Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village in Association with

Art Tours

A Private View of the Studio Museums

of Paris

23-26 May 2016

With Watts Gallery Trust Brice Curator Dr Nicholas Tromans

& Tour Manager James McDonaugh

Introduction

This private tour of Paris has been specially designedfor Watts Gallery Patrons and will bring unique insight into both the art of G F Watts and Paris in the 19th century.

Watts initially visited Parisin the 1850’s when BaronHaussmann’s wide boulevards were first beinglaid out. By the time he andhis wife Mary Watts visitedthe city on their honeymoon in the 1880’s, Paris had beentransformed into what the critic Walter Benjamin later called “the capital of the nineteenth century”. Paris became a centre for the appreciation of Watts: his art formed a key feature of the great Expositions Universelles, at which the retiring Englishman was recognised as a crucial forerunner of European Symbolism.

Central to the appeal of Paris was its wealth of artists’ studios, from cramped little rooms to huge palatial artists’ houses. As Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village opens the Watts Studios at Limnerslease, and continues to lead in the development of an international network of Artist’s Studio Museums, our tour will take us to a series of surviving artists’ studios and houses in Paris and its surrounding region. From the elegant Left Bank home of the great Romantic painter Delacroix, to the amazing double-storey studio-home of Moreau, to the rural setting of Barbizon, we will be reliving the nineteenth-century’s love affair with the studio as a place of utopian idealism and artistic innovation.

You will be staying in deluxe rooms at the boutique 4-star Hotel Pont Royal on the Left Bank, just off the Rue du Bac and in the heart of Paris’ chic St Germain district. The hotel is within easy walking distance of key museums, as well as excellent restaurants, cafes and shops.

 

Day 1Monday 23 May

London to Paris

Check in at St Pancras International, London

Eurostar departs

Arrive at Gare du Nord, Paris, and private transfer to Hotel Pont Royal (a comfortable 4 star hotel in the heart of St Germain)

Check into room

Drinks and Private evening Lecture by Nicholas Tromans:

“G F Watts and France: Love, Life and Loathing”

Depart on foot

Private evening visit to Musée Delacroix:

Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was the most influential French Romantic Painter of the 19th century, whose work was also key to the development of Impressionism. The artist lived and had his studio at 6 Rue du Furstenberg from 1857 until his death. The museum, which opens onto a charming secret garden at the back, exhibits personal items belonging to the artist and a selection of his work, including the unusual and mysterious ‘Madeleine dans le desert’ (1845).

Dinner together locally before returning for overnight stay at Hotel Pont Royal.

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Day 2Tuesday 24 May

Rodin, Moreau & Bourdelle

Depart the hotel on foot

Historical walk around St Germain led by one of Paris’ top local guides: this will be an orientation walk on the way to the Musée Rodin with history and architecture en route.

Coffee close to the museum

Visit the Musée Rodin:

The museum is located in Hôtel Biron, an 18th-century townhouse where Rodin lived from 1911. In an effort to spare the mansion from demolition, Rodin donated a number of his works to the State on the condition that they be always exhibited in the building. The beautiful sculpture-filled gardens are a highlight.

Depart on foot

Lunch together locally

Depart the restaurant by bus

Private visit to Musée Gustave Moreau:

Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau designed the museum at the end of his life, within the house he had once shared with his parents. The tiny apartments are crammed with period furniture, decorative trinkets and family possessions. While Moreau made sure his work was allocated as much space as possible, sacrificing his studio in the

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design of the museum, the result is still wonderfully chaotic; paintings cover every available space on the walls with writhing figures, strange plants and mystical creatures, effectively plunging the viewer into the Moreau’s esoteric world. His lifetime’s work in one place.

Return to hotel

Depart by bus

Private visit to Musée Bourdelle:

A garden of sculptures beckons the visitor into the museum, where Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929), who collaborated with Rodin and taught Giacometti, lived and worked. Grand spaces with monumental sculptures alternate with more intimate rooms. The latter include Bourdelle’s studio with unfinished works, and his bedroom decorated with his personal collection of paintings. The museum has a selection of studies for some of his most famous works such as monuments to Mickiewicz and to General Alvear.

