Today is the first Sunday of every month, wow! All museums are free. This gives An Qingju and An Chuyu an extra day, plus the six-day museum pass, which of the two oil-thieves is so happy.

It was not too early when I went out, about nine o'clock. But Paris on a weekend morning is really refreshing. The streets are quiet, and the blue dots and white clouds set off the streets of Paris. It's hard to describe what it feels like, but I just feel that this kind of street is really suitable for walking.

Walking to the main street, I found that Paris on Sunday is a different scene. In some streets in Paris, there are pedestrian paths in the middle of the up and down lanes, which can be used by people riding bicycles or walking dogs.

Parisian streets are generally very wide, and it is not enough to just set up sidewalks on both sides of the road. It seems that Baron Haussmann had considered this a hundred years ago. On Sundays, this central sidewalk naturally becomes a market.

In the past, An Chuyu thought that it would be fine if all the major shopping malls and supermarkets closed their doors on Sundays (which was commendable as they were willing to not make money), but where could ordinary people go to buy daily necessities?

It seems that the market is a good place to go! The things in these markets look so fresh, there are all kinds of meat, all kinds of fresh meat or seasoned meat, as well as sausages and cooked food; there are a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; there are also various sauces and baked cakes. Most of the things are not packaged, and many stall owners and customers are familiar with them.

I don't know when these markets were set up on the street, but on Monday they were definitely cleared out as if nothing had happened. An Qingju and An Chuyu saw tourists and simply had breakfast here, ordering a large piece of freshly-made pie and eating it while walking. It was so delicious.

Today, An Qingju and An Chuyu went to the Musee d'Orsay for the first time. It was free. An Qingju and An Chuyu just walked around the various exhibition halls of the Musee d'Orsay. Later, they went again, just for the exhibits that An Qingju and An Chuyu were thinking about.

There are three major art museums in Paris, divided according to the chronological order of the artworks on display. They are the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the Pompidou Centre. The Louvre exhibits artworks before 1848, while the Pompidou Centre exhibits modern artworks after that. The Musée d'Orsay exhibits Western artworks from the past.

An Qingju and An Chuyu have read some books on the history of Western art. There is a documentary called "History of Western Art" which divides European art into different periods similar to the museums they visited, so we will use this as the standard for now. According to the documentary, Western art can be roughly divided into 6 periods.

Post-Middle Ages (Middle Ages), Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical, Romantic, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist. The artworks from the first five periods can basically be seen in the Louvre, while the works from Neoclassical, Romantic, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist periods are all in the Musée d'Orsay.

Of course, these periods are divided according to the years in which the iconic works appeared. Even in the Impressionist period, there were still people creating works that reflected the style of the Romantic period.

This also explains why you can sometimes see neoclassical or even Rococo style works in the Musee d'Orsay. Those are later times when people imitated the styles of earlier periods, but they are not works from that period.

The entire museum was rebuilt from a train station, on the left bank of the Seine, opposite the Louvre. The translucent dome of the waiting hall provides natural light to the museum.

When An Qingju and An Chuyu went there that day, there was a long line outside the door, and they had to wait for half an hour before they could get in. Later, when An Qingju and An Chuyu went there with the museum pass, they could just go in from another entrance without queuing.

Except for the lobby, no other exhibition halls in the museum allow photography - this is different from the Louvre, where you can take photos of all the exhibits as long as you don't use flash.

What's even more happier is that the Orsay Museum has a Chinese audio guide, which costs 5 euros per person and is worth renting. Of course. If you don't want the audio guide, you can also buy a Chinese version of the Orsay Visitor Guide in the store. It costs 9 euros per book, which contains high-definition photos of almost all the famous exhibits.

Most importantly, the names of the artists translated in this Chinese version of the guide are exactly the same as our Chinese translation habits - you will find this very important later.

