SITES OF INVENTION : MONUMENTAL PARIS

ARH 4890-001 Syllabus and Schedule, Paris, June 2015

Instructor: Anne Jeffrey MA

The schedule below will remain somewhat tentative: learning experiences in Paris rarely

submit to advance planning when the city itself in your classroom!

But the overall themes will remain. The readings will not change! And, be assured, you

will always receive advance notice of any changes.

This course does not require Internet access.

Located at the end of the syllabus is a brief guide to writing about architecture

AND an historical TIMELINE. Bring with you!

Very important: Bring your Michelin The Green Guide to Paris and your Class

Readings (loaded onto a tablet or printed double sided, less weight).

COURSE DESCRIPTION……

We visit the sites together as a group; we prepare for each visit through assigned readings, and

discussions/ mini-lectures beforehand. At the site, you will take notes for written responses to

assignment questions and for later reference when writing in your journal.

Paris, at first, will appear like a stranger to you. But, as we ‘unpack’ the layers of history,

iconography, placement, scale and meanings embedded in this city, (caution: this is not tourist

“looking”) before long you will know Paris like an amiable companion! Our enhanced viewing of

“iconic” monuments, museums and special exhibitions enrichs your everyday experience of the

city.

At the end of the course, as part of a group project, you will unpack and present to us a

monument we have not visited in class. Note: All grades in this course are determined on an

individual basis.

Assignments and grading

Class participation and attendance 30% 15 scheduled class meetings

More than one late arrival to class will reduce final grade by one letter.

Your active participation during class and during the final project presentations is critical

to the success of your learning experience in Paris, and your final grade! I expect to

see/hear evidence that you have prepared for

each class meeting!

Written responses to onsite assignment questions 25%

Questions are based on an assigned reading and your observation and reflection on the

site/objects we visit. A daily class assignment may include sketching a building or individual

features--- no artistic ability is required! The questions will be distributed during class

discussion, prior to onsite visit. Bring a light weight notebook or separate pages to each class.

Respond critically to the question referencing points made in the reading. A description of the site alone is not sufficient. 500 to 600 word minimum. On Thursday, June 11 the first 5 assignments (for June 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) ARE DUE IN CLASS. On Monday, June 22 the second 5 assignments ( for June 11, 15, 16, 17, 18) ARE DUE IN CLASS. PLEASE write legibly! Grade penalty for late submissions.

Journal 25%

The Journal provides you with a rich souvenir of your visits to museums, architectural sites,

monuments, and neighborhoods --- all of which inform our class excursions.

Think of your journal as a record of impressions, observations, and your own reflections about what you’re seeing and experiencing when we visit a site. Be attentive to your environment and daily life as it unfolds around you. Your journal of course can include weekend trips. Try to spend some alone time in Paris! Your journal is your own and there are no rules except write every day. Feel free to add sketches or paste in other reminders of place. You may wish to bring with you a small pair of scissors - in your checked baggage! Tape and

glue you can buy in Paris.

Have fun with this! Be as creative and ‘old school’ as you'd like! Your grade is based on your effort and engagement in this activity. Journals will be returned to you after submitted to me for grading. Journals & final assignments are due in class Wednesday, June 24th. Final group project 20%

The group project may seem daunting now but by the end of June you will have the skills and

comfort level to complete this assignment successfully. Grading on an individual basis.

Each project location differs from the other, but each group can base their presentation on exploration of the following themes. By the week of June 15 your group will have visited the site and developed a presentation plan. I will meet briefly with each group towards the end of that week to answer questions or concerns. THEMES

Brief history of the site, emphasizing significant facts

Significance of scale/ornamentation of edifice/grounds

Brief description of key objects/contents

Assessment of display strategies

Assessment of cultural/institutional objectives

General atmosphere and visitor participation/ expectations.

Conclusion and discussion PROCESS

1) Either in the classroom or after lunch break prepare us for the site, describing how we will navigate the site, key points about the site

2) Guide us through the city to the site and be available to direct us to your key objects, objectives or points you wish to demonstrate.

3) Develop 2 to 3 points/questions/issues for a brief discussion afterwards to conclude the visit. This ‘debrief’ occurs on the grounds or some other quiet spot outside the site.

______________________________ Wednesday, June 24 PM JOURNALS & FINAL ASSIGNMENTS DUE IN CLASS!

PM Quai Branly: Dario, Tara, Nicole, Knoel (open some evenings)

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Thursday : June 25

AM Arab Institute : Maria, Victoria, Qiara, Rachel (closed Mondays)

PM Rodin Museum: Cieran, Nahye, Emily (closed Mondays)

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Friday: June 26 PICK UP YOUR JOURNALS!

