Gallery Fatigue
Paris, France
2013
We bought six day passes that allowed us into almost all of the museums in Paris. Since we are here for three weeks it would have been nice to have spaced out those six days over that whole period of time. Unfortunately the passes cover only consecutive days so we had spent some long days trying to fit in as much as we could.
A friend who works for an accreditation organization for museums once told us that gallery fatigue typically sets in after just a couple of hours; after that you are not only tired from standing around so much but also begin having difficulty appreciating yet another spectacular piece of art (not to mention all the lessor works). Still, we gave fighting off the fatigue our best shot and succeeded fairly well most of our six days.]]>
Gallery Fatigue
Paris, France
2013
This photo certainly expresses the title. That would be “gallery overload” for most people. Have you been at any museums or galleries that didn’t allow cameras? Seems I’ve heard of some, but maybe that was back when flashbulbs were an issue with the problem being too many flashes of light fading the artwork. Sounds a little far out, now that I think of it.
Overload and fatigue, similar symptoms I think. Yes, quite a lot of museums don’t allow photos, even without flash. I get fatigued much more quickly in them since I can’t take photos as well as view art. In Paris, the Orsay Museum no longer allows photos even though they did when I was last here. I had much less of an enjoyable time there because of that. Every other museum we went to here, including the Louvre where this one was taken, does allow photos. Good on them!
This reminds me somehow of a Hogarth (sp?) painting…so many different faces all doing something different, crowded into the same frame/canvas. I can’t imagine enjoying time in any place filled with that many people! You could barely see the artwork, except for the statue on a pedestal raised above the crowds! You’re a better man than I! 🙂
I hear you Kathy. You can see the art work if you’re persistent enough but the crowds drive me crazy at times (photo ops not withstanding). I surprise myself at times with my ability to tolerate it. I’m a better man than myself? That said, I think this will be my last visit to the big museums of Paris. Did you know they’ve started putting a lot of the oil paintings behind glass? That’s blasphemy for an oil painting if you as me. I don’t care how good of museum glass you use, there is still glare and a feeling of separateness from the art that I don’t like. You might as well be looking at some of the really good reproductions in books or on the web–which may be how I tour these museums from now on! Crowds are bad enough, but add the glassed in look to it and I think I’m done!
Larry this a really nice shot. The faces in the center framed by all the chaos and energy is perfect. You’ve got a great eye.
Thanks Bruce, a lucky eye anyway–and perhaps a bit of an ability to recognize when luck is presenting an opportunity.
Looks like a chaotic flop-house. Is this typical at this time of year (April)? Not for me but it is a good pic.
Mikey, we were there the last week of March–supposedly the off season! We went by the Eiffel Tower, with no intention of going up it this time as we knew what the crowds are like there from our previous trips. It was so busy we had to fight our way through huge throngs of people just to walk under the tower’s large base. I can’t imagine what it’s like during the high season. To some degree I think Paris, the most touristy parts anyway, is past it’s “use-by” date; just a little sour compared to what it used to be like.
I recently read somewhere that Paris doesn’t have an “off-season” anymore (at least the touristy areas). Judging by what you’re seeing he/she might be correct.
Mike, by my calculations using some statistics on the internet, there are somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 people staying in hotels in Paris every night. Not sure if that counts people staying in apartments like we are or not. Whatever, that’s a lot of people, all wanting to see the same things apparently!