Whoa here! The original post asked for people's OPINIONS. That's exactly what was being given here until grantop hijacked the thread to pick a fight with Cafe Batavia! Cool it granny! You're getting your panties in a wad for nothing. I am interested in EVERYBODY'S opinion here - that's why I am reading this thread.

By the way, this is pretty interesting:

http://gofrance.about.com/cs/parisat...ttractions.htm

The Pompidou ranks third after Eiffel and Louvre in the number of visitors it draws, if you believe the numbers here, ahead of the d'Orsay and Arc de Triomphe.

I also remember reading somewhere that the Tate Modern is wildly successful and is one of the most visited places in London.

111op, oh my, how you do take liberaties and read into things.

And so quick you are to call people ignorant if they don't share your tastes. I thought modern art lovers were open-minded and non-judgemental?

I hope you are not some artsy-fartsy type who gets thier floppy pink panties all in a bunch over
tiny little issues.

Putting the "guts" on the outside of a pile of scrap metal is a sick joke, not a significant accomplishment.

I suspect most people who live in Paris are sorry it wasn't erected in an industrial zone where it rightfully belonged in the first place.

As others have said, the exhibits inside would likely be worth it to you if you like modern art.

The building itself and the elevator ride to the top are worth it even if you don't like modern art. You may hate the building (many people do), but see it anyway.

Hi Cafe, perhaps you don't read -- you claim yourself that you're ignorant. I'm just reiterating what you claimed *yourself*. I quote: "I admit I know nothing about modern art." (This is what you wrote.)

By the way, interesting statistics on London attractions (off-topic):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2215593.stm

And, ahem. There is a difference between modern and contemporary art. Look it up.

Hi Santa, since you seem to know more than I do, why don't you expound on this topic?

I'd appreciate hearing your opinions.

grantop, regarding I.M. Pei's pyramid: I actually like it. As I said in another thread, the light and shadows at dusk are very impressive.

What does your travel schedule look like for May? I'm taking an art history group to Paris. Would you like to join us?

i think the musee national d'art modern (the pompidou correctly stated) is every bit of what it was intended to be: the third jewel in the crown of parisian art museums.

the louvre covers the periods prior to romanticism, the orsay basically runs from courbet thru the post impressionists and the modern from the fauves thru minimalism. there is of course some bleed thru amongst the three.

frankly, i place it far and away over the picasso museum even in terms of its individual picassos qualitatively. the picasso museum has so many dogs, it ought to be billed as an art kennel. as much as i admire picasso's sensibilities, he turned out vastly more drek than even "good" work (much less masterpieces). all of the drek and few of the good works are at the picasso (which is also a pain in the ass to get to).

the three major museums are meant to be visited as an organic whole tracing specific epochs in art. missing the "pompidou" would be a one third empty glass.

Bravo/bravo subcon. You said it better than I, although on a subsequent trip I added the Cluny as one of my favorite, at least for Paris.

Subcon: I meant bravo/brava, not knowing what gender you are.

Crepes, sorry, didn't mean to offend!

Crepes, I honestly didn't mean to "hijack" sorry that CB kept it going by insisting that everything was crap because they didn't like it. I still stick to my thoughts that not everyone will love the art work here, and you don't have to spend 5 hours studying it, but part of travel is to broaden your experiences and ways of thinking. If someone insists on arguing about that - have a ball.

and, along the lines of saying things that you know nothing about; there is no way I could be a "granny" - not sure what that was about, but oh well.

an "art kennel"...very good!

grantop, I missed the crap displays last time. What floor were they on? Could you place them in any particular movement?

Let me know soon if you want to join our art history tour in May. You can lead the group to the Pompidou.

yes, i should have included the cluny which works primarily from late medieval thru early rennaisance. actually, it was my field of study in graduate school. but many find it too arcane and inaccessible without some guide to the iconography.

i forgot to mention a nice little morning diversion: the musee d'art moderne de la ville paris on the blvd wilson in the trocadero area. it has some very nice pieces of early 20th cent. art displayed in a very pleasant and uncrowded venue.

and while i'm on it, the rodin museum has more masterpieces (or close copies) than the picasso could assemble if the entire french budget were put into the effort.

okay, i grant, a bit of hyperbole, perhaps...

Well, I was about to say to crepes a go go that I didn't think any hijacking had gone on here because we were still on topic, but then I read the last few posts. Too bad that capo and cafebatavia have turned potty mouthed and have "gone to the dogs" so to speak. Nice going - this will probably be deleted. There WAS good information from subcon, grantop, missypie, and SantaChiara. I for one benefited from subcon's knowledge and feel it could be helpful to anyone considering visiting the museum or who had been and wanted some more information about the building. 111op thanks for the "Great Buildings" link - very cool!

Sorry, 111op, I missed your reply the first go-around.

o paraphrase one of my heroes, "if you don't have the money, honey, I don't have the time."

Ciao.

That's, of course, the easy way out, Santa. If you know something, prove it. As I said, I'd love to hear what you've to say, and I'm sure that others would too. Evidently you should be able to express some of your own thoughts apart from applauding someone else's, no?

No. I am not here to lecture the forum on the difference between contemporary and modern art. This isn't opinion. It's fact, or as much fact as art history and criticism can be.

Ciao e baci a tutti.