toulouse, toulouse

We had planned this day together back in November.  It would start with a visit to the DMA for the Posters of Paris exhibit, touting Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries.  From the Arts District we would head over to Toulouse Café and Bar which I thought at the end of the day, would make for a nice meal and a most clever blog post.  "toulouse, toulouse"!

Life in Paris at the turn of the century was well documented with over one hundred pieces on display.  The poster era began with Jules Cheret, as did the exhibit, his large colorful prints the first you see when you enter.  One in particular turned out to be my favorite of all; Frascati, masked ball at the Frascati dance hall, the intriguing depth drawn three rooms deep.

Others followed: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, Jacques Villon, Georges de Feure, Jules Alexandre Grun, and more.

Spoke and I strolled through the images of Paris society, played out in the streets and behind closed doors.  Literary, entertainment and consumer trends were depicted in the poster collection and gave a glimpse into Parisian life at that time.

After the show, I ducked into the museum store to buy a couple of postcards, an enjoyable post-exhibit routine.  The card above, La Maison Moderne, was from a lithograph by the graphic artist Manuel Orazi, commissioned as an advertisement, the model and her surroundings showcasing jewelry, art, and home furnishings for the Paris store. 

My eye fell on another card, a Manet; Vase of White Lilacs and Roses which is part of the DMA's permanent Wendy and Emery Reves collection.  Off we went to the third floor so I could feast my eyes on it.

The Reves collection is huge, five rooms, rich re-creations of the couple's La Pausa villa with art by Cezanne, van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Monet, Degas, Rodin...  Spoke stayed near the entrance studying an array of pieces from Southeast Asian while I took off in search of the oil painting.

By late afternoon we were weary travelers, having gone from Paris nearly around the world, and the appeal of "toulouse, toulouse" had faded though the exquisite exhibit will stay with us for a long time. 

Instead, we headed toward home and stopped for Thai.
 





Posters of Paris; Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries
October 14, 2012 - January 20, 2013
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood Street, Dallas, Texas 75201
dallasmuseumofart.org