Depart by bus

Dinner together locally before returning for overnight stay at Hotel Pont Royal

Day 3Wednesday 25 May

Barbizon & Fontainebleu

Depart the hotel by private transfer Beginning with a visit to Barbizon, just outside Paris, tracing the transition of French art into Impressionism in the very places that artists spent much of their time. Visit Millet’s Studio:

Jean-François Millet was the founder of the Barbizon school, which emphasised realism, landscape and peasant life, and was greatly influenced by the British artist Constable. Millet created his most well-known works, including The Gleaners and The Angelus while living in this house. Visit Auberge Ganne Museum:

In the 19th century this was the only inn in Barbizon, and it became an unlikely centre of artistic production. Corot, Rousseau and Daubigny all spent significant amounts of time here and the building is now a museum of their work.

Depart Barbizon

Lunch together near Fontainebleau

Visit Fontainebleau:

While a royal chateau has been on this site since the 12th century, the current building dates to the reign of François I in the 16th century. The building, decoration and gardens mark the introduction of Italian Renaissance styles in France.

Dinner Independently

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Evening

Day 4Thursday 26 May

La Vie Romantique & Monmartre

Depart the hotel (with bags packed) by private transfer

Curator led visit to the Musée de la Vie Romantique:

This is one of the delightful small museums of Paris and stands at the foot of the Montmartre hill. It was built in 1830 by leading painter Ary Scheffer and hosted many of the great artists, musicians, visitors and writers of 19th century Paris, including Delacroix, Ingres, Rossini and Dickens. The museum displays a variety of paintings and sculptures from the Romantic period.

Drive up to Montmartre for coffee and then set off on a 19th century artists’ walk:

Highlights may include the Musée Montmartre, Renoir’s studio, the remains of Picasso’s former studio at the ‘Bateau-Lavoir’ and the famous cabaret Au Lapin Agile

Independent lunch and some free time

Meet at allocated location and depart by private transfer

Check in at Gare du Nord

Eurostar departs

Arrival at St Pancras International, London

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Costs and Booking

Price:

£1,695 per person Single Room Supplement: £395

Inclusions:

• Three nights accommodation with breakfast in deluxe rooms at the 4 star Hotel Pont Royal - a comfortable hotel in the chic St Germain district

• Return standard class Eurostar tickets

• Three private visits to some of Paris’s great small museums

• Two lunches with two courses, wine and coffee

• Two dinners with three courses, wine and coffee

• Expert guiding throughout by local experts and Watts Gallery curator Nicholas Tromans

• The services of art historian and tour manager James McDonaugh

• Transportation by private coach as listed in the itinerary

• All other entry fees as per the itinerary

• All tips and taxes

• Full Support from Art Tours Office including personalised itinerary booklets, sightseeing notes, restaurant bookings and an emergency contact number

Exclusions:

• One lunch and one dinner

• Any other personal expenditure

How to Book:

For enquiries and booking, please contact Katie Groves at Art Tours Ltd directly:

Katie Groves +44 (0)207 449 9707katie@arttoursltd.com

If you would like to join the tour, please complete and return our Booking Form and send a 20% non-refundable deposit.

Booking forms can be returned by post or by email and must be returned to us with your signature before you travel. If you book within eight weeks of the departure date, please send the full balance.

Payment:

We regret we cannot accept payment by credit card. Deposits can be made by cheque [made out to ‘Art Tours Ltd’] or by bank transfer into our sterling account. Our bank account is with:

Please make sure you include your surname and the tour reference ‘Paris Watts’ with your payment.

Tour Numbers:

Our tours are subject to a minimum number of participants. Art Tours Ltd. endeavours to run all tours and will work as hard as possible to ensure the tour can go ahead. If the tour cannot go ahead for this reason, or due to other factors beyond our control, then your deposit will be refunded. Please see the enclosed document for our full terms and conditions.

So that we may give reasonable notice to clients who have already booked, all bookings must be received and final numbers for the tour must be confirmed within 8 weeks of departure, on 28 March 2016.

C. Hoare & CoAccount Number: 02261220

Sort Code: 15-99-00 Swift Code: HOABGB2L

IBAN: GB53HOAB15990002261220

Passport and visa arrangements:

You must have a valid passport to travel. No visa needed if you are from the UK.

Changes to the itinerary and extensions to your holiday:

Art Tours Ltd. will be delighted to book and/or advise on alternative travel arrangements before, during or after the tour and will help with upgrades or extensions to your itinerary. Please note: the cost of alternative arrangements must be met by you in full and is subject to a service fee.

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you want to change any part of your Tour please contact us immediately and we will do all we can to help you, but it may not always be possible.

If it is possible to make the change, you will be asked to pay an administration charge and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made.