Treating your art class to a school trip to Paris will see them transported to the heart of their specialist subject – which is certain to inspire them. From the old Masters to the latest contemporary works, there is a real wealth of things to see here.
Best of all, bringing your students to the French capital will help them to learn outside the classroom – after all, browsing the paintings of da Vinci and Monet is certain to inspire them more than sitting at their desk!
However, when there is so much to see, from the real images captured for display at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie to the architectural marvel that is the Eiffel Tower, how do you plan the perfect tour? Read on to learn more.
Le Louvre
The Louvre is a great place to kick off your artistic tour of Paris, as it allows you to show your students some of the world’s oldest works of art. However, even here you will be forced to make a decision about what you include and what you miss out on your itinerary, as to see it all would take a lot longer than a day.
Your best bet is to take the Masterpieces Trail, which includes all of the museum’s Three Great Ladies: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and sculptures the Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo.
Musee D’Orsay
After exploring the work of the Masters at Le Louvre, this is a good next stop, as it demonstrates to the students what was achieved when artists began to experiment. Moving away from the crisp oil paint strokes of their tutors, these individuals used the canvas to capture emotion as well as image.
Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, Seurat and Cezanne are just some of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists to have work on display within this converted railway station.
Pompidou Centre
The Pompidou Centre is something of a work of art in itself, thanks to the brightly coloured piping and scaffolding that adorns its exterior. Indeed, this is an architectural marvel that you should spend a while admiring before you step inside.
Once through its entrance, the contemporary creativity continues and as there are always temporary exhibitions being held here, you never know what you’re going to see.
For the perfect way to round off your art trip and allow your students to get a souvenir, head to Montmartre – the capital of the city’s creative scene. Here, there will be artists only too happy to produce a portrait on the spot – which could serve as an apt memento.
