Max Ernst at the Pompidou

This was Gregory's last day. We went to the Pompidou Center, to see the permanent collection from 1905 to the 1960s, on the 5th floor (the collection up to the present is on the 4th floor).

This shows Max Ernst's Capricorne (1948) in the middle ground, a bronze sculpture given by the artist to the French state in 1964, and one of several that live outside (by now they're certainly used to Paris's grey winter weather*). View it large. The people on the walkway are on the 6th floor, which houses special exhibitions (the feature at the moment is Dali, which doesn't particularly interest us, though it's otherwise a big hit with long lines).

*This has been our greyest January/February here since we started coming six years ago. As I write the TV forecast is for sun on Saturday--I'll believe it when I see it.

Info on Max Ernst (1891-1976) is here--he's a major artist of the Surrealist and Dada movements.

The Pompidou does a complete rehang of its permanent collection every two years; the current one was done last fall (I think)--in any case this one is new for us, and it is wonderful. The collection is wonderfully comprehensive--a joy to wander through. On the map (I've marked the location), you'll see the name Beaubourg--the Centre Beaubourg is an alternative name for the museum. I've now put up a series (though not long) of my Pompidou blips, going back to 2007.