PM Palais de Tokyo: Tatiana, Tierney, Jordan (closed Mondays)

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Wednesday in class, June 24 Journals and Assignments for June 22, 23 due. Penalty for

late submission.

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CLASS SCHEDULE……

Each class day we meet in an FIE classroom, at the time noted in the following schedule, for

approximately one hour. Note that these times may vary! Please note all starting times in the

schedule carefully.

June 4, Thursday

Meeting: FIE classroom 10:30 AM. Bring water & a lunch. Handout for Louvre visit distributed

today

Syllabus review.

Site Visits: Place de la Concorde (historical significance, see reading below). Introduction

to the Louvre museum as a complex cultural document. Today, we focus on the

museum’s architecture only. Visit ends at Daniel Buren’s 2007 installation Les Deux

Plateaux located in the Palais Royal courtyard.

Discussion: Intersections of Art & Politics; Bring guidelines for writing about architecture

(located at the end of the syllabus). Syllabus review.

During your reading of any article you need to be working at uncovering the point of view of the

author. Porterfield, in his discussion of the Obelisk and its placement, is developing a particular

argument. What is meant by the murderous revolutionary/counter revolutionary dialectic? How did

the obelisk support French imperialism? What is the significance of the Place de la Concorde as a

location? How might the West’s historical view of Islam be influenced by the 1836 opinion of Egyptian

culture?

Required reading: The Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, Todd Porterfield pp.13-40 from

The Allure of Empire: Art in the Service of French Imperialism. A guide to the architecture of the

Louvre can be found in the Art and Culture section of Michelin, The Green Guide to Paris.

For this reading, refer to the dates and events in the attached timeline. If you don’t, terms such as

Restoration,the July Monarchy, the Second Republic, etc. will remain confusing.

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June 5, Friday Meeting: FIE classroom 8:30 am

Bring water & a lunch, and your Louvre youth card for museum entry.

Site Visit: The Louvre museum, 19th century painting will be our focus along with other galleries.

Discussion. 19th Century French Painting and the intersection of art and politics.s

We’ll begin our Louvre tour with the historical origins of this monument in the basement of the

Sully Wing and continue through other wings to view the Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace,

the Apollo Gallery and the Napoleon III apartments.

Required reading: Handout distributed on Thursday.

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June 8, Monday,

Meeting: FIE classroom 8:30 am

Bring water & a lunch, and dob proof for museum entry

Site Visit: the Grand Palais as cultural monument AND the major exhibition Diego Velázquez

(1599-1660)

Discussion: Portraying the 17th century Spanish Court

Required brief readings (1-2 pages each): Tone and the Realization of Form and Space; Queen

Maria of Austria; Infanta Margarita in a Blue Dress; Infante Felipe Prospero; Infanta Maria

Teresa.

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June 9, Tuesday

Meeting FIE classroom, 11 am. Bring water

Site visit: Walking tour of the historic and hip Le Marais, to include lunch on Rue des Roisiers,

Visit to the newly restored Picasso Museum.

Required reading: A Review of Life of Picasso, Vol 3, Pages 1-4, by Andrew Butterfield

Discussion: The institution of Pablo Picasso

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June 10, Wednesday,

Bring water & a lunch

Meeting FIE classroom, time TBA

Site: Père- Lachaise Cemetery: Guided tour by a very knowledgeable Parisian!

At this monumental site students are encouraged to take photographs, add to their journals, as

well as complete the assignment question.

In class: Review of cemetery map and features.

Required readings: “Death in Paris – The Père Lachaise Cemetery” Seven Ages of Paris,

Alistair Horne, 2004. pages 413-422

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June 11, Thursday

Meeting FIE classroom,10 am Bring water & a lunch .

Site: The Cathedral of Saint-Denis and the Cluny Museum (Musée National du Moyen Age)

Hand in Assignments to date for instructor feedback.

In addition to your understanding of the significance of the Cathedral of Saint-Denis, your

reflections observing both of today’s sites, including interiors will further enrich your Friday

trip to Chartres. Of special interest exhibited in the Cluny Museum is the Lady and the

Unicorn tapestries.

Discussion: The Cathedral of Saint-Denis as royal burial site; the mysteries surrounding the

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries located in the Cluny museum.

Required Reading: Gothic Art in France, James Snyder, Medieval Art, Prentice Hall, 1989;

The Lady and the Unicorn. And, relevant pages re: Saint-Denis Cathedral, in Michelin The

Green Guide to Paris.

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June 15, Monday

Site Visit AM Gustave Moreau Museum, a small museum devoted to a single artist.

FIE classroom 10.00 am Bring water & a lunch.

Required Reading: Gustave Moreau and Exoticism, Genevieve Lacambre

Discussion: Moreau’s unique contribution to 19th century art

PM Walking tour of the Quartier Saint-Lazare --- an opportunity to discover some of the

locations where the Impressionists lived and worked.

