I went to the Pantheon in Paris in the spring of 2025. I had no idea what to expect beyond there were certain famous french people entombed there. What I found was an amazing architectural space with huge paintings depicting the lives of many of France’s most famous founders, saints and martyrs, monumental sculptures depicting moments from French history and the tombs of some of the greats like Rousseau and Voltaire. going solo allowed me to soak in the space, the art and the history without time constraints.
All of it was a new discovery but one element took me completely by surprise and that was an exhibition by Anselm Keifer, the illustrious German artist. I have been aware of his work most of my adult life but had probably only seen one or two of his massive paintings in the flesh.
The exhibition is six large see-through steel and glass boxes known as vitrines in the middle of the Pantheon space. They seem invisible at first since you could see through them and the color scheme throughout the pieces was somewhat muted and not in high contrast to the surroundings. However, once I started to look at them I was mesmerized. He’s known as an artist who taps into history, especially German history of the World War Two era. His images are evocative and hint at the catastrophes of that era.
But these images were not about World War Two, instead they referenced World War One. In many ways, it had an even more profound effect on all of Europe than its successor because the needless and horrendous wasteful slaughter and the profound changes societally and politically that happened as a result. These are the things he was addressing in these images along with memory and hope.
The Women of 14 – The Men of 14 – Anselm Kieffer, 2020
The Women of 14 – The Men of 14 – Anselm Kieffer – detail, 2020
What Are We? – Anselm Kieffer, 2020
What Are We? (detail) – Anselm Kieffer – detail, 2020
Poppies and Memories – Anselm Kieffer, 2020
Poppies and Memories (detail) – Anselm Kieffer – detail, 2020
What I love most about these is because of their transparency in the larger setting of the Pantheon you see not just the powerful and creative WW1 story you also see French history, architecture, and culture within, behind, around and reflected in the image, giving it a much more profound story telling power. They are some of the most effective art pieces I have ever seen.
I like my large sketchbook because the paper is very high quality and takes the ink very well. I got it at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas a couple of years back. While in France this one came out most mornings at breakfast and a few other times when I was alone and/or had plenty of time.
En Attente de Voler Vers la France
I loved this scene because of the juxtaposition between partners. One in a tshirt and shorts, the other in a big puffy winter coat. We all do what we need to do when we fly, right?
En Attendant le Train à Grande Vityesse
We had a long layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport before our bullet train to the Loire Valley. This young woman was also waiting so I took the opportunity to draw her. The space was beautiful, all windows, giant beams and guide wires supporting the roof while in the foreground there was a huge plant taking up the entire left side of my field of vision. It made for a very active background and foreground.
Petit-déjeuner à AmboisePetit-dejeuner à VersaillesHommes d’affaires au petit-déjeunerEmployé d’hôtel à Caen
Every morning I got up early and either went for a run or sat and drew during breakfast or in the lobby. Most days there was someone in the restaurant to draw but one morning there was no one so I went into the lounge and drew the hotel employee behind the desk, which also was a coffee bar.
Dejeuner au café ‘Hoct and Loct’ à Paris
My Brother-in-law Steve and I were on our own after returning the rental car so we took a stroll around Paris. We found a great little cafe for lunch and I was thinking I wish I was alone so I could just sit and draw for as long as I wanted when something surprising occurred. Steve brought out a small sketchbook and said, ‘Marty, teach me to draw.’ He had bought a sketchbook and pencils just to take on the trip. So I gave him some pointers, mostly just about not trying to worry about accuracy and not trying to make it look like a photograph and off we went. We probably spent an hour just eating our lunch and drawing and it was a lot of fun! He did really well and it made my day that he made the effort to connect with me in that way on vacation.
Le Pendule de Foucault avec le Monument à Diderot en Arriére-plan
The next day I was on my own in Paris. I was planning to go see the David Hockney exhibition at the Foundation Louis Vuitton but it was sold out so I pivoted to the Pantheon. I wanted all of us to go but I couldn’t convince the others it was worth it so I went solo. It was worth it. An AMAZING space with incredible history, paintings and sculptures. I will post more about it in the future when I continue my ‘Art I Love’ series. While I was there I spent a substantial amount of time doing this drawing. It’s hard to draw a pendulum because it is always moving but besides that it’s pretty much invisible. You have to draw the background to give it some space in which to live. I was able to find a bench facing the monument to Diderot so that became my background so to speak.
While I was drawing I saw a young girl sort of hovering around me. She was obviously watching me draw but was too shy to come up and talk to me. Eventually her mother came alongside her and they moved forward just a bit. I stopped drawing and gestured for them to come over. They were from England and I was able to speak to them. I showed her the drawing, explained to her what I was working on in the drawing and why. I told the young girl she could do the same thing with practice. The mother asked if it was possible to see the other drawing in the sketchbook so I turned a number of pages and showed them the completed drawings from days earlier and some I had done back home. They were very appreciative and left feeling like they had seen a genuine Parisian moment of an artist drawing, even if I wasn’t French!
