Thursday, April 03, 2008 Sensory overload By Jinggoy Salvador
THE tour of the museums continues....
Like I said, I was in a rush. I have limited time in the city and very limited funds. Thank God for Carte Musees-Monuments that will get me free entrance to more than 50 museums and monuments in the city. These cards are sold in 1, 2 or 3-day denominations in all metro ticketrons.
I purchased the 1-day pass for 15 euros (about P900). From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., how many art houses do you think I can visit? Consider the time it will take to travel, via metro, and hop from one museum to another.
I planned my day to visit five museums. Entry to these places would cost 5.50 to 8 euros. If I make it to all, my pass would be worth every euro it cost. Isn't it fabulous that Paris tourism offers their visitors to easier access to their culture and arts?
The city of lights is a city of culture and arts. The Louvre may be the most famous but there are several museums that shouldn't be missed visiting.
Take for example the Musee d'Orsay, which receives more than 2million visitors per year. It is in this museum that treasures (Impressionist paintings) were moved in from the Louvre.
It was then a train station and a hotel built in the 1900's with to blend with the elegant neighborhood of the Louvre and the Palais de la Legion d'honneur. It was closed because of the incapacity to accommodate modernization, e.g. modern trains and progressive electrification of railroads.
The museum opened In December 1986 with 16,000 square meters of permanent exhibition space (80 separate galleries of about 4,000 artworks) and another 1,200 square meters of temporary exhibition galleries.
Unlike other museums, The Musse d'Orsay concentrates on a given period and enlarges the scope of its collection to include areas previously neglected: besides painting, sculpture, graphic and decorative arts, the museum has also established collections of furniture, architecture and photography.
It was a dream coming true. My visit was like flipping through the pages of 19th century collection art books, and only now these paintings were right before my very eyes. I have always loved the ballerinas of Degas, now I can say "I have seen it."
The works of Rembrandt, seen it. Toulouse-Latrec, Van Gogh, Renoir? Seen it, done that. I can go on and on. All these made available for everyone to appreciate in the exhibition halls.
In dimly illuminated and temperature-controlled rooms, the more prized collections are kept. The preservation of these treasures is of utmost importance.
Each floor and each gallery space houses a particular theme, identified by artist or era. A surprise was waiting for me in every room I enter, all pleasant.
There are names of the artists I haven't heard before and works I haven't seen before. Unfortunately, I am only using a small percentage of my brain cells, thus, saving all these pertinent data on my memory bank is futile.
My sense of sight was having a feast though, but I can't store all of them, as much as I would love to. Sensory overload, that's a good name.
Digicam comes to the rescue. The fan needs to document this extraordinary encounter with impressionist artworks. What I cannot save in me, let the camera do the work. I can now open the art books again and say, I have seen this and that. I have the photos to prove it.
Let's move on to the next stop please. I have only a few hours left.
