a somber picture of a burial in his home town:

It is so good. Looking, I wanted to cry a little. The experience of scale doesn't come across in images. Each figure is about life size, the picture, enormous. (How did he even paint that? On a ladder?) It's pretty famous for political/social commentary, but what attracts me is the quality of the paint, the colors, and especially the composition.

Apartment

A few other pics of my room:

Now here's the reason to run for president!

Link: What's on the Obamas' walls? The full art list Art and artefacts loaned to the White House since President Obama came to office

The Obamas have Morandi..
Jasper Johns..
Albers..
Degas..

Je suis arrivé!

Dear family and friends,
I arrived in Paris on Sunday and am getting settled in, after much confusion and jetlag. Now I have a working internet connection, so I'll be posting pictures of the work I'm making and what I'm seeing, as well as updates on my life here.
It's true- the bread is delicious. I ate a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) from a bakery down the road, and it was heaven.
My room here at the Fondation des Etats-Unis is beautiful, with two levels, a skylight on the tilted ceiling, and a big window overlooking the Parc Montsouris. It's very spacious, so for now feels really empty.
Once I can find some turpentine I'll start working!
Love, Lucy