Melanie à Hôtel Demeure, Paris
The last day we were in Paris there was no one yet in the breakfast area of the hotel so I meandered over to the front desk area and asked the clerk, Melanie, if I could draw her. She was amenable. We had a nice time talking about Paris and I was happy to get one final drawing in before we left for the states.
On this trip I took two sketchbooks to France, one small, one large.
I brought out the small sketchbook for when I felt like I had just a few moments to draw or I had limited room, like on the airplane. Here are the drawings from that sketchbook with any photos I took of the scene I was drawing.
Small Sketchbook
à l’extérieur du Café du Château, Amboise, France
We flew into Paris but immediately took a train down to the Loire Valley to meet Linda’s sister and brother-in-law. While we waited for our dinner reservations I drew this scene at a nearby café.
Le Paon Blanc au Jardin de Leonardo da Vinci, France
I know this is a pretty pathetic drawing of a peacock but you try drawing a moving bird!
Petit Déjeuner à l’hôtel à Caen
Each morning I tried to get in either a run or a drawing. Our hotels weren’t in urban areas until we were in Paris so I didn’t find little cafes to go and sit at. But each hotel had a breakfast (petit-dejeuner) area so I settled in and drew there.
Concert à Notre Dame
We got tickets to go to a concert in Notre Dame the first evening we were in Paris. It was a selection of sacred music, mostly about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before it started I drew the scene, including the very large head of a man right in front of me.
Constance en Cour de la Maison de Delacroix
I had a whole day to myself while in Paris. I went to the Pantheon (see the ‘large drawings’ for a drawing I did there) and then to the Delacroix Museum. It is a very small museum located in an apartment he lived in at one point. I thought I was exiting when I discovered I was being led to a beautiful courtyard garden. While I was in the courtyard I noticed a young woman reading. I decided to draw her and luckily she stayed for quite a long time. When I was done I showed the drawing to her and she was very happy about it. It turns out that her name is Constance, which is also the name of one of my daughters. We had a nice conversation about art, books and Paris before I left.
Un Femme de Profil en Paris
As much as Paris is fantastic one thing my wife found was that the tea left something to be desired. So that meant she was very excited to see a Starbucks and went in to get her favorite Matcha tea. I stayed outside and drew this woman who was beside me. She seemed to also be waiting for someone.
Jeune Femme Assise au Mussée du Louvre
Going to the Louvre is always an adventure. So many people, so many ways to get lost in the crowd. I was waiting for my compatriots to come back from the bathrooms and saw this young woman sitting all by herself, deep into her phone with her hair obscuring almost all of her face. I knew I would have to work fast so I did a minimalist portrait that I think captures her perfectly.
Le Coureur Avant la Course en Paris
While up early drinking coffee downstair in the hotel I met a couple from Iowa. They were both dressed as runners so I struck up a conversation with them as they were ready to head out for their first run in Paris. I saw them the next morning as well but both mornings I either didn’t run or ran earlier. It would have been fun to run with them. I drew the woman of the couple as she sat drinking her coffee before the run.
Julie Dans l’avion Pour Londres
We met this woman, Julie, and her family as we were headed home. We had a change over in London and met them at the British Air desk before we checked in. They went on their way and we thought we were about to do the same but there was a hiccup. My ticket had me as ‘Marty’ but my passport had me as ‘Martin’. They would not allow me to board with that egregious infraction, even though I had already made it to Europe, so I had to spend and hour and a half with reps from BA and American Airlines to hassle it out. It took quite a while but it was resolved and we ended up just one seat back from Julie and her family. I drew her as she watched a movie.
Ana Endormie au Dessus de l’océan
Our second leg of the trip home had me in a middle seat. A young woman, Ana, with a healthy bit of sun on her cheeks sat down next to me. We talked for quite a while about her student trip to Greece and our vacation. Because she was right next to me I wasn’t thinking I would draw her but when she nested with a blanket, ear buds, a neck pillow AND a sleep mask I felt like I could safely draw her without bothering anyone.
I only did two drawings in color. Both were started by referencing photos I took and were not drawn live.
Une Femme Dans la Boutique de Souvenirs à Versailles
This drawing started from a photograph I took in the souvenir shop at Versailles. I happen to catch this woman in passing and liked the splash of red on her lips. Later that night in my hotel room I drew and colored her. It was the only time I brought out my markers on the trip. Next time I would leave them at home.
Protéger l’investissement
This was another started from