TRAVELER’S DIARY-Paris II:Musée Maillol

January 21, 2018, Saturday evening, the desire to breathe, even in the rainy Paris, after the oppressive atmosphere and the bustling crowd at the Center Georges-Pompidou is imperative. The exhibition “POP ART – Icons that matter, Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art-New York” is closing on Sunday.

By Efi Michaparou

Our time was limited and in about an hour Musée Maillol is closing, but our desire to visit the exhibition we even greater, we started to run from Le Marais and Center Georges-Pompidou to Musée Maillol on the opposite bank of the Seine, the museum is small like Maison Rouge but with new visions on contemporary art, and it was a real surprise. The artworks of the most well-known representatives of Pop Art, from the Whitney Museum of American Art Collection, create a new array on the stone walls of the Museum, creating a new relationship and narrative of seeing these well-known works with a more intellectual and different way. French spectators, who are less familiar with Claes Oldenburg’s sculpture or Tom Wesselmann’s painting, seem to be wondering whether it is art or over-valued art. However, the exhibited artworks were a small sample (3-5 of each artist) but undoubtedly of their best. For me, Roy Lichtenstein’s portraits are still jaw-cracking, as are the sculptures   by Claes Oldenburg or Jim Dine, even the choice of the overrated Andy Warhol’s works were excellent. This Pop Art exhibition was not just well curated nor just a visual oasis, a deep breath and a nice break, but also was a clear exhibition which quickly and easily introduced the average viewer into the history and the understanding of Pop Art.