Quick question. I understand hitting the Louvre in the evenings cuts down on the crowds. Would 5:00 be late enough, or is it still crowded then? Also, easy to buy Museum Passes there at that time?
Wednesday nights are less crowded than Friday nights. If you go after 6:00, it's cheaper than before 6:00. We go regularly since we live nearby, and there aren't many lines. That gives you almost three hours. If you're going for the "biggies," -- Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, etc. Venus D.M. et al, those galleries are the least crowded the last 45 minutes before the museum closes. But they're still packed. Be prepared, though, to have all the Top 10's completely surrounded by people taking photos of themselves in front of the art work. (I'd like to start a campaign to end photography in front of the Top 10 masterpieces, or in front of any art work at any museum. Another post until someone elects me President of the museums of Paris in Charge of Crowd Control and Promoter-of-Aesthetic Experiences-Sans-Appareils-Photos.)
We've had a fair number of guests recently. None bought the passes because when they actually looked at the prices. The configurations "force" you to hit too many museums within a short time span to get your money's worth. (Sort of like being "forced" to eat too much French cheese.)
We arrive in Paris Friday morning, leave Monday night, so no Wednesday night. I've crunched the numbers of the pass, and it should be okay since it's our first time here and we're going to be seeing mostly the biggies. We'll be joining my college-age son who has been there for a couple of months, and he insists we want to eat a snack, see the Louvre, then eat a decent dinner around 8 (we don't want to stay up too late, we'll be tired after just flying in). Not being a foodie, if I had my way we'd eat whatever at 5 and do the Louvre at 6.
I'd like to start a campaign to end photography in front ... of any art work at any museum.
How would you feel if there was a rule that photos could only be taken if there was no-one else looking at (or wanting to look at) the picture?
We very much appreciate the opportunity to take photos when we are allowed to. We remember the art much better when we have a photo. Postcards or books can provide an alternative, but sometimes the illustrations are not very good and very often we find that there are no photos of the artworks that particularly appeal to us.
Perhaps the answer would be for museums to charge a modest fee for a permit to take photos. This would probably deter a large proportion of casual photographers.
Posts: 564 | Location: West Sussex, England | Registered: 08 February 2007
Sorry, I guess I sounded a little harsh about photography inside museums. For me, personally, the swarms of people around paintings and sculptures has just altered the experience of viewing art, one to one, with the piece. We're here in Paris for a year and a half, so we do have the luxury of going when crowds are small. One night, I happened to be passing through the Roman galleries, looked up, and for a second no one was in front of Winged Victory in the distance. Incroyable!
On the other hand, when I brought friends to see the Mona Lisa, which was a sea of raised arms with cameras attached to the end of them, I had Veronese's "Marriage at Cana" all to myself, directly opposite the M.L. There are acres of breathtaking Leonardos in the galleries right outside M.L. with no one photographing them, so that's where I get my art "fix" whenever I go.
Most museums, and particularly the Louvre, have amazing web sites where you can read all about the collections, the major works, etc. online, then look at the pictures again online after the visit. The Louvre's site even lets you put together an album. It's like reading the libretto before going to an opera then listening to the CD afterwards--layers of repeatable private experiences that do not interfere with others' experience of viewing an art work quietly and directly. For me, that is so intense, and it's all changed now. Then again, I'm a bit of a crank about cell phones and never use my I-pod when I'm taking walks. That is so twentieth century, I know. (I'm not 102, though, just a bit of a Luddite at times.) All the picture taking in museums is, for me, like secondhand smoke.
Louise, I so agree with everything you say, especially in the case of the approach to Winged Victory. The appreciation of Winged Victory is not just the sculpture itself. How we see the tip of the wings ans their changing relation in space as we approach, that is where we get a slam-dunk élan of victory. I too have not seen a single photo of art that remotely reproduces that kind of art buzz. The most baffling attempt is when people pose in front of the art. What's that about? Check it out: yours truly up close and personal with Apollo's buttocks! Lastly, we too love to go on off-hours to the Greek statues section of the Louvre. Love to see the muscled torsos that seem poised to breathe out, love to see the pleats that hang so gracefully and vividly like real fabrics instead of plaster. My hubby poo even has his favourite ancient Greek wet t-shirt sculpture.
We should start the Cranky-About-Photography-in- Museums-Club. I'm so glad I'm not alone on this. The outlines of sculpture--including the magnificant cuisses on so many of the Greco-Roman ones --are part of the jaw-dropping experience of seeing glorious art. Yes, the wings of Winged Victory, the prow of that stone she stands on, the shadows of the wings on the walls--that's all gone now with crowds of people milling around below with their cameras. The Mona Lisa? Fuggetaboudit! And I have yet to see, in all my Louvre visits, Canova's Eros and Psyche, without people draping themselves in front of it, mugging it up, etc. Just on a practical level, if no photography were allowed, the crowd control would be better. Well, I sound like a total art-snob-wet-blanket. Maybe there should just be No Photography Museum Days for Art Snob Wet Blankets.
My husband has a notion to sell a CD of slightly amateurish but well lit, well positioned photographs with good lighting and angles of famous sites with a teeny chip inside so people can go home and sort of Photoshop themselves into the pictures and not have to take any pictures--just enjoy the moment, hands free!
All right, I see I'm digging a hole here and have to redeem myself. I am very, very fortunate to be living in Paris right now and close to the major sites. Frequently, like almost every time I see a couple or family taking shots of themselves in front of the outdoor biggies, I stop to ask if they'd like me to photograph them, so everyone's in the photos. Since I go by these sites so much, I do know the good angles by now, the pictures usually turn out well, and everybody's happy. My free services are available on Pont Royale, Pont des Arts, the Pyramide, Tuileries, Jardins Luxembourg, etc. But if a couple needs to have a third person photograph them in lip locks in front of Eros and Psyche, I don't do museum interiors. Amen.
--are part of the jaw-dropping experience of seeing glorious art. Yes, the wings of Winged Victory, the prow of that stone she stands on, the shadows of the wings on the walls--that's all gone now with crowds of people milling around below with their cameras. The Mona Lisa? Fuggetaboudit! And I have yet to see, in all my Louvre visits, Canova's Eros and Psyche, without people draping themselves in front of it, mugging it up, etc. Just on a practical level, if no photography were allowed, the crowd control would be better. Well, I sound like a total art-snob-wet-blanket. Maybe there should just be No Photography Museum Days for Art Snob Wet Blankets. 
