Paris calling: Art History elective takes students abroad
Our art history students travelled to Paris to visit over 20 museums, galleries, exhibitions, and art districts. Over two weeks they uncovered one of the globe’s most vibrant cultural hubs.
This month Paris has been synonymous with the Olympics across the world, but for art lovers, the true spectacle of the French capital is its history and culture, preserved in its museums, monuments, and architecture. Earlier this year our Art History students embarked on a two-week journey to explore Paris via the ‘Art and the City’ fieldwork unit of study.
In the Art History major, students delve into the history of making, viewing and experiencing complex and compelling works of art and architecture. By developing historical knowledge and analytical skills, they learn to examine art across time and space in historical and cultural contexts. To cap off their undergraduate program, the ‘Art and the City’ fieldwork unit takes students from the classroom to one of the world’s most exhilarating cultural hubs, such as Berlin or Paris, as they approach graduation.
The group of Art History students at Versailles.
This unit has been incredibly rewarding, offering a real-world experience of art history. The exposure to really varying sites gave an indication of what a career in art history could be.
This year we ran the fieldwork unit as a Summer School Intensive during the European winter to elude the influx of visitors and the logistics of the Olympics. The strategic timing allowed our students to enjoy the city’s unparalleled history of architecture and public space, and its galleries, monuments, and artworks without any distractions—all while earning academic credit.
The journey into the cultural heart of the metropolis was led by Professor Mark Ledbury, Power Professor of Art History and specialist in the art of Early Modern Europe, and Dr Victoria Souliman from the discipline of French and Francophone Studies, an expert in twentieth century and contemporary art.
A Parisian blockbuster program
The program took our students to world-famous museums, galleries, historic sites, and neighbourhoods. Over 20 stops formed the fieldwork itinerary but there was also time to discover hidden gems and socialise in the city’s trendy bars and restaurants.
Upon arrival, Paris welcomed our aspiring art historians with glorious winter sun. A visit to the Louvre kicked off the immersive program. The group marvelled over the museum’s extraordinary architectural and cultural riches such as the Raft of the Medusa, the Marie de’ Medici cycle, and Rembrandt masterpieces.
I loved seeing artworks up-close and learning on the field was important for my education in art history. The assessments pushed me to focus and get the most out of the trip. Professor Ledbury and Dr Souliman are incredible, knowledgeable, kind educators who care deeply about each student's education.”
To discuss the development of the city’s neighbourhoods and its great urban squares, the students walked through the vibrant Marais district and the Place des Vosges. They gained further insights at the recently renovated Musée Carnavalet, the museum dedicated to the city history of Paris.
Star attractions and hidden gems
The students admired the greatest collection of impressionist and non-impressionist paintings of the world at the Musée d’Orsay which houses works by Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh to name a few. Among the other highlights were the Sainte Chapelle, the Cluny Museum with its medieval treasures, and the Musée de l’Orangerie, home to an impressive ensemble of Monet paintings..
With over 140 museums, the city can overwhelm even the most experienced art historians but Dr Souliman’s Parisian know-how helped uncover some of its best-kept secrets: the Petit Palais, Musée Montmartre, and the Gustave Moreau Museum. Dr Souliman also guided the group through the Opera Garnier to study one of France’s most opulent monuments.
I have enjoyed the deeply communal aspect of this overseas intensive, and the opportunity to be part of a learning group. Additionally the actual access to incredible resources during the trip has been unlike anything I could experience on-campus and I have cherished that experience.
Modern and contemporary art and architecture were in focus at the Bourse de Commerce, Centre Pompidou, and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, where Dufy’s enormous fresco La Fee electricite and Matisse’s mural designs captivated our students. At the Fondation Louis Vuitton, our students engaged with Frank Gehry’s architecture and Rothko’s paintings.
Bringing knowledge to life
Our students unpacked their observations in the seminar rooms of the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art. In engaging group presentations, they showed off their visual art expertise by linking sites and objects they’d seen with larger themes in art history. Throughout the trip, the students chronicled their journey in a reflective journal. They also created a monument video commentary to demonstrate their knowledge.
Beyond Paris
There were also excursion days to see the region’s historic marvels beyond the city limits of Paris. The group inspected the Basilica Saint-Denis in its gothic glory and the Musée Conde at Chantilly to study some of the iconic works by Poussin, Ingres and Raphael. In the Chateau de Versailles, the group wandered the extravagant Palace of the Bourbons and explored the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s hameau. On Sunday the students roamed the city on their own to discover other delights Paris had to offer.
This was an exceptional opportunity and absolutely crucial for my degree.
A visit to the Catacombs, Paris’s most ‘underground’ attraction, marked the journey’s end. The group ventured through quarry tunnels filled with bones from local cemeteries whose insalubrity had endangered the health of the city’s population in the eighteenth century. In the evening, our students delivered thought-provoking presentations and impressed their educators by responding to the assessment’s challenges with imagination. An exquisite French farewell dinner concluded the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“The friendships formed during this unit created an atmosphere of excitement and intrigue into Paris and French art. I am grateful for this trip and the opportunities to explore the city with an incredible group and fantastic teaching team.”
The Art and the City: Fieldwork Unit is offered through the Discipline of Art History. and was generously assisted by student travel scholarships from the Frank McDonald Memorial Fund. This scholarship supports student access and inclusive educational opportunities.
*Featured quotes taken from the ARHT3681 unit of study survey by students for the Summer Intensive 2024 period.
This article is based on a feature written by Professor Mark Ledbury and Dr Victoria Souliman for Art History's GLAM blog.