ESCAPADES EN ILE-DE-FRANCE-THE ROAD OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS(1)
Jack
There is a region between Ile-de-France and Normandy called "le
Vexin". It is a preserved country, scattered with chateaux, churches
but also excellent tables. In all times it was visited by sovereigns
and artists. The landscapes didn't change much since the 18th century:
villages and their large farms, houses made of blond limestone are the
most typical witnesses. Roads and village squares are still punctuated
by cramped, massive crosses, carved in 12th or 13th century stones.
It is an artist country.
When you try to approach impressionism in the Val d'Oise, you must
discover those places of memory following the footsteps of artists
like Pissaro, Monet and Van Gogh. But you must also go and meet the
villages of this countryside, having their specific charm and simple
beauty, immortalized a century ago on the canvas by those painters.
In the 19th century, the special atmosphere and particular allurement
of the Val d'Oise, yet so close to Paris, transforms this region in a
"lieu de sejour" or even a spot to live in permanently or these
artists. The valley of the Seine until Argenteuil, Vetheuil, La
Roche-Guyon attracts Monet, Renoir, Caillebotte inspired by the water,
canoeing and the colorful river taverns (guingettes). The valley of
the Oise, between l'Isle-Adam and Pontoise, seduces Pissaro and Van
Gogh because of the diversity of the themes it contents: the Oise,
scenes of rural life, bell towers and houses, the picturesque
character of the villages in Valmondois, Aubers and Ennery.
The impressionist current draws a kind of landscapes geography. It
explores not only a variety of themes but also the interior voice of
the painters: Monet is the almost naturalist eye fixing the fugitive
moment, Pissaro is seeking the naked truth, the profound substance of
a nature that Vincent van Gogh invests with a deep emotional charge,
increasing more and more when his death is approaching (Champs de ble
aux corbeaux, Auvers 1890).
You have to travel through this road and go to the encounter of the
musees-ateliers and artists houses. You will meet Pissaro in Pontoise,
travel along the impressionist period at the chateau d'Auvers, loiter
along the shores of the Seine at Vetheuil. Take all your time for
those discoveries. Prefer curious and sensitive promenades above
"hasty" tourism.
Let's get first to Auvers-sur-Oise.
Access: from Paris by car, take the A 15, exit at no. 7, take the N
184 direction Amiens-Beauvais-Chantilly, exit now after 40 km at
Mery-sur-Oise.
By train: gare du Nord or gare Saint-Lazare, direction Pontoise;
changment direction Persan-Beaumont or Creil, and get off at the
station of Auvers-sur-Oise.
Auvers-sur-Oise, small village along the shores of the Oise, situated
6 km from Pontoise, was frequented during a long time by the painters
Corot, Morisot and Antoine Guillaumet, a friend of Manet, who
discovered this village well before 1870. A certain painter-patissier
Murer had lived in Four, a hamlet near Auvers, where he received
Renoir, Pissaro and Monet. But the first to settle down in Auvers was
Daubigny, who liked to work on the shores of the Oise.
But it's the arrival of Cezanne and above all the last years and
tragic end of Vincent Van Gogh who made Auvers a very famous city all
over the world.
The village managed to keep it's initial charm, as far as you stay
away from the principal road. Go and see the house of Docteur Gachet,
"la maison du pendu", the church or the cemetery.
The landscape (typical small houses made out of stones overdone with
plaster, prairies, river)
stays identical to what Van Gogh could have seen. The residents of the
village wish to keep the souvenir of the painter and their passion for
painting. Numerous museums , working artists and galleries witness
this.
First thing to do is to go to the Tourist Office, rue de la Sansonne.
You can look at a video (15min) about the passage of van Gogh in the
village and consult books and documents on all the artists who
frequented the place.
Before entering van Gogh's footsteps, let's learn something about this
predecessor of the impressionists: DAUBIGNY.
His atelier is sited 61, avenue Daubigny.Open only fro April 15 to
November from 2.00 PM to 630 PM
He is one of the early masters of impressionist art, settles in
Auvers, age 44, where he builds an atelier facing the chateau.You will
enter the daily universe of the painter, the atelier being a
sympathetic spot where the walls witness of the spontaneous
expressions and testimonies of all his friends, children scribblings,
Daumier drawings, Corot and of Daubigny himself.
A rather unknown attraction is the course in the
CHATEAU AND PARC DE LERY, rue de Lery
The 17th century chateau is not open for visits but you can have a
snack in the local Orangerie. The park, however,is open to the public,
designed as an Italian garden. But what is fun are the buildings
housing an spectacle-itinerary called "Voyage au pays des
Impressionistes". You will be equipped by a infra-red sound-helmet and
will stroll during 2 hours along 18 tableaux or daily life scenes, set
up with much realism. You will make a stop at a cafe-concert, take the
Sunday-train to the countryside, while admiring a projection of 500
masterworks of the Impressionists, punctuating this course.
Next post we continue exploring Auvers-sur-Oise with its famous church
(painted by Van Gogh), the house Van Gogh, and a lot more...
Jack
Provence, Cote d'azur,Languedoc-Roussillon,Belgium and Dublin posts
are now available on http://home.earthlink.net/~primos/
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