Dreams & Reality - Musee d'Orsay Paris - Paintings, Drawings & Photography

Starry Night (1888-1889) by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

From 26 October 2011 to 5 February 2012, you don't have to travel to Paris to view paintings, drawings and photographs from the collection of the Musee d'Orsay Paris. In Singapore exclusively for a limited time at the National Museum of Singapore, this exhibition comprises 145 works from this collection, spanning the period of 1848 to 1914, a period of change and contrast for France and Europe.

The Exhibition comprises of 4 main themes:

1. Allegory & History

2. Man and Contemporary Life

3. Man and Nature

4. Solitude

There is a story to each piece, you can read the plaque beside each work - or for a more indepth look I would recommend taking a free guided tour. Really lets you take in each piece, and view it from a different angle, exploring the artist's impression of a time and place gone.

Highlights of the exhibition include Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players, Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and Alexandre Cabanel’s The Birth of Venus.

My personal favourite was Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night (1888-1889), in the Man and Nature theme of the Exhibition. Van Gogh explored different aspects of this theme, and also experimented with a freer technique evident by his informal brush strokes in this painting.

At the end of the Exhibition, is an area for you to explore your inner artist - with books, paper, drawing tools for you to create your own drawing.

Entry is S$11 per person, which also includes entry to the National Museum of Singapore. Discounts available for senior citizens, children, HSBC credit card holders, NSF, NHB Museum Pass Holders.

Note: Cameras ok, but no flash allowed inside.

Venus at Paphos, circa 1852, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)

 

War or The Cavalcade of Discord, circa 1894 by Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)