Latin Quarter and Vietnamese

I feel very lucky to have met such wonderful people on this trip.  One of my favorites has been Varena Forcione, a former assistant curator from the Louvre's Inventory of the Department of Prints and Drawings. She worked for a number years as an assistant on northern 16th century Italian drawing.  She and I had a wonderful chat over Vietnamese food last week.  The conversation quickly got into Italian artists we loved and discussed our mutual love of Pontormo.

I had mentioned several of the Ingres and Delaroche drawings that were at out on display during a visit to the Louvre and that I was considering copying some Ingres drawings next year.  Varena suggested I determine a list of drawings that I am considering and when I arrive the box will be there with the drawings pulled.  She said that its more time consuming to process individual drawings and that you are unable to just ask for an artist.  Here are two pics of the drawings we were talking about.

A number of us were out at a vietnamese restaurant, which was as wonderful as the conversation.  I began with a beef salad and wonderful teriyaki/ ginger-like pork.

We left the restaurant and headed back walking through the Latin Quarter.  The sun was setting and was throwing gold and amber all over the Pantheon.  For a moment I was transported back to Florence where light like this is a common occurrence.  It was yet another example of the beauty that was found there on a daily basis.

Shopping in the Latin Quarter

I spent this morning milling about in the Latin Quarter purchasing some items for friends back home.  I resisted the urge to purchase an array of tempting crepes that surrounded me.  However, I did have a wonderful espresso.  I took some pictures of a street I discovered last week which reminds me a lot of Degas' painting "Cotton Exchange in New Orleans".  There are some additional pics here as well.  Okay, off to the Palais Royal.

The Louvre- Day 1 and the Latin Quarter

 Its been about ten years now since I've been at the Louvre and I've only been there three previous times. Each of those times was rushed and dictated by other commitments.  I wanted to approach my trip very different this time since I'll be here for a few weeks. My approach is to take a section of the museum and just focus on it for that particular visit.
 Today was my first day there and I wanted to start off by focusing on much of the work from the antique that I am referencing in my newest body of work.  Much of the work I've had a hard time finding was centered around great red-figured vases and classical furniture. I was also interested in the little gems I remember from previous visits. Like these little terra cotta maquettes by Bernini and Michelangelo.

There is so much amazing classical statuary, its hard to comment on it all.  A few favorites below......

This cast of Vitellius was one of my favorites on my first visit.  I bought a copy from Orlandi Statuary for my drawing class.

This one called, "Circumcision" helped me lose interest in lunch for another hour. :)

As I said I have a real interest in gathering reference for some of my new work in progress. Here are some of those images.

Love this three-legged pyxis.

and finally the Napoleonic apartments and collection.

Next I went to the Latin Quarter for lunch.  I ended up having a ham and cheese panini and a Stella followed by an espresso.  The Latin Quarter is an amazing area just to hang out.  I did take a few pics of the area, but none of the food.

I did have more photos to upload, but will do that tomorrow at some point.