The Art of Paris

Notre Dame by Maurice UtrilloOne of my favorite paintings in Paris, and of Paris, is located downstairs at the museum of the Orangerie. The building was built to house a series of water lilies by Monet in two spectacular oval shaped rooms that he designed especially for the paintings. This is obviously the museum’s biggest selling point, but it would be shame to spend an afternoon there without drifting downstairs to where the rest of the private collection is displayed. It is small but impressive collection of art ranging from the impressionists, Renoir, Sisley, to more modern artists, such as Picasso. In the second to last room, I discovered a Parisian artist I had never heard of, and still know nothing about. In the several art history classes I have taken, two of them taught in Paris museums, the name Maurice Utrillo has never been mentioned. And yet, I found his paintings striking, pleasing, and completely relatable.
Utrillo has a way of painting Parisian landmarks and landscapes in outlandish colors and simplified geometric shapes while still maintaining the emotional essence of the city. Notre Dame painted in blue, yellow, red, and orange triangles, rectangles, and semi-circles, still feels like Notre Dame. Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture online of the actual painting from the Orangerie, this is a similar painting that I don’t like as much, but you can see the general impression. His funky, modern take on the classic, gothic Cathedral emblematic of France the world over, is just as light, uplifting, and powerful as the original. His views of Parisian streets and sidewalks follow the same pattern; the familiar Haussmannian facades are given new life in crayola-color, with the same spunk and energy I feel in the streets on a sunny day. I can’t wait to move back to New York and hang an Utrillo poster on the wall so I can take a mental stroll through Paris everyday.