Les Arts Decoratifs

Saturday April 7

Les Arts Decoratifs is the decorative arts and textile museum that is attached to the Louvre.  It explores the history of decorative arts, from the Middle ages to the present.  I didn't see it all, as I spent most of my time seeing the special exhibit "Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs."  Louis Vuitton founded his company in 1854.  He made trunks for traveling.  His portion of the exhibit is shown with the museum's 19th century fashion collection.  

Marc Jacobs has been the artistic director of the Louis Vuitton brand since 1997.  His portion showed a selections of his designs over the last 15 years.

Sadly, I AGAIN, have hardly any usable pictures.  I learned a hard lesson  about the function of my camera.  I was so excited about the pictures I took  because I finally figured how to turn off the flash, which is what is required in any museum....if they let you take pictures at all...(which most don't) ....  So I was happily snapping flash-less pictures and excited to get home and look at them....because I thought I had some really good ones.  Almost every one is either all blurry, beyond recognition, or full of sort of light trails which make it unreadable.  I should have figured this out when I turned the flash off....but, of course, what happens is that it slows down the speed of the camera in order to get more light in...  Consequently, you have to be very very still....no breathing....or have a tri-pod, which, of course A) they don't allow  and   B) I don't have anyway.   So I will reluctantly post some of the blurry ones....but I am sooooo bummed.

Along with the Louis Vuitton portion of the exhibit, there was a display of doll clothes, which were every single piece a woman of the time would need for her trousseau as she packed up her numerous Louis Vuitton trunks, got on the steam ship and sailed away on her honeymoon to far off lands.  I loved these tiny little leather gloves and delicate handkerchiefs.  You can tell the scale by the straight pin holding them.

Kind of blurry....hope you can see what it is.  I love this one.  It's a sort of cot, that unfolds out of the suitcase.  Probably comes in very handy if you're on safari and need a quick nap.

Most of the pictures in the Mark Jacobs exhibit did not turn out at all.  A few, where there was a lot of light, came out OK...just OK.  These three are the purse exhibit.  There were some really interesting bags.

                                 Blurry..............

I left this special exhibit and was very interested in seeing the art nouveau section of the decorative arts.  That area had guards in every room telling you either no pictures....or no pictures with flash.  The rooms showing the furniture (which I loved) were quite dark, in order to protect from fading.

 It's hard to tell (because you can't see the black metal legs)  but this is a dresser  I loved the finish and way the pulls on the drawers are worked into the design.

This is a blurry one......but I thought it was funny, how it kind of looks like a pregnant woman.

A couple of the rooms, which did not have to shield their displays from the light, had great views, out over the Tuillerie Gardens.  I thought how fantastic it must have been to live in those rooms, back when the Louvre was actually where the king lived....not a museum....  To be able to look out over this huge, fantastic park....which was all yours.  There would not have been throngs of people....just a beautiful park.