First you take an old railway station on the banks of the River Seine in the heart of Paris, the kind of railway station we have all seen in old black and white movies - hundreds of metres long and eight or ten platforms wide with a high curved, glass panelled roof. Then you undertake a restoration, renovation and re-modelling exercise to create a building that becomes a work of art in itself, a massive central sculpture gallery with three levels of salons and smaller more intimate galleries devoted to the major art themes and artists. Finally you fill these spaces with the works of Rodin, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Lautrec, Degas and many others, exquisite period furniture, clocks, mirrors and chandeliers, and you create a viewing experience that is beyond comparison with any other museum or art gallery I have ever been in. This is the Musee d'Orsay. Outstanding!
On the other side of the River Seine is The Louvre, and there are at least a thousand people waiting to get in, all standing in the cold Autumn breeze, and not knowing what they are missing.
D2
No comments:
Post a Comment