I went to the Grand Palais in Paris today to check out two different art exhibits: Le Douanier Rosseau - Jungles a Paris and Italia Nova - Une Aventure de l’Art Italien 1900-1950.

They were two great, but incredibly different exhibits.  The Rousseau exhibit focussed on his jungle paintings.  Apparently he was called ‘Le Douanier’ because in the 1890’s Paris was still a walled city and his job was to tax everything that came into the city.  He would literally sit on the edge of the wall and paint what he saw outside combined with what he saw inside the city at the various horticultural and animal exhibits.

Italia Nova was an ambitious retrospective of the different styles of art in Italy between 1900 and 1950.  It was exhausting to see because it started with the Futurists, when through two world wars, one fascist dictatorship and then ended with a series of incredibly abstract canvasses.  All in all, a great exhibit, but a little tough to follow.

I’ve posted my favourites here.