French art temples in Taipei

By / Li Xinyi, compiled and reported

Romantic and free-spirited France — its capital Paris itself is an art temple, with the Seine River gently flowing through it, carrying travelers along as riverside views drift past one after another like paintings, leaving visitors enchanted. Yet what’s captivating isn’t only the scenery — there are also immortal artworks hidden throughout the city. France’s three major museums: the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Centre Pompidou, are all leading art sanctuaries in their respective fields.

But is French art always so distant? Exhibitions of works by Monet and Chagall are now on display in Taipei. Whether it’s Monet, the father of Impressionism, or Chagall, who believed “love is everything, the beginning of all,” their works reveal how profoundly France has influenced them. To be immersed in the power of French art, don’t miss these two artistic feasts.

The Louvre is one of the world’s largest and most iconic museums, as well as the finest fusion of ancient and modern architectural history. It houses 420,000 collections, dating from 3000 BC to the 19th century, though about 13,000 are on regular display, many of which are irreplaceable.

The history of the Louvre dates back to 1190, when King Philippe Auguste built it as a defensive fortress. By 1360, Charles V transformed it into a royal residence, officially marking the beginning of the Louvre’s glorious history. The façade designed by architect Pierre Lescot in the mid-15th century was Paris’s first Renaissance-style building. Serving as a center of power for about two hundred years, it began to decline after Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles. In 1789, with the French Revolution and the fall of the monarchy, this “artistic palace” was officially transformed into a museum and opened to the public.

The main collections of the Louvre Museum are divided into seven major sections: Ancient Oriental Antiquities (Islamic Art), Ancient Egyptian Antiquities, Ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sculptures, Decorative Arts, Paintings, Prints and Drawings, as well as the History of the Louvre and the medieval Louvre Palace. In addition to these permanent exhibits, there are also numerous temporary exhibitions and displays on the history of the Louvre Palace.

The floor arrangement at Musée d’Orsay features mostly pre-1870s paintings on the first floor, while Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works are located on the upper floors, with Naturalism and Symbolism housed on the middle floors. The sculptures in the hall and on the middle floors include masterpieces by Rodin, Daumier, Carpeaux, and Degas. Converted from a former railway station, the Musée d’Orsay is the best place to appreciate 19th-century painting and the stronghold of Impressionist works. Masterpieces such as Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, Van Gogh’s self-portraits, and many works by Monet are among its treasures.

In 1986, the French government decided to transform the abandoned railway station into the Musée d’Orsay. Its collections come from the Louvre and the Musée du Jeu de Paume, featuring various paintings from 1848 to 1914, primarily ranging from Ingres’s Neoclassicism to Post-Impressionism. It also includes works of Art Nouveau and sculpture, such as Carpeaux’s Dance, Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, and Degas’s Young Spartans Exercising.

At first glance, the Centre Pompidou easily catches your eye with its brightly colored massive pipes. In fact, each color represents a different pipe system: blue for the air conditioning, yellow for electrical wiring, green for water pipes, and red for elevators and escalators. These colorful pipes, exposed on the exterior, have become the most distinctive feature of the Pompidou.

Unlike traditional art museums, the Centre Pompidou focuses on promoting contemporary art and providing public reading spaces. Its diverse and ever-changing exhibitions frequently offer visitors delightful surprises. Its important collections are mainly held at the Musée National d'Art Moderne and the Centre de Création Industrielle, featuring modern and contemporary artworks. These collections encompass a wide range of formats deeply connected to contemporary development, including paintings, plastic arts, installations, architectural designs, photography, film, multimedia, and more.

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum is currently hosting an exhibition of the French Impressionist master Claude Monet — “Monet’s Garden.” The exhibition focuses on classic works created in Monet’s favorite garden — Giverny. The artworks span from his early piece in 1873 to those from 1925–26, the year before his death. The 32 oil paintings on loan mainly come from the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris and the Scottish National Gallery. The exhibition showcases some of the most captivating works themed around river landscapes, irises, weeping willows, poplar trees, water lily ponds, and Japanese bridges. The exhibition runs from March 5 to June 5.