Last weekend we spent quality time with Paris' finest collection of modern art. Not the Pompidou, but the newly redesigned
Palais de Tokyo and the
Musée d'Art Moderne. They are just next to each other, and connected by a courtyard/restaurant in the middle. Just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Trocadero, the Palais de Tokyo (opened in 1937) is the center of modern art in Paris. It hosts bizarre exhibitions and has quite a hefty permanent collection.
Exhibit A:
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| Palm leaves with an extension cord wrapped around it? WHY is this art?????? |
I struggle with this sort of modern art, as I just can't figure out who gives someone the "ok" and says, "this is FABULOUS, we should put it in a huge museum in PARIS." What makes this ball of chains modern art? What makes it art at all?
Perhaps its my traditional southern view of things, or my practicality...but forgive me-I just can't figure it out.
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| Did find this pretty neat. It's old gasoline cans and pressure cookers with the world cut out of the sides like a globe. |
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| Silly Photo Booth. |
The Musée d'Art Moderne also built for the international exhibition of arts and technology in 1937 was the eastern wing of the Palais de Tokyo until 1961 when it was inaugurated into its own museum. In May 2010 there was a theft of 5 of its most important paintings valued at 100 million euros. It is the second largest museum art theft following the theft in Zurich in 2008, valuing 162 million euros. Just in case you were wondering, 3 men were brought in for questioning a couple of years later...but they never pinpointed the thief.
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| Buren's Wall of Paintings |
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| Henri Matisse, The Dance |
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| Robert Delaunay |
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| Robert Delaunay's Eiffel Tower |
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| Bernard Buffet's Les Folles |
I can appreciate more Picasso, Matisse, Modigliano, etc. in the Musée d'Art Moderne versus electrical cords on the wall and half eaten sandwiches on a table. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe that's the point of modern art...to not make sense? In the gift shop at the Palais de Tokyo there was a joke "pill" and the package said, "Take one if you need help understanding modern art." I should have bought 50 of them. There were various others which were quite hilarious. At 8.90 a pop we decided to pass on the pills for now. I'll just stay away from modern art museums and leave my confused mind to another topic.
I remember well going through the Chicago contemporary art museum. Hysteical experience. I did not know whether the art itself was silly or whethe the explanations for each piece of art was sillier. It takes itself too seriously, this "modern" art stuff. Chicagomis where I first learned that toe-sucking could be an art form . . . Sucking one's own toes, that is. With sound effects. While in London, Kerry took us to the Tate Modern -- another foray into the whacky world of silly art. I agree with you, Maggie, modern art leaves something to be desired. At least a lot of what calls itself art does. But it is good for a laugh, when one needs that.
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