The Art Trip of a Lifetime
In October of 2022, my wife Siobhan and I took the European trip of a lifetime. It was primarily to tick off important items on the bucket list, but it was also celebratory on several levels. The pandemic was all but over. I had had successful cancer surgery earlier in June. And we recognized that we weren't getting any younger. Many life events had conspired to lend a new urgency to the taking of a journey like this. Time to book the flights and accommodations and go!
We picked out four cities we particularly felt we should see. Only one of the four I had previously been to (that was Paris on a one-day work stopover...the only time I had ever set foot in continental Europe, I'm embarrassed to say). Those cities were, in order, Venice, Prague, Amsterdam and Paris.
This wasn't exclusively an art trip...but undoubtedly great art and architecture would be an over-arching theme.
Venice was stop number one.
I won't try to do justice to the jaw-dropping beauty of this canal city with mere words. In fact, even pictures won't fully suffice. It truly is the most unique city I've ever been to, and has to be seen to be believed.
The Bridge of Sighs, Venice
Venice itself is a living work of art. And while we didn't tour any dedicated art galleries on this leg of the trip, we were certainly surrounded by art at every turn.
Ceiling in the Doges Palace, Venice
I was so inspired by the beauty of Venice that while we were walking along the canals, I decided I should do one significant painting of each of the four cities we were to visit. As of this writing, I've finished two. Here is "Campanile di San Marco", from my own reference pics:
Stop number two was Prague, Czech Republic. It's a city that, we've come to describe, seems to have been predicated on the idea that everyone had to live in buildings that look like elaborate wedding cakes.
Prague, unlike so many of its neighbours, is a city that escaped the worst ravages of the world wars, and so stands as something of a representative of how grand all of Europe would have been at one time.
We hit all the usual highlights, like the town square, astronomical clock and the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge). Not only is the bridge itself a beautiful piece of art, it's populated by actual artists plying their trade.
Just off the Prague square was a museum housing a special exhibition of a couple of artists, Salvador Dali and Alphonse Mucha. Dali, a Spaniard, is something of a household name, but Mucha, a native Czech, is almost single handedly responsible for Prague's greatest contribution to art...the Art Nouveau movement.
There was an entire floor of Mucha's work, including many of the posters he created for Parisian clients.
It was in Amsterdam, our third stop, that we really started to take in what are truly some of the greatest artworks in existence.
The Rjik Museum
We went to the Rjik Museum, where we got an in-person look at Rembrandt's masterpiece "The Night Watch".
Long had I heard that "The Night Watch" had to be seen to be believed. It absolutely did not disappoint. The two figures in the front feel like they could step right off the canvas. But the really phenomenal thing was the longer you looked at the painting, the more other objects...flags, pikes, other people began to slowly materialize out of the dark. This work demonstrates a mastery of light and shadow that's unparalleled in the history of art.
The bar was set pretty high, but fortunately our next stop was the Van Gogh Museum, which had a Klimt exhibit thrown in for good measure.
Amsterdam is the second city I've rendered in paint since my return.
Here is "Autumn in Amsterdam":
Our final stop of the four city tour was Paris.
On our arrival day we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Rodin Sculpture Garden, and saw the iconic "The Thinker".
By this point, our tenth day of travel, we were flirting with "beauty overload" due to the ceaseless parade of stunning architecture, sculpture and paintings we had been treated to in our previous three stops. Luckily, our first full day plans included the perfect tonic to revitalize the retinas...a trip to the Musee D'Orsay.
If you're really interested in French Impressionism (perhaps my favourite genre), then the Orsay is the place to go. It's a comprehensive collection of one of the most important eras in art...and the Museum itself, in the gorgeous old train station, is very well laid out and easy to navigate.
The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel
I've long been a student of art history, going all the way back to my high school days in the late seventies/early early eighties. What a treat it was to see in person so many of the great works of art I had always admired...not merely beautiful pieces, but influential ones that changed the course of art itself.
"Bal du moulin de la Galette" by Renoir
It was particularly awe-inspiring to stand before two of Eduard Manet's game-changing works. These are La Dejeuner sur L'herbe and Olympia. Both these works caused a stir at the Paris salon in successive years in the 1860s.
La Déjeuner sur L'herbe
Olympia
But as if that wasn't enough, the Orsay at that time was running a large scale exhibit of Edvard Munch's work. I was in Heaven! I've been a Munch fan ever since I first laid eyes on a slide of "The Scream" in my high school art history class.
I join the anxious folks out for a stroll in "An Evening on Karl Johann Street"
We built in a full day to wander the historic neighbourhood of Montmartre, a vibrant art community from the days of the Impressionists to today. Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, Camille Pissarro and Vincent Van Gogh are just a few of the many famous painters who have, at one point or another, lived in Montmartre.
Toward the end of the trip, we were able to take in a tour of the Paris Opera House (arguably the most beautiful building I've ever been in).
The painting that surrounds the chandelier was done by Marc Chagall, no less.
We also trekked out to the Palace of Versailles...which certainly didn't disappoint, but the ostentatiousness was like a too-rich dessert to cap off a gigantic meal.
The Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
For truly, I was done. I had seen enough fantastic works on my art trip of a lifetime, to last me another two lifetimes.
If you would like a print of either of my paintings that were featured in this blog, here are the links:
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