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June 16, Tuesday

Meeting FIE classroom, 9:30 am Bring water and lunch.

Site visit: 10:45 AM Luxembourg Museum as historic monument; viewing the Tudor exhibition

Required reading: Renaissance Clothing, Dolores Monet and Making Armour

Discussion: The power of costume.

PM: Group project research and preparation

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June 17, Wednesday,

FIE classroom, time TBA

Site Visit: Palace, Gardens, Petite Trianon, Grand Trianon, the Hameau at Versailles.

11 am reservation at Versailles Bring water, a lunch, sunscreen, a hat!

Required reading: TBA

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June 18, Thursday, the Orsay Museum and the Orangerie

Meeting FIE classroom, 8:15 AM Bring water & a lunch

Site Visits: 9:45 AM The Orsay Museum --- which contains not only a large collection of 19th

century painting and sculpture but is featuring an exhibition Pierre Bpnnard. Painting Arcadia.

Required Reading: Bonnard and “the stupidities” Hilton Kramer, 1998

Class Discussion: After Impressionism: how to place Pierre Bonnard (1967-1949) in the history

of the avant-garde.

2 PM Walk to the Orangerie where we explore Claude Monet’s “Nympheas” (water lilies), in

preparation for the Friday visit to Giverny.

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June 22, Monday

Meeting time FIE classroom, TBA Bring water & a lunch

Hand in Assignments/ to date for instructor feedback.

Site Visits: Saint -Eustache Cathedral; the historic Les Halles renovation nearby and walk to

the postmodern museum of 20th and 21st century art: the Georges Pompidou Centre.

Class Discussion: Gothic and postmodern architecture. Focus exhibition at the Georges

Pompidou Centre. Specific activities TBA.

Required reading “Richard Rogers on Building the Pompidou Center”, RIBA Journal V.

114, July 07. Additional readings TBA

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June 23, Tuesday

Meeting FIE classroom: 10:45 am Bring water & a lunch

Brief discussion re; today’s visit.

We are scheduled for a guided tour of Mac-Val Museum of Contemporary Art, VItry-sur-Seine at

12 noon.

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June 24, Wednesday Meeting FIE classroom: 10 am Bring water & a lunch

Site visit: AM La Défense No assigned reading for this visit to “New Paris”. I will give a brief

lecture to prepare you for the visit.

Wednesday PM Group Project Presentation : Quai Branly

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Thursday June 25 and Friday June 26 Group project presentations

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Thursday, June 26 Journals and Assignment questions due

Guidelines for looking at and writing about buildings/monuments in Paris

Give the name, architect’s name, who commissioned it, date of

construction, specific location..You do not need to follow the guidelines in the order given

below. Approach the building/monument, being very conscious of its setting; walk around it if

possible, enter, explore as much of the interior as possible. Take note of your first

impressions/responses to how this exterior and interior space has been articulated for you!

Return to the exterior and respond to the following:

What is/and was the purpose of the building/monument? Has the meaning/purpose

changed over time? How? Why? What are the symbolic elements in its design? Are there

political/social aspects to the building? Is there some larger philosophical, historical or social

context that informs the work?

What is the scale of building/monument to site/ a person? What is the relationship of the

building to the site it occupies? Describe its ‘setting’ --- how does it respond to its

environment? How does the building’s exterior relate to its interior?

Consider the building’s use of ornament and decoration. Does it employ classical

orders? What kind of columns? Entablature? Pediment(s)? Tympanum? Cornices?

Pilasters? Moldings? Colonnades? Towers? Decorative doors? Gargoyles? Scrolls?

Caryatids? Other---? Take into consideration other statuary that may be nearby.

What are the building/monuments primary materials? Describe the building/monument’s façade --- or elevation (the vertical design of its front.)

Look at the building from bottom to top. Usually there is a hierarchy from the base to the top.

Is it simple or complex?

How is the façade articulated? How many bays (units), wings, windows are there?

Where is the main entrance? How is it articulated?

Proportion, very important, especially in classical architecture. What is the relationship of the

parts to each other? What is the overall effect? Discuss the use of visual rhythm and

repetition of elements.

Consider the formal elements of the building/monument How does the building address issue of lighting?

Does color play a role?

What about the texture of the building’s materials?

TIMELINE

This chronology will simplify the rapid political shifts during the post-revolutionary period in France for

you. Referring to these events will help you to contextualize lives of artists whose work we will be

viewing in Paris.

* Note the particular history of the Place de la Concorde. Bring this timeline with you!

Bourbon kings:

1715 Louis XIV dies

1723 Louis XV takes control of the French throne. He donates land for Place Louis XV which

later becomes the Place de la Concorde

1774 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette ascend throne

1789 Revolution begins, storming of the Bastille

1791 Louis XVI and M.A. arrested

1792 First Republic proclaimed

1793 opening of the Louvre as a public museum (formerly a royal palace). David completes

Death of Marat (this work is in Brussels!)

