Off the street, down a tree-shaded alley is a lovely house and studio. Among many other treasures and art of the period, it houses an extensive collection of George Sand memorabilia. The house itself, was owned by the artist Ary Scheffer....an artist with whose work I was not previously acquainted. I was there to see the objects, art and displays connected with the lives of George Sand and Chopin. So I was pleasantly surprised to see yet another beautiful light-filled artist studio space.
This photo is, of course, old and more what it looked like years ago, not exactly what it looks like now....since it's a museum now, not an actual studio. But you can see the wall of windows.....
The front of the house/museum....
Behind this wall of roses and flowering trees is a lovely open space and an enclosed, glass tea room.
Along with all the other artifacts in the museum, there was this cast of Chopin's hand....so small and delicate....
In one of the rooms there was a display of watercolor paintings done by George Sand. I did not know she was a water colorist. Apparently she had an interesting technique.... here is what it said in the brochure...
"....skillfully invented an original technique of "squashed watercolor" that she called "Dendrites". She laid pigments with a brush and pressed them while still wet between two sheets of paper, thus obtaining a stain. "This blotting produces strange ramifications, where I can imagine woods, forest or lakes, and I can paint over these shapes merely produced by accident." Here are two examples of her watercolors using this technique......one I took at the museum and one from Google Images.
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