dougsneyd

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Early Acrylic Illustration

All of Doug's Playboy cartoons since the early 1960s have been rendered using Dr. Ph. Martin's aniline dyes, but he's also worked in acrylics, pastels, inks and oils for magazine and book illustrations.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

First Trip to Paris: October 2005

Like most first-time tourists in Paris, our "to do" sightseeing list included the Eiffel Tower; over the years we've gone back a few times, but took "a pass" this past January.

We're "museum junkies" and thoroughly enjoyed spending a day at the Musee d'Orsay in 2005. We especially wanted to see Maturity by Camille Claudel because we were staying in her first-floor apartment on the historic Ile St-Louis.

(If you want to read more about this week-long special vacation in Paris, read p. 206 in The Art of Doug Sneyd, published by Dark Horse Books in July 2011.)

Friends from Orillia (80 miles north of Toronto) visited us in Paris; we invited them over to the apartment for hors d'oeuvres before going out for dinner.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Musee d'Orsay Sculptures, Lunch

Doug and I first visited Paris in 2005. We're "museum junkies" so we, of course, spent time at the Musee d'Orsay on that first trip and again during our 3-week trip January 3-25.

The former opulent train station, slated for demolition in the 1970s, reopened in 1986 as the Musee d'Orsay. Although it's best known for its superb collection of Impressionist art - Matisse, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh and Gauguin, it also has a impressive selection of sculptures, including 6 bronze sculptures (outside the main entrance) that were produced for the 1989 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

A plus in visiting Paris in January is avoiding long lines of tourists in the summer, especially at the very popular museum restaurants. On our first visit to the Musee d'Orsay this year, we only waited about 5 minutes for a table! The restaurant (on the first floor of the museum) serves traditional French cuisine in an impressive historic setting with chandeliers, sculptures and painted and gilded ceilings.

Doug and I both started lunch with asparagus soup.

Of course, the bread was delicious!

Doug ordered chicken.

I ordered the salmon.

Lunch was wonderful!

The historic giant gold-framed clock dominates the glass-and-steel atrium entrance to the museum.

Maturity by Camille Claudel - Rodin's talented companion/mistress - has been moved to a different display area than when Doug and I saw it on our first trip to Paris in 2005.

The Musee d'Orsay prominently exhibits the 19th century sculptor Auguste Rodin's original plaster of Balzac.

Dance by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.

Liberty by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi - this smaller copy was acquired by the French State in September 1900, first for the Musee du Luxembourg and later transferred to the Musee d'Orsay.

The majestic Seated Lion by Antoine-Louis Barye.

Woman Bitten by a Snake by Auguste Clesinger.

Penelope by Jules Cavelier.

Polar Bear by Francois Pompon, who at one time was an assistant to both Rodin and Camille Claudel. The popular sculpture is now on exhibition at the casual restaurant, Cafe de l'Ours.

Another bronze statue at the Musee d'Orsay exit facing the Seine.

On the Seine-side facade, this is one of 2 immense clocks, visible from the Louvre across the river, set in towers, which flank the former entrance bays to train departures for Orleans and other cities in southwestern France.

It was about a 30-minute walk back to our apartment on the Seine at the Quai des Grands Augustins in St-Germain des Pres.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Love Locks on Pont Neuf

Our one-bedroom apartment in Paris was on Seine, within a minute's walk to Pont Neuf. Doug's on the historic bridge - behind him a tour boat is cruising toward the Ile de la Cite/Notre Dame.

On the opposite side, the Louvre is on the far left. After crossing Pont Neuf, there's a Metro station at the Quai du Louve and the historic La Samaritaine department store, under major renovation and scheduled to reopen in 2018 as a hotel, apartment, office and small retail complex.

Despite its name (New Bridge), Pont Neuf is the oldest in Paris; it's now popular with couples who want to celebrate their love by fastening locks to the bridge and then throwing the keys into the Seine.

The romantic ritual gained popularity in Paris in late 2008 on Pont des Arts. The city, however, put an end to the tradition in June 2015 by removing nearly 700,000 locks - estimated at 45 tons - because parts of the Pont des Arts were collapsing due to the weight.

The current plan is to auction off the "love locks" with proceeds raised going to associations dedicated to helping migrants in Paris.

From the looks of it, the "love locks" on the Pont Neuf may be the next "to go."