Today, I went to Te
Papa to see the Monet
and the Impressionists exhibit. It was our first time
driving in Wellington, nerves were frayed but we were pleasantly
surprised as Te Papa was well sign posted on the motorway.
Parking too, was easy, straight off the road and into the parking area. The spaces were a tad narrow so it might pay to be careful if you have a large car or van. And while it was $3.50 an hour, considering you are right there, I think that?s a reasonable price.
It was donation entry to Te Papa itself which makes it a great day out if you want something to do. It is just the temporary exhibits that cost. Like Monet which was $15 each adult.
It was a real shame that Te Papa was let down by the Customer Service at the event. The rude and abrupt desk clerks made it difficult for myself and some of the other tourists behind me to feel the love. As there was a sign saying that it was against the rules to sketch the paintings, I showed my pen and paper and asked if it was alright to make notes when I checked my bag. Upon bland and bored reassurances we headed into the exhibit.
The paintings were well laid out. The exhibit was about Monet
and his influences etc and I felt that the curator had done
a wonderful job. Juxtaposition of Morning on the Seine, near
Giverny (me and my companions favourite piece), next to Grainstack
(sunset) with its much stronger colours was an excellent idea.
And again with Renoir?s Woman with a parasol and small child
on a sunlit hillside and Monet?s Camille Monet and a child
in the artists garden in Argenteuil showing the noticeable
influence and resulting in a wonderful conversation with complete
strangers on contrasts and comparisons. It was obvious that
quite a bit of thought went into placement rather than just ?That
one will fill up this space here?.
It was while I was talking to my friend at Poplars at Giverny that another member of Te Papa?s delightful staff came over and informed me that they didn?t allow pens. Remember when I checked? No one had mentioned that and I had shown Bored Desk Clerk the pen I was holding. Staff #2 hurried off to get me a pencil, however didn?t bother taking my pen so I felt that kind of defeated the purpose. If I was planning on defacing Te Papa with my scrawl, I now had both Pen and Pencil with which to do so. And it made it more awkward to carry both for the rest of the exhibit.
I was a bit disappointed that there was only one of the Haystacks series so the progression of light that Monet was so famous for couldn?t be clearly seen. However since the works are on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston I guess that they could only take what was available.
After leaving Monet we had a cup of coffee at the exhibits caf? - $4 for orange juice out of a plastic bottle annoyed me, though it wasn?t a surprise. Then we decided we would take the time to see the Giant Squid that Te Papa was advertising.
It was a big squid. There?s not much else to say,. Pretty big though as I am no Squidologist I couldn?t tell you how much bigger that the average. There was no regular sized squid to do an evaluation against.
All in all it was a great day out though the rudeness of the staff was a surprise. I would?ve said that they must have had a long day however it was only 11 am on the third day of a four day week. Just going to see Monet?s works made the entry fee worth it though. To see Renoir?s and C?zanne?s at the same time was icing.
Grainstack (sunset) 1891, Claude Monet. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection. Photograph © MFA, Boston
Woman with a parasol and small child on a sunlit hillside c.1874-76, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: bequest of John T. Spaulding. Photograph © MFA, Boston
