Musee Fragonard, Alfort, Paris

In 2008 I attended the International Conference on Anatomical Models at the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden, The Netherlands and had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Christophe Degueurce speak about the newly renovated Musee Fragonard. As curator of the museum and a veterinary anatomist he walked us through the history of this amazing and unique collection. Since that day I have wanted to visit this  museum. I was especially fascinated by the ecorches prepared by Dr. Honore Fragonard (cousin of the 18th century Rococo painter Jean-Honore Fragonard, both born in 1732) that have lasted over 200 years.

Last week, while visiting Paris, I traveled to Alfort, in the suburbs of Paris, and found the Musee Fragonard on the campus of the National Veterinary School at Alfort, the most renown veterinary school in France. The museum has three sections, one devoted to comparative anatomy, another to skeletons and skeletal pathologies, and the third is the newly renovated room devoted to Fragonard's ecorches. Dr. Degueurce very graciously met my family and I in the museum and toured us through this fascinating collection.

The museum is in many ways a cabinet of curiosities from the Age of Enlightenment. I strongly recommend a visit this to this fascinating collection.



Comparative anatomy room featuring painted plaster model of superficial fascia of the horse. Model by Jacques-Nicolas Brunot, 1830.



Painted plaster models of pig forelimb.



Elephant skeletons.



More painted plaster anatomical models.



"Horseman" prepared by Dr. Honore Fragonard in 1794.



Dr. Degueurce with my daughter Lily and his new book "Fragonard Museum, The Ecorches".

Dr. Degueurce just published a book about the museum called "Fragonard Museum, The Ecorches". The english version was published by Blast Books and it wonderful! There is alot of good infomration in this book about the history of anatomy, veterinary medicine and of course Dr. Fragonard.

Claude Monet's home and gardens at Giverny, France

I have been to Giverny in the past., but never in the spring. We arrived by train at 9:30am on a glorious, sunny day. We were among the first to arrive in the gardens when it opened at 10:00am. The house, which is light pink with Kelly green trim was surrounded by bed of tulips, pansies, daffodils and hyacinth. There were spectacular lilacs, cherry and apple trees and of course lavender colored wisteria covering the Japanese bridge.

The color combinations were like paintings themselves. This garden was not designed as a formal French one but as if the flowers were brushstrokes.

Monet's home at Giverny, where he lived for 40 years.


Monet's home from the water garden.


Wisteria on the Japanese bridge.


The Japanese bridge in Monet 's water garden.


Beds of tulips in Monet's garden


All photos by Marie Dauenheimer.

I will be adding to this blog when I get home. I will also be discussing travel to Giverny and tips on sketching in the gardens.

Location:Rue Le Regrattier,Paris,France

Gardens in Paris

Since we arrived in Paris we have enjoyed the spectacular gardens, I don't usually post about gardens, but these French style gardens are works of art. On our first day in Paris we visited the Jardin Des Plantes. We were greeted by colorful beds of Icelandic poppies in yellow, oranges and reds.

Poppies at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris.








On Sunday we traveled to Versailles. The gardens were at the height of their beauty! Accompanied by the fountain displays and classical music - it was a dazzling site.

Beds of tulips at Versailles.








Yesterday while visiting the Musee Rodin, we were greeted by the scent of French lilacs. We were surrounded by them as we sketched in the sculpture garden.

French lilacs blooming at Musee Rodin.







View of Musee Rodin from the gardens.





Peonies blooming at Musee Rodin. All photos by Marie Dauenheimer



Yesterday afternoon we had the true pleasure of visiting the unique Musee Fragonard. We toured the collection with veterinary anatomist and curator Professor Chistophe Degueurce. I plan on blogging about the museum and Professor Degueurce's new book "Fragonard Museum, the Eroches, the Anatomical Masterworks of Honore Fragonard.

Location:Rue Le Regrattier,Paris,France

Gallery of Comparative Anatomy in Paris

Today I spent some time at the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy in Paris. This wonderful collection of skeletons is part of the Jardin des Plantes. This complex includes a natural history museum, zoo, botanic gardens, comparative anatomy and paleontology museum. This photo shows an image that has haunted me for years! The hall is filled with the most amazing collection of animal skeletons, sculptures and wet specimens. All are led by a beautiful human eroche.











