The installation Poetry and the Arts has been directly derived from a course taught in the museum this past semester by Professor Rentzou in the Department of French and Italian, exploring the connections between modern French poetry and the visual arts in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Organized by the students as part of the course, the installation presents poetry in both French and English with selected art works divided into two sections: one inspired by Baudelaire’s prose poem “Les Foules” to examine his poetic fascination with the Parisian crowd through prints and drawings; and the other to explore the conception that lines are a basic component of both poetry and the visual arts, as illustrated in increasingly abstract representations of the female nude, paired with lines of modernist poetry.
Poetry and the Arts was organized by the students of Poetry and the Arts (French 373), taught in the Princeton University Art Museum by Professor Effie Rentzou in the Department of French and Italian, spring semester, 2014.
The newly refurbished Works on Paper Study Room is located on level 2, via the Museum's main elevator.
