Musee Gustave Moreau

Remember back on one my first posts I mentioned that I'd gone to the Gustave Moreau museum, but they were closed?  So I finally made it back.  It is a place I've wanted to see for a long time.  His vision is not for everyone, but I'm quite fascinated by it.  He's of the school they call Symbolism.  A lot of reference to mythology....so visually rich and mysterious.  The museum itself was half the pleasure of being there.  The way it is set up...the stairway which is a winding stairway from the bottom to the top floors.  The stairway is enclosed from the first floor to the second and the second to the third.....and open (and beautiful) from the third to the top.  All the ceilings are impossibly high and his paintings are massive.

He spent years and years totally devoted to the study of art and painting in France and in Italy, perfecting his craft.   He experienced much success in his lifetime, even though most of the second half of his life he was very reclusive.  When he realized he was nearing his end, he drew up documents, leaving his entire remaining body of work and his residence to the state, with specific instructions that his home and studio were to be the museum and all works displayed within.  He had many unfinished works....and many completed works which he had just kept in his studio....did not want to part with them, did not want to sell them to museums of private collectors.

One critic of the time, called him "A mystic, confined in the heart of Paris."  Another called him "The Assembler of Dreams."

The weird thing about Moreau is that, even tho you might think that he was painting a long long time ago, he was, in fact only 8 years older than Degas and 14 years older than Monet.  So he was sort of a contemporary of some of the Impressionists.  If you really want to see his paintings better than my photos, check him out online.  Most of his work is in museums around the world and with private collectors.