Picasso Revisited

I was clicking through an article about Lupita Nyong'o's U.S.Vogue spread (which is beautiful, check it out) when I saw a line about how part of the shoot was shot at the Picasso Museum in Paris. I was a bit shocked to read this, because I had no idea that there was a Picasso museum in Paris. Not to say that my knowledge on Paris museums is exhaustive, but I do consider myself a lover of museums (a "museumophile", if you will) so I was surprised at such an oversight on my part.  Turns out, the museum was closed the last time I was here: it reopened in October 2014 after being closed for five years. I jotted it down in my little Paris journal that one of my best friends gave me on a page where I keep an ever-growing list of the places in Paris I'd like to visit. Yesterday I decided that it was as good a day as any to bike over (no rain!).

Let's just say that that day I learned an important lesson about keeping abreast of events in your city. As I walked down Boulevard Saint Germain to find a Velib' station, the scene kept getting weirder...heavy traffic, but hey, it was Saturday. Then police blocking off streets..maybe there's a foreign dignitary in town? Someone got out of a charter bus in the middle of an intersection and left it there...hey, when ya gotta go...Then, I kept seeing groups of "youths", some with paint on their faces, some with wigs. Next, a string of public transit buses parked in the middle of the street, driverless. Finally, I stopped at a shop to ask someone what was going on. "C'est la Techno Parade", they replied with a knowing smirk. Huh? Oh I was about to find out...

The parade consisted of large, tricked-out buses and trucks blasting techno music, each trailed by a band of merrymakers that would react appropriately each time the beat dropped. I found myself in an interesting position: mildly horrified at the kids gleefully swigging from liters of "coke" (surrree...), faces covered in "tribal markings" drawn on with lipstick, and amused at some the adults, unsure of which way to turn their expensive strollers to avoid the puddles of vom.

Am I old? Not too long ago, this would have been my kind of scene. Now, I'm standing here clutching my imaginary pearls, muttering quelle horreur. 

Eventually, I was able to snag a bike and Premium Rush my way over to the right bank.

The Picasso Museum is cool. It doesn't have a super-recognizable, imposing facade like some of the better known museums; you have to enter a courtyard first to get in line and the museum itself still bears many of the hallmarks of it's past life as a mansion. I'd been to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and I thought it would be fun to check this one out for comparison's sake. The layout seems to follow Picasso's development as an artist: Rococo ceiling moldings and grand staircases give way to minimalist white walls and stone ramps as you make your way up floor by floor. The layout gave me a much better perspective on Picasso's life, influences and artistic process. In addition to paintings and sculptures, there were "exotic" masks from Africa and Oceania, letters Picasso wrote during his stint as a writer and poet, and paper and wood models he made to inspire some of his cubist paintings. The top floor boasts an impressive collection of works by artists such as Cezanne, Matisse and Seurat, if Picasso isn't your thing.

Again, got in free because of my student id. I wish we had programs like this in the U.S., though I won't be able to take advantage of student discounts much longer... (eek!). But a good thing to implement for the next generation, no?

Idk why, but that little face creeps me out. 

The artist's right hand

Self-portrait at 25 years old.

Blue period work, or "blue and pink", as the museum says. 

Interesting juxtaposition that I thought represented his approach

Little models

Woman throwing a stone

Picasso's interpretation of Manet's Dejeurner sur l'herbe

Tete d'homme barbu, translated: demon forest nymph

View from the top floor

Namibian mask