Recap of Museums Visited - D'Orsay

Another special exhibit was to be had at the D'Orsay Musee while we were in Paris, Impressionism and Fashion. I had read about it beforehand in the Wall Street Journal, and this was the selling point to get my traveling companion to go with me, as she is all about fashion, even in the historical context of this show. Impressionism and Fashion will travel to the Met in NYC from Paris, but many of the clothes will not go as they are too fragile to travel. It was a much more extensive collection of the fashions of the day then I expected, but you could really see how well the clothes were painted. I am eternally grateful that we are not subject to the corsets those women had to wear, or the day dress versus the dress for outings and dinner. But we definitely lack the feminine that the women of that time had in spades. The paintings themselves included many I did not know, but I did not write them down, and no photos allowed. Beautifully handled, that I do remember. A Sargent in particular, Renoir, a few from Manet and a Morisot.
We also did a quick tour of the upper floors. The one painting I had wanted to see was no longer hanging (Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers, none of these images come close to the "being there" this painting gives you), but there was a Sorolla that assuaged my disappointment. The reproduction below does not do it justice, but it gives you an idea of the light. The D'Orsay is still one of my all time favorite museums.

Return from Fishing, Joaquin Sorolla y Batista