In addition to artworks, this building is also worth appreciating. The old clock of the train station has been preserved, which is very tasteful. There is also a very high-end cafe in the museum. It has a strong artistic atmosphere, and it is also an option to go in and have a taste of elegance. Of course, An Qingju and An Chuyu also went in to take a look, just to take pictures, haha.

An Qingjue and An Chuyu are not art professionals. They watch Western art purely for appreciation. If it looks good, they like it; if they don’t understand it, forget it. That’s why An Qingjue and An Chuyu didn’t go to the Pompidou Center. They privately thought that there would be more things they couldn’t understand there. In terms of art forms, An Qingjue and An Chuyu like painting more than sculpture.

One is the relationship between colors, and the other is the lack of plot in sculptures. Sculptures mostly depict a single scene of people or objects, and most of the time they can only be understood and appreciated through the expressions of the characters and the stories behind the sculptures. Paintings are different. A painting can be a landscape, record a historical fact, or capture a moment in life.

This is true for both the Renaissance and Impressionism. In an era without photography, An Qingju and An Chuyu were not only able to get close to history through these paintings, but also to visit the spiritual world of people at that time by appreciating paintings.

The paintings I don't like are mainly religious themes (unless they are particularly beautiful) and single portraits (unless they are particularly awesome). The paintings I like are mainly people depicting landscapes, people and nature, people's lives, etc.

Okay, let’s talk about some works that An Qingjue and An Chuyu particularly like and appreciate, and list them here as a commemoration.

I also like the sculptures. For example, this one is by Ernest Meissonier (probably translated into Chinese as Meissonier). This sculpture is called "The Traveler", which is a mixture of wax, cloth and leather, depicting the scene of Napoleon's expedition to Russia. This small sculpture perfectly interprets the fierce cold wind at that time and the feeling of defeat during the expedition.

No matter how much you dislike looking at sculptures, you will always like to see Rodin's sculptures. This "Gate of Hell" is of course very famous and worth seeing. This work cleared two blind spots for An Qingju and An Chuyu. One is how bronze sculptures are made; the other is the relationship between "Gate of Hell" and Rodin's "The Thinker".

Let's talk about how to cast bronze sculptures. Originally, the original was carved with plaster or clay, and then it was turned into a mold for casting. This step seems to be called mold making. Larger sculptures need to be cut into pieces and molds are made separately. Then it is poured (that is, liquid metal) and cooled. Finally, it is spliced ​​together and polished.

Rodin's "The Gates of Hell" is based on "The Divine Comedy". Originally, this work was intended to decorate a museum, but somehow it was scrapped. So this sculpture became the breeding ground for many of Rodin's later masterpieces. This Gate of Hell depicts the complex and ever-struggling human nature and emotions, and includes 186 works.

Many small components were enlarged by Rodin (this is also one of the preliminary design steps of bronze sculpture. First make a small model, then enlarge it) and became immortal masterpieces, such as the "Thinker" at the top of the door frame - its first cast bronze statue is in the Pantheon. There are also "The Kiss" and "Eve", both on this door.

Of course, more of Rodin's bronze sculptures can be seen in the Rodin Museum and even everywhere in Paris.

Many of Ingres's works can be seen in the Louvre, and he is considered a model of neoclassicism. But this work was created in 1856, so it came to the Orsay.

The most impressive ones are the backs of the girls bathing in his paintings (called "Bathers" I think), one bathing alone, and another bathing in a group. This painting "The Fountain" is different from the bathing girl. Although she is not wearing anything, she does not look lewd at all, but pure instead.

The real original painting is 1.6 meters high, and the girl in the picture looks life-size. Her skin is extremely delicate, and even the real thing is not so beautiful.

When An Qingju knew nothing about art, she saw a poster of this painting on a street stall. She thought it was beautiful. This painting is also very famous in China. Many messy art studios like to hang a printed oil painting of "Fountain" to show their excellent "artistic appreciation".

