0205: More From the Vaults

Greetings from the snow covered upper Hudson Valley. The wind is howling as I write this today, giving life to the multitude of chimes I have hanging all around outside my studio. The cacophony of bright, crisp sounds provides a pleasant backdrop to today’s tasks.

I have chosen once again to dive back into the vaults seeking overlooked images. And this time I settled into my images from Paris. First is a group from one of my favorite museums, the Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy. The gigantic ammonite seen above hung in a stairway landing – an odd place for it I thought, but striking nonetheless.

Next an arachnid, I think, from a time unknown to me (Take me out of the world of marine invertebrates and I am lost!).

And the last fossil for today – a pterodactyl.

Aside from the wonderful collections housed in this museum, the building itself is worth a visit alone. Built for the Paris Exposition of 1900, it has wonderful detailing at every turn, such as these three examples of the “natural history” architectural embellishments.

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And then there are the stairwells.

Earlier posts captured this museum much more fully. For anyone interested, here are those links:

https://artandfossils.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/back-from-paris/

https://artandfossils.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/the-paris-natural-history-museum/

https://artandfossils.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/the-gallery-of-paleontology-and-comparative-anatomy-paris/

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These last few are some random favorites, a somewhat odd mix. The first is a view of the Seine taken from the top of Notre Dame. Speaking of stairs, there are 387 steps to the bell tower and another 147 to the very top (where I shot this picture). And, as I stood there trying desperately to catch my breath, I looked across at the 300′ tall spire – only to see three workers climbing to the top!

Louvre

Gare d’Austerlitz

An odd but favorite image of mine – Voltaire’s tomb in the basement of the Paris Pantheon. His shadow watches over.

One last image from Paris for today. The wonderfully inscrutable work of one of my favorite artists, Cy Twombly, at the Pompidou.

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A couple of final notes. This Saturday, February 7, two of my images will hang in juried openings:

“Madonna Erotica” will appear at the Woodstock Artist Association and Museum in the Small Works Show – 4-6pm.

And this work from my Devonian Drawer series will appear at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in Narrowsburg NY. That opening will run from 2-4pm. If you are in either area please stop by.

Thanks for the visit.

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The Paris Natural History Museum

Our ever ongoing search for fossils led us to the French National Natural History Museum. While not part of the usual list of Paris “must-see” museums, it turned out to be the most fun and the greatest surprise. The metro dropped us off at Gare D’Austerlitz, one of the six large railroad stations in Paris. Originally built in 1840, it, like so much else in Paris, is a sight to behold. And it was easy enough to understand the lure such places held for the Impressionist painters while pausing for a look around.

A short walk brought us to the Museum, in whose lobby entrance sat this wonderful marble sculpture of Evolution upended! This particular building, the Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, housed the largest public display of invertebrate fossils I’ve ever seen. And while I was delighted to see so much in one place I was overwhelmed by its other collections – the vertebrate fossils, the nearly thousand skeletons, the rows of animal skulls, etc. I thought I dropped off into some Tim Burton daydream!

The Main Gallery is a Noah’s Ark of skeletons of all shapes and sizes all moving in one direction.

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I did say we went for the invertebrate fossils, didn’t I? Perhaps not nearly as odd and as gripping as the above images, the fossils alone would have made the trip a success. Here now are some of what we found.

Subsequent posts will have much more from this wonderful museum. The architecture, the detailing, the many other strange and interesting items on view – all to come.

We went to the Louvre. It was wonderful.

We went to the Musee D’Orsay. It was spectacular.

We went to the Orangerie. It was delightful.

But nothing compared to the surprise of this museum. Instead of hushed tones and silent nods of approval we gasped at every turn and giggled at our good fortune to be there to witness all that this museum held for us.

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Baguettes in the park nearby, a couple of cafe cremes to wash them down and we were off to continue our adventure. We didn’t know what we would find the rest of that day but at that point it didn’t really matter. We hit the mother lode already with these fossils and bones.

Much more to come.

Thank you as always for visiting. More images at www.artmurphy.com

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