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This was the first A Level History of Art study trip since the outbreak of Covid in 2020. Whilst Paris, like us, was clearly in recovery from the pandemic, new challenges were to be confronted. We arrived at Gare du Nord ready for travel disruption due to strikes and immediately overcame our first hurdle: luckily, we were too savvy to allow ourselves to be fleeced by a taxi driver keen to charge us triple fare due to public demonstrations. Yet the tone for the coming days was set – Paris felt febrile due to potential civil unrest and significant fuel shortages. Yet, as Lauren Elkin explains in Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London, protest is central to the identity of the French capital. Certainly, we were aware of this as we were staying close to the Place de la Republique where, under the watchful protection of the enormous bronze statue of Marianne, Parisians express their collective grief, discontent, and joy.

After depositing our bags at our hotel, we took a long walk to Notre-Dame via the historic Marais district. Another symbol of resistance and renewal, the Medieval cathedral stood graciously even though its structure was covered with scaffolding following the terrible fire of 2019. Yet, we were still able to analyse the architectural features of the façade – noting jambs, archivolts, tympanum and tracery and the transition from the Romanesque to Gothic styles.

The next day took us first to the Musee d’Orsay to study 19th and early 20th century French painting. Here we witnessed numerous examples of challenges to artistic tradition ranging from Courbet and Manet to Gauguin and Van Gogh. Indeed, what was certain was that every painter considered to be shocking, affronting, or absurd, possessed the deep knowledge of art history necessary to precipitate change. Dialogue with the past as a form of renewal was epitomised by the Picasso Museum which was host to an extraordinary display of the collection belonging to his daughter Maya. This presented a rare opportunity to see her key examples of her father’s work as well as his personal acquisitions of the African and Oceanic sculptures and masks which led to the birth of Cubism. It is certain that the lineage of such ownership is hugely problematic, yet it is also testimony to his sincere admiration for cultures beyond his own. Sunday evening was spent tracing the path not only of Picasso but that of his contemporaries such as Hemmingway and Simone de Beauvoir in Montparnasse, the Left Bank home of the avant-garde following its dispersal from Montmartre after World War One.

On Monday, we spent the first part of the day in the Louvre, following a detour which took us to the sparkling Opera district that is most strongly identified with the Impressionists and the transformation of the city after the revolution of 1848. The vast corridors of the museum, filled with altarpieces made from egg-tempera, gold and poplar wood, Renaissance icons and 19th century history paintings reminded us that in their period, these images would have been just as shocking as anything we had seen in the Picasso Museum or the Musee d’Orsay. In addition to examining our case-studies and ‘satellite works’ at first hand, we spent our final hour looking closely at the materials, techniques and processes of sculpture – marvelling at the dexterity of Cellini, Giambologna, Canova and Michelangelo.

Our final visit took us to the Pompidou Centre which is home to the National Museum of Modern Art. This provided excellent preparation for our Modernism 1900-1939 unit as every style and was represented. Equally, it was also exciting to get to grips with Post-Modern styles and movements that are not covered by the A Level specification such as COBRA and Nouveau-Realisme and Abstract Expressionism. The study of buildings forms a significant part of the A Level and to see such an important example of the architecture of the second part of the 20th century was illuminating – especially as the Pompidou Centre’s playfulness and flexibility was intended to bring people together after the destruction of significant parts of the city following Nazi occupation during World War Two.

Monday evening was spent on the Champs-Elysees, the wide, luminous boulevard headed by the legendary Arc de Triomphe. The 19th century interpretation of a roman triumphal arch was created with a view to creating unity after the July Revolution of 1830 following the formation of a juste-milieu government consisting of Bonapartists, Monarchists, and advocates of social reform. Sadly, due to further strikes, we did not reach Montmartre but took our train home on Tuesday afternoon without difficulty. We were sad to leave behind this city of light that will always rise up and renew itself – whatever the challenge, and as the examinations approach, we will follow its example.

Dr Penny Wickson, Head of History of Art