Musée Gustave Moreau: An Unexpected Visit

After being turned away on my first attempt, I was so pleased to find Musée Gustave Moreau open when I returned later in the week. The charming aspect of this place is the hands-on interaction you can have with the art. On my first visit in 2015, visitors had access to his cabinets of unfinished drawings and paintings. Drawers to be opened, sketches, and bits of works you could touch, hold and sift through. There was so much material to experience from this often considered recluse of an artist. Because of previous visits, there was a certain expectation I had psyched myself up for but upon stepping into the atelier, was greeted with confusion and temporary disappointment. The cabinets were locked. The main walls were blocked with temporary galleries. I could not see the art I had been hoping to see.

Instead what I found was an exhibition featuring watercolors based on the Fables of the 17th-century poet Jean de La Fontaine. I would later learn 35 watercolors were on display and making their first public viewing since 1906. How fortunate that I stumbled upon art that hasn’t been seen in over one hundred years! Paris always reminds me to “see the unseen.” As ostentatious as Paris is with its monuments and haute couture, the more captivating and hidden the details waiting to be revealed is what gives the city its greatest lure.

Photos were not allowed of the watercolors. You can see a few and read more here.

Accepting my fate, I now have a wonderful opportunity to learn more about fables, far beyond the tortoise and the hare.