Welcome back to my blog, and welcome back to me. I have had many requests to restart my one a week over the last few months (yes honestly I have) and as I have been so so culturally smug over the last few days I thought I may as well write down some of my activities. This isn’t going to be nearly as long as it use to be though, I just don’t have the motivation no more no more – lucky you.
So, last week I went to Paris to visit the beauteous Cerise and Gautier – thank you for having me C and G! I booked very last minute and at great expense so that I could be there in time to see the show Manet, the Man who Invented Modernity at the Museé d’Orsay which ended on Sunday. I love love love Manet, him and David really are the top dogs as far as I’m concerned, so this show wasn’t to be missed. Here is what they had to say at the d’Orsay:
“More than a one man retrospective for Edouard Manet (1832-1883), the exhibition Manet, the Man who Invented Modernity explores and highlights the historical situation around him, including the reaffirmed legacy of Romanticism, the impact of his contemporaries and the changes in the media at the time.”
Now it may very well have been about that but seeing as the translated text was so bloody appalling I literally wouldn’t know – seriously Museé d’Orsay pull your hand out of your pocket and pay someone who actually speaks English to do your translation work for you – seriously awful, they had invented words!! I wouldn’t mind this if they hadn’t then paid to have someone print these words out and stick them up in massive letters on a wall. Piss poor. Also, if it really was about the historical situation and changes in the media at the time shouldn’t they have had at least one mention of Japanese influences? This all sounds like I was disappointed by the exhibition but believe me I wasn’t, it was fab and they had some lovely lovely pieces in there – although none at all from London as far as I could see which was a shame. Actually in reality the majority of the best ones are in the d’Orsay anyway. But hey was lovely lovely to see them all together. Here were some of my highlights:
It was a very hot day so didn’t hang round the rest of the museum long after the exhibition, which I feel guilty about as really it is my favorite museum/gallery in the world ever, but did pop by to see the Courbet’s, which have been rearranged over the last few years at some point so the massive window they were sitting next to is now covered and you can therefore actually see the top half of the Burial at Ornans and the Artists Studio rather than having them totally hidden by the glare. Also always a joy to see Couture’s Romans of the Decadence, Manets former teacher.
Other than fostering a new TV obsession (Misfits, bloody brilliant) my only other major cultural activity in gay Paris was a visit to the Museum of Decorative Arts in the Louvre. Now I mustn’t be unfair, we actually missed out most of the 19th century unfortunately as their floor plan is very confusing and the museum closed, but bugger me it was a boring trip. I do know one person who would be interested in medieval cupboards, but I think that person is pretty damn rare and I defy anyone to be inspired by a room of veneered side boards from the 17th century. They had some lovely Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces, but it didn’t make up for the 2 and a half hours of mostly boredom. Here is one of the few images I could find online:
I returned from Paris early on Sunday morning, dumped my stuff at home and headed back out again to meet my mum for another exhibition and a ballet, how motivated is that. The exhibition was Treasures from Heaven; Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe at the British Museum. The subtitle was basically; Catholicism, how weird can that be?? and featured some amazing pieces of gold stuff along with items like the first pictorial representation of Christ in Britain. For a BM exhibition it was amazingly well curated, didn’t feel like you were squeezed into a strange snail shape that doesn’t fit like it usually does + I liked all the dimmed light, purple velvet and spooky choral music in the background. Well done BM.
After seeing that bunch of freaky weird shit we headed to The Coliseum to see Sir Frederick Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet staring possibly the love of my life Ivan Vasiliev dancing with his REAL LIFE fiancé Natalia Osipova. These two are hot stuff. I went to see Ivan dance a Le Corsaire at the Royal Opera House back in August 2010 (http://elizakessler.blogspot.com/2010/08/week-29-le-corsairethe-bolshoi-at-royal.html)
where he had QUITE an effect on the packed, braying crowd of crazed women. This time he did not disappoint, and was on stage for more than the first act which was an improvement, but it was her who really stole the show – she moved like water!! The set and production were very minimal but the costumes were fab and that music is always, always going to be a hit. I wish they had snogged each others faces off at the end though. I bet they have amazing sex. .
Anyway people that’s me and my reinstated although considerably shorter blog for this week – tune in next week! (maybe…) xx
