Art Archives | Page 2 of 3 | A Girl and Her Passport

Museo Fortuny in Venice

September 14, 2015

 This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I am a museum nut! I will go to every museum possible on a trip. Now, I am not a spend hours in them kind of person. I am a big believer in art fatigue and information overload. If I spend too long in a museum, I begin not to appreciate what I see. That being said, I still love them. Museo Fortuny in Venice was no exception. So in an effort to see one more museum, I took off to Museo Fortuny the morning of my flight back to Qatar. I knew I had just enough time to get to the museum when it opened and spend an hour there before I needed to return to my hotel to collect my luggage and haul myself to the airport.

Once again, I hadn’t done tons of research on this museum. I had just read about it in the guidebook and saw a banner for it on one of my strolls through the narrow streets of Venice. I did not know that Museo Fortuny was only open when they have a temporary exhibit installed, which the guidebook did not mention. It was a good thing that the museum was running the exhibit “Proportio” to run concurrently with the Venice Biennale. The exhibit was designed to explore the sense of proportion in art. The pieces ranged from small building size to miniature models. Other pieces felt like they were giving you a sense of the rooms proportions. The exhibition was amazing, and every floor brought a new sense of proportion and feeling to the rooms that they inhabited. My favorite was the all white room that had very minimal art in it. That being said, I must have been too mesmerized by this floor as I only took two photos in this room. One photo is the one below of that is of the windows with the white curtains. The room with the mirrors and the writing on the walls is the “Selfie Studio” and you can see me taking the photo in the mirror.

I really wish the museum was open during non-temporary exhibit times with it’s own collection. The description on the website and the pictures I have seen online look amazing. Apparently, Fortuny had a great collection of fashion, textiles, photos and paintings. I particularly love historic fashions and would have enjoyed seeing those. The website does not explain why the permanent collection is never exhibited though. I will have to watch and see if they ever plan to do so.

The museum also had some amazing views from the windows and the ground floor garden.

So if you are planning a visit to Venice before the end of November, then run to the Museo Fortuny so you don’t miss the current exhibition. Then make your way of over to the Venice Biennale. You can see some of my favorite pieces from that exhibition in this post.

Have you been to the Museo Fortuny? What was showing when you went?

Art, Europe, Italy

Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition

August 17, 2015

One of the main reasons for going to Venice this summer was the Venice Biennale . The Biennale takes place every year and odd years are art and even years are architecture. Much of the art is exhibited by country in specific pavilions that have been built over the years. There are two main locations in Venice, one is the Gardini and the other is Arsenale. There are other locations throughout Venice. It currently runs through November 22, 2015. It is open every day, except Mondays, from 10-6. I would highly recommend you buy your tickets online and print them so you do not have to stand in line, as the ticket office does not open until 10. Since I am not an expert on art, I will just give you a photo essay of my favorite pieces in the exhibition. I will say that many of the exhibits were a full sensory experience with sound and smells, which is hard to convey here.

 This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Art, Europe, Italy

A Visit to Monster Park!

August 4, 2015

This is probably the best-kept secret in all of Italy! In the Lazio region of Italy near my friend’s house, is something called the Sacred Wood of Bomarzo or the Parco dei Mostri. The park contains a collection of strange and some frightening pieces of sculpture. The sculptures have been carved out of rock found in the wood. An Italian nobleman named Pier Francesco Orsini in memory of his wife, Giulia Farnese, built the garden in the 16th century. The brochure that was given to us states that the architect was Pirro Ligorio, who completed parts of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. However, some online research says that Michelangelo was the architect, and his student’s completed the work. Either way, this is a unique experience and is not to be missed.

 This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

As you can see, the wooded area is also a beautiful place to visit. During the heat wave that happened that week, the park was a welcome relief being a few degrees cooler than everywhere else. They give you map to the sculptures, but it isn’t very good but does provide great information on the sculptures and the history of the park. Just follow the trails you and you shouldn’t have a problem finding all the sculptures. It took us about an hour to walk through all of it.

Monster Park is located just outside Bomarzo, Italy. You can get there from the A1 highway following the signs for Bomarzo. If you have an Italian GPS, it should get you there with no problems. Google maps directions seem also to be accurate. From April to October the park is open every day from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm and from November through March from 8:30 am to sunset. Adult tickets are €10, and kid tickets are €8. There is also a snack bar on site if you need a break before or after.

What is the strangest attraction you have seen on your travels?

Art, Europe, France, Hotel/Accommodation, Paris, Travel

The Beautiful French Countryside in Giverny

July 10, 2015

 This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Giverny isn’t just the home of Monet, it is a beautiful town to explore. Visiting Monet’s House and Gardens isn’t the only thing to do. The village of Giverny is very pretty. Someone asked me after my last post if Giverny was run down, as he had been told it wasn’t worth visiting. I disagree. Yes, the town has some run down houses and over grown wild areas, but I wouldn’t say the whole village was like this. It actually added to the charm of the place. It is exactly what I expected a small French country village to look like.

Since I took the train to Giverny, I walked from the bed and breakfast I was staying at to all the places I went. The day I arrived, I walked to have dinner. I discovered that all of Giverny is one big garden. Almost every house I passed had a beautiful garden or had lovely plants outside. Many of the homes have historic plaques out front relating to what artist was living there during Monet’s time. The walk was not only beautiful, but informative.

There are things to do other than Monet’s house as well. You could easily spend the day reading all the historic plaques. I only read some of them. The Church Sainte Radegonde is worth a visit. The church is Roman and the original part of the church was built in the 11th century! It was expanded between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Claude Monet is buried in the graveyard along with some of his family.

There is also the Impressionist Museum. The museum is just down the street from Monet’s house. The museum is dedicated to the history of impressionism. It is run in part by the Musee d’Orsay. Keep it mind that both it and Monet’s house are not open in the winter months. It also has a garden and wonderful restaurant.

Where to stay? There are many small bed and breakfasts in Giverny. However, my recommendation would be to stay at Les Jardins de Helene. This bed and breakfast is run by the wonderful Sandrine. Sandrine moved from Paris to Giverny with the dream of running a bed and breakfast. She is truly passionate about making people feel welcome and at home. The house is located on the edge of town about a kilometer and a half from Monet’s House. While it is a distance from town, it was great because I might not have explored the town otherwise. Les Jardins de Helene has four rooms each with access to a private bathroom. There is a wonderful garden in the back you are welcome to use with a coy pond. Sandrine serves a simple, but great breakfast. When I was there it included homemade stewed fruit and locally baked bread. Sandrine was very responsive to all my emails and even got me a ticket for Monet’s house so I didn’t have to wait in line. I only wished I had booked more nights in Giverny so I could of enjoyed the town and Les Jardins de Helene for longer.

Older Posts

Newer Posts