1793-94 Reign of Terror. The equestrian statue of Louis XV, at the Place Louis XV

is destroyed. The open square is renamed Place de la Révolution. Here is the location where

Louis and M.A. are guillotined.

1794-9 Rule of The Directory. All guillotines in Paris are destroyed. The Place de la Révolution

is renamed Place de la Concorde

1798 Napoleon launches his Egyptian campaign. History paintings by Gros, Guérin, Girodet,

etc. commemorate his actions. Discovery of the Rosetta Stone, decipherment

1822. Beginning for “modern” Orientalist paintings.

1799 Napoleon overthrows the Directory and becomes the First Consul

1804 Napoleon crowns himself Emperor at Notre Dame. Gros completes Napoleon in the

Plague House at Jaffa

1806-1814 Napoleon continues construction of the Louvre, while waging war in Europe and Russia. Erects the Arc de Triomph

1814 Ingres completes Grande Odalisque

1815 Restoration of the Bourbons after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo

1815 Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) ascends throne and orders a new equestrian statue for

the Place de la Concorde --- but he renames it Place Louis XV ---again. He also moves the

badly interred remains of his brother and M.A. to Saint Denis.

1819 Géricault completes The Raft of the Medusa. Birth of Gustave Courbet.

1821 Charles X --- another brother of Louis XVI --- ascends throne and rededicates the Place

Louis XV to Louis XVI --- calling it, of course, Place Louis XVI. He commissions another statue

of Louis XVI , now regarded as a martyr to the Royalist cause.

1826 The Musée d’Egypte is installed in the Musée Charles X --- within the Louvre, which is

now partially restored as a palace again.

1830 The July Revolution. The so-named “Citizen King” Louis Philippe (son of the Duc

d’Orléans who was guillotined along with Louis XVI and M.A.) becomes a limited, constitutional

monarch. The new statue that was commissioned by Charles X of Louis XVI is now destroyed.

1832 Birth of Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas

1836 The Place Louis XVI is again renamed Place de la Concorde! An Egyptian obelisk,

transported from Luxor is erected onto the original pedestal at the site. Additional decoration,

including the fountain slightly to the north is added. This is the exact location of the former

guillotine.

1840 Birth of Odilon Redon.

1844 Louis Philippe, the “Citizen King” is deposed.

1848 Louis Napoleon, nephew of the first Napoleon, is elected President of what is now called

the Second Republic.

1848 Courbet completes The Stone Breakers. Both his Burial at Ornans and Birth of the World

are located in the Musée d’Orsay.

1851 Louis Napoleon stages a coup d’ état, ending the Second Republic.

1851 The Second Empire is proclaimed by Louis Napoleon, now known as Napoleon III

1853 Vincent van Gogh born in Holland.

1850-1870 Years during which Baron Haussmann, appointed Prefect of the Seine, oversees what becomes known as the ‘modernization’ of Paris: railroad stations, sewers, gas lighting, completion of the Louvre, les Halles, division of the city into 20 arrondissements, and of course, laying out the grand Boulevards.

1863 The Salon des Refusés --- includes work by Cézanne, Manet, Pissaro. Manet completes

both Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia this year. Both are located in the Musée d’Orsay

1869 Birth of Henri Matisse

1870 Franco-Prussian war, in which France is defeated.

1870 – 1950 Period of The Third Republic

1874 First Impressionist exhibition, Paris

1879 Redon launches his career with publication of In the Dream.

1881 Picasso born.

1887 Marc Chagall born.

1889 Gauguin (b. 1848) completes Yellow Christ. 1891 he leaves France for Tahiti

1889 A.G. Eiffel completes the Eiffel Tower that is a centerpiece of the Paris Universal

Exposition that year.

1890 First Métro line opened in Paris 1898 A. Rodin (b. 1840) completes Honoré de Balzac. Gustave Moreau dies.

1903 Musée Gustave Moreau opens in his former home. 1907 Picasso completes Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

1919 Opening of the Musée Rodin (formerly the 18th century Hôtel Biron)

1924 André Breton issues the first Surrealist Manifesto in Paris 1952 the Camille Claudel Room is opened in the Musée Rodin

1958 to the present: The Fifth Republic --- Presidents with notable interest in monuments:

i.e. Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterand.

1968 General strike in Paris and student riots

1977 Inauguration of the Pompidou Centre (built on the former site of the glass and iron

market area known as Les Halles)

1985 Death of Marc Chagall

1986 Inauguration of the Musée d’Orsay

1989 Opening of the Louvre Grande Pyramid

2012 Islamic Wing of the Louvre opened