Seeing and Appreciating Art in Paris
“This is the trip that students return from with a new light in their eyes,” our painting professor had said before we discussed the Paris itinerary. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but after four days of immersing myself in art, I wholeheartedly agreed. This trip was my eighth time in Paris, but it would be my first time traveling to the city with a group of artists. This would also be the final field trip that the Marchutz program would be taking together before the end of the semester. After enduring the cold weather in Annecy after midterms, Paris was the well-deserved sunny reward before finals. We traveled from the morning of Thursday, November 13, and returned to Aix on Sunday, November 16th, tired and with a new light in our eyes.
The Marchutz Core Arts Program consists of sixteen talented artists and one inspirational art professor. He is difficult to describe on paper, and I find it best to meet O'Neill Cushman to have a well-rounded experience of the man, the myth, and the legend. At the beginning of the program, we worked on landscape paintings, and after our rainy trip to Annecy, we worked on still life paintings before coming to Paris. To get us enthusiastic about our next focus, portrait paintings, we would spend time with great portrait paintings in four museums: Musée Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, L’Orangerie, and Musée Marmottan Monet. Together, we looked at art by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Titian, and Paul Cezanne, and during our free time in museums, we were able to explore the works of other artists. The most impactful portion of the trip was the ability to sit with a work of art in a sea of movement. The common visitor to a museum engages with art in a vague and brief manner, without looking at the art with the naked eye. It's ironic: No one is looking at art in museums, unless they are staring through their phone, or if you are fortunate enough to study art.
In Paris, we experienced the visual progression of Impressionism, from the 16th century until the 20th century. We sat for an hour with each painting, with a radio and headphones set, and passed around a small microphone to speak through. We discussed brushwork, emotion in the gaze, composition, and other artistic choices we could learn from practicing artists. Every discussion concluded with historical context from O’Neill and a literary work of art relevant to the painting. This was the final trip of the Marchutz Fall Semester, and since our return, I have truly viewed art differently.
Alessia Redwine is a first-year Master of Fine Arts Student at the American College of the Mediterranean. She is originally from Denver, Colorado, and enjoys reading, eating French pastries, and creating playlists in her free time. Alessia’s vibrant paintings focus on Black American culture with the intention of reimagining how black bodies are depicted in art history. Her website can be found here: https://www.theartofmakingwine.org/
