The Louvre Part 1

This weekend is devoted to one of, if not the, premier art galleries in the world. A destination for millions of visitors, Parisians and art lovers. I don't really fit into any of those categories, I suppose visitor but two months is an extended visit.

Seeing as I am here for two months I figured might as well get a year pass. General admission for me would be 9.5 Euros for one day or 15 Euros for an entire year. Hmmm, what should I do... A no brainer to me. It just took
half an hour in the admin office to get my card printed with my picture and fill out a form.

I wouldn't say I have been to a lot of museums in my life, nor am I a artsy person but I thoroughly enjoyed the Louvre. I was there from 12-5 today and I figured I saw about 2/3 of the entire museum. I will go back Sunday and finish seeing the exhibits, after all I have a year pass.

A brief assessment of my viewings so far are as follows. The French really like big paintings. The french artists did the biggest paintings of anyone. I enjoyed the early french work from Louis XIX era and the 17/18 century. The Dutch painters all use similar colors and they are too dreary; lots of deep browns, blues greens and blacks. I found the Russian portraits good but very repetitive.

The Italians definitely take the prize for sculptures. The greeks had some okay stuff but it was all about the gods. A close third were the Egyptians in my mind; at least of the collection at the Louvre.

I decided to pass on the Mona Lisa today. I don't know why but I never had the inclination to venture down that hallway. I know there will always be crowds but I enjoyed being alone in some rooms and being able to go at my own pace. I also had a really hard time with what to take pictures of. Who am I to decide what is picture worthy or not, realistically everything in that museum is picture worthy but that just ain't going to happen. I ended up snapping things I found interesting, intriguing and innovative. I also wish I had counted how many paintings of Jesus on a Cross there are in the Louvre. I realize the crucifixion is an important event in millions of peoples beliefs but apparently some artists were lacking inspiration in the last 400 years.

I am going to refrain from posting my pictures from today on Facebook, I figure they aren't really that "cool" and it is just art, maybe a few notables.

This is a picture of Ruben's Room.
He did all the paintings in it! So huge.
One of my favorite rooms in the entire Louvre so far. I spent about 20 minutes in there I think.












Tomorrow...The Mona Lisa