An Qingju and An Chuyu were not familiar with the author of this painting. His name was Henri Regnault, a romantic painter who died young. However, this painting was in the neoclassical style and was called "The Execution of the Moorish King of Granada without Trial", which was created in 1870. The name is also very long.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

But this painting is 3 meters high and was created from an upward perspective, so the picture is particularly spectacular and bloody. The picture describes the cruelty of the Muslim kings who occupied the Spanish and Portuguese regions for 781 years. The painter has indeed achieved his goal. The ruthlessness of the moment when the knife fell is vividly portrayed. Standing in front of the painting, it seems that you can almost smell the blood.

There are several works of Millet in the Orsay, the most famous of which are The Evening Prayer and The Gleaners; these are considered realistic themes. Let me tell you what you think. I personally prefer The Gleaners, which has a larger picture, 1.1 meters wide, brighter colors, and a scene of rural life.

The three gleaners are patient, humble, and loyal, with no facial expressions. Unlike other realistic paintings, they do not shout out something, but express their lives through body movements. This "Gleaners" has religious themes. The Bible contains many scenes about farmers working in the fields.

Previous painters rarely painted this, and Millet used realism to echo religious themes. I also saw a group of paintings of the four seasons by Poussin in the Louvre, which also included scenes similar to gleaning, but in Millet's works, the "laborers in the field" were the real masters of the picture, which was very special in that era.

Courbet is a representative of realism. His famous work "The Studio" is in the Musee d'Orsay. The painting is very large, more than 3 meters wide. The content of the painting is weird. Courbet is sitting in the middle, painting a landscape. On the left side of the painting are a bunch of the painter's models, posing in different poses, but these models are not in the painter's painting.

On the right side of the picture are a bunch of the painter's friends, some of whom may have come to order paintings or to appreciate the creative process. Next to the painter stands a naked woman, who is in the brightest light. She looks around and doesn't care that she is standing there. She is obviously the painter's model, but she sincerely appreciates the painter (probably the painting and the person). There is also a child standing next to him, watching the painter paint with great admiration.

Does this painting depict the life of the painter, the life of the person who ordered the painting, or some kind of life? It is actually a realistic theme, which looks amazing.

Well, it's time for impressionism. Manet said, "An Chuyu only paints what he sees, not what pleases others; An Chuyu only paints what is real, not what is imagined." This is actually "impressionism." An Qingju thinks that "impression" is probably a very subjective thing, and Manet's impression is like this.

Titian’s “Venus” in Manet’s “Impression” is this prostitute (“Olympia”), and Titian’s “Pastoral Concert” in Manet’s “Impression” is the author’s family’s spring outing (“Luncheon on the Grass”). Originally three portraits, Manet merged them into one, and they became three people who looked like they were in harmony but were actually at odds with each other, standing in front of a balcony.

To An Chuyu, Henri Fantin-Latour was more or less a journalist-painter who didn't smoke, or a painter's painter. Anyway, I didn't know what kind of reputation this person had, but he had obviously received professional art training, and I heard that he was a transitional figure from romanticism to impressionism.

His paintings were kept in the Orsay. An Chuyu thinks that a big reason for this is that he used the eyes of a reporter to paint the collective activities of the Impressionist masters at that time. This is also very good, at least we know what the painter looks like, and there are also "activity scenes", which is equivalent to photography.

Both paintings are very large, so they are very realistic, which shows the artist's skill. The left painting "Homage to Delacroix" is 2.5 meters wide, and the right painting, the more famous "The Studio at Parthenon", is 2.7 meters wide.

The man in the white shirt in the painting on the left is Fontaine-Latour, the man standing next to him holding flowers and the man painting in the painting on the right is Manet. The man standing in the frame with a hat on the right is Renoir, and the slightly blurred man on the far right is Claude Monet.

Finally, it's time to talk about Claude Monet, the founder of Impressionism and an iconic figure. The first stop for An Qingju and An Chuyu when they arrived in France was the small town of Giverny, which was to see the lotus pond where Monet painted the lotus pond. An Chuyu won't waste time here. In a nutshell, if you want to see Monet, you have to come to Paris. (To be continued...)