Gallery of skeletons. photo by Marie Dauenheimer.
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Whale skeletons. Photo by Marie Dauenheimer.

Location:Rue Le Regrattier,Paris,France

Gallery of Comparative Anatomy in Paris

Today I spent some time at the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy in Paris. This wonderful collection of skeletons is part of the Jardin des Plantes. This complex includes a natural history museum, zoo, botanic gardens, comparative anatomy and paleontology museum. This photo shows an image that has haunted me for years! The hall is filled with the most amazing collection of animal skeletons, sculptures and wet specimens. All are led by a beautiful human eroche.






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Location:Rue Le Regrattier,Paris,France

"Anatomy/Academy" exhibition at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

On Sunday I went to Philadelphia to see an exhibition called "Anatomy/Academy, Philadelphia Nexus of Art and Science". The exhibition was at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PaFa). PaFa is the first art school and museum in the US, founded in 1805 by several artists including Charles Willson Peale, and sculptor William Rush. Past students include luminaries such as Thomas Eakins (who was also an influential teacher), Mary Cassatt, Maxfield Parrish, Cecilia Beaux and John Sloan.



Interior view of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

The exhibition "Anatomy /Academy" includes an eclectic collection of works by many artists including Thomas Eakins. One of the exhibition highlights is Eakins' brilliant masterpiece the "Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross" also know as the "Gross Clinic". Thomas Eakins dissection drawings of horses, cats, dogs and humans are including along with his notes such as one critiquing "Gray's Anatomy"'s depiction of the teres major muscle. A series of casts made from the cadaver of a young, muscular man who died suddenly are also on view.



"Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross" by Thomas Eakins, 1875.

Among the highlights for me was a series of large painted wooden sculptures by William Rush created for the famous anatomist Dr. Caspar Wistar to use for teaching. My favorite was a enormous sphenoid bone that looks like a modern sculpture. The sphenoid bone, is a cranial bone shaped like a butterfly, and is among my favorite bones.



Sphenoid bone sculpture by William Rush, wood and paint, 1808.

There is a companion exhibition to "Anatomy/Academy" also at PaFa and it is called "Anatomy Now". This exhibition includes works by modern artists who include or react to anatomy in some way. Featured in this show were works by Phillip Pearlstein, Patricia Traub, Michael Grimaldi and Roberto Osti.



Roberto Osti's drawing from the "Anatomy Now" exhibit.

Both these exhibits close on April 17, 2011.

Open Life Drawing Sessions at the Art Institute of Washington

Open life drawings sessions at the Art Institute of Washington have started up again. On Thursday we had a wonderful model and a good group of artists, faculty and students drawing together. Here are a few pieces created during the session.



Charcoal study by Web Bryant.



Figure study by Kevynn Joseph.



Pencil sketch by Marie Dauenheimer.

The open sessions are every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6:00PM-9:00PM. Please email for more details. dauenheimer@erols.com

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Location:Bluemont Way,Reston,United States

"Anatomy of the Torso" Workshop with Robert Liberace

Last week I took a three day workshop on the "Anatomy of the Torso" with Instructor Robert Liberace. This artistic anatomy course, held at the Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, seamlessly integrated musculoskeletal anatomy with drawing from the life model. Liberace started with a review of the importance of bony landmarks in figure drawing. He also established areas of origin and insertions for the first group of muscles we would review. The muscles were located on the model and we encouraged to draw the model with the muscles ghosted in.

Each day of the workshop involved a review of a new group of muscles, functional anatomy and the opportunity to do a sustained study from the life model. The poses the model took were dynamic and highlighted the musculature.



Demo drawing by Robert Liberace showing bony landmarks on torso.



Demo drawing by Robert Liberace showing location of clavicle, sternum, costal cartilages and ribs.



Demo drawing by Robert Liberace showing some superficial muscles of the torso including infraspinatus, teres major, external oblique and rectus abdominus.



One of my charcoal drawings highlighting muscles of the torso.



Another one of my charcoal studies highlighting muscles of the back.