#if i took a shot every time I read another post about Matisse or Van Gogh i would be dead by now

[bokatan]

going from an upper level art history course to a 100-level “art appreciation” course is seriously giving me whiplash. I love going from actual analysis and discussion about composition, technique, etc to not even spelling artists’ names correctly

#doing my homework rn and. I need to go lay down for a min. this is making my head hurt #(this is 100% my fault for taking this class after taking the required upper level art history classes) #if i took a shot every time I read another post about Matisse or Van Gogh i would be dead by now #like no shade towards the impressionist movement but good god y’all #14 artist options spanning from the renaissance to post impressionist and 95% of the class picked Matisse or Van Gogh #for context this isn’t a small class. there’s like 30+ people in this class

[onewheelneil]

France day 4

Got up at 8:30 and did my morning routine and headed to the train to get to the museums. On the way I bought a banana and inhaled that for breakfast. I got to the trains which they call RER in Paris that aren't quite subway because they go a lot faster. I had to transfer once to get to the museum I wanted. Museum d'Orsay is a famous museum for its post impressionist and impressionist paintings. I figured out the train system without too much trouble and when I got to the museum there was a loooooooong line of people waiting to get in. Which is normal on the first Sunday of the month since it is free! Once the museum opened people started slowly walking in. There was guard letting like 5 people in every 30 seconds so I might be outside for a while. Once I got in and went past security I got a map and started my tour of the museum. From the map I learned that the building used to be a railway station back in the 1950s. There is a huge clock overlooking the entrance to the museum. There is a beautiful arrangement of sculptures in the middle with galleries lining the sides. I immediately went to the top to see the great impressionist paintings before it got crowded. They had a huge collection of Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Morisot, Sisley, Cassatt, Manet, Degas, Fantin-Latour, and Bazille paintings. It was a wonderful array of different paintings and I studied each one. On the way down there were 3 little displays on how the architecture of the building was established. On the second floor there was a terrace of sculptures with paintings from the Nabis movement artists Vuillard, Bonnard, Denis, and Vollotton were displayed. Then a gallery of Neo Impressionism with artists Luce, Signac, Cross, Russelberghe, Lemmen, Seurat, and Angrand. There was an exhibit on Gaugin who had a new idea and his followers included De Haan, Bernard, and Sérusier. There was a big section on Van Gogh with his many famous paintings. The sculpture terrace featured acclaimed sculptists like Rodin which I know my mom likes. There was an exhibit in old furniture design with intricate woodworking something that my dad loves. Then a gallery on Symbolism and Naturalism paintings. On the first floor was a nice gallery of Toulouse-Lautrec and other painters from the older times. After I had seen everything I exited and headed to the Museum orangerie which was just across the street. It was famous for its huge display of Monet's famous water lilies painting. The display was absolutely humongous and it took up two separate rooms. In the basement was a gallery on other famous painters such as Renoir, Derain, Cezanne, Modigliani, Matisse, Picasso, and Rousseau. Their collection was pretty big and they had a description of each painter. They had a temporary exhibit on dadaist art from Africa. This was a huge movement during the First World War that went back to barbaric times. They had old statues and masks and art pieces from the era. Once I was done with that museum I exited and walked down the famous Champs Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. There were police blockades blocking part of the street so pedestrians could walk free along the road. There were street performers and lots of shops and restaurants along the way. Finally I reached the Arc and its massiveness left me in awe. I walked around for a bit before deciding to get food near my hostel. I took the subway back to my hostel area and found an Italian restaurant that had a good selection of pizza. I got a Regina pizza which had ham and mushrooms on it. I also ordered Orvieto wine. A solo bottle 375 ml is about 4 glasses. It was pretty good and with the pizza. The pizza was decent enough and I was hungry so I ate every bit of it. Afterwards I almost ordered the creme brûlée but I decided not too since it was an Italian restaurant and didn't want to waste money on an ok brûlée. I want the best. So I finished and paid and went on my way. I needed to reserve a seat for the train to Antibes tomorrow where I would see a friend who is studying there from America. I got to the nearest train station and they said that their computers were down so I needed to go to the other one which was only a 5 minute walk away. I got there and waited for my number to be called. Luckily they went fast and I was up there in a second. I got my ticket and headed back to my hostel for a nap. Once I woke up me and another roommate in the hostel went out for drinks. I had some free shots coupons from my hostel so we used that. Their free shot of the day was bubblegum vodka. It was absolutely gross as it sounds. I hated it but it was free so I sucked it up. Afterwards we had some beers and talked about our lives and what we wanted to do in the future. We had about 3 beers before I had enough and then another guy from the bar joined in our conversation. Shortly after we decided to hike up to the top of the Sancre Cœur. It was beautiful looking at all the lights of Paris below us. We hung out there for a while. I wanted to head back to bed and the other guys continued on. I said my goodnight and went back to my room before passing out cold. Thanks for reading!