Monday, July 9, 2012

Paris in June

Sphinx along the route, Paris, June 2012
Late June in Paris--just a quick trip but long enough to experience the magic of the Les Maîtres du Désordre exhibition at Le Musée du quai Branly and see the permanent collection on display in an intriguing and at times disorientingly dark space dotted with pools of theatrical lighting. Earlier in the same day I also had the thrill of seeing the extensive Artemesia Gentileschi painting exhibition on view at the Maillol Museum. It was an outstanding journey with nary a trace of the mysterious "museum fatigue" that often accompanies a day of too much beauty and wonder.
Bolivian festival costume, the archangel Michael
wild men festival costumes, maîtres du désordre exhibition
wild man of the woods, maîtres du désordre exhibition
installation, maîtres du désordre exhibition
Afghan hunting regalia, permanent collection
Swiss mask in carved wood, maîtres du désordre exhibition
Oceanic art, permanent collection
view from the Pre-Columbian galleries
slit drums from Oceania
Australian indigenous paintings

Chinese shadow puppet, a bat-like dragon
Pre-Columbian miniature figure in gold sheet, Peru
sculpture from the permanent collection of oceanic arts


view from the museum's extensive gardens
a section of the Musée du quai Branly green wall