With the arrival of spring in Paris, a rush of rousing museum events burst forth and this year is no exception. I’ll start with a show that is off-the-beaten track and very worth your time.

March 2-July 23

Musée Maillol will be hosting an exhibition bearing the same title as Anne Sinclair’s autobiography, 21 rue La Boétie (published in 2012). In the book, the well-known journalist describes the life of her grandfather Paul Rosenberg, one of the most influential art dealers of the 20th century. The book inspired this exhibition of around 60 masterpieces by great artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Léger and Marie Laurencin.

 

Musée Maillol
59-61 rue de Grenelle – 75007 Paris

March 14-June 25

Second on my hotlist is the Musée d’Orsay’s nature-themed exhibition with a mystical focus: Au-delà des étoiles. Le paysage mystique de Monet à Kandinsky  (Beyond the Stars. The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky). It gives visitors an introduction to depictions of nature in paintings by Gauguin, Denis, Hodler, Klimt, Munch and Van Gogh, and Canadian painters like Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.

“Connecting with an order beyond physical appearances, going deeper than material realities to come closer to the mysteries of existence, experimenting with losing oneself in perfect unity with the cosmos: these quests are all characteristic of mysticism, the spiritual phenomenon that exists alongside all religions, in all continents. Why not, then, acknowledge its presence in Western Symbolist painting, which, at the close of the 19th century, precisely sought to elevate art to the medium of the ineffable, and the artist to the rank of initiate?”

Musée d’Orsay
1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris

After taking in an exhibit or two you will want to take a refreshing walk. Consult your No Worries Paris for ideas in the neighborhood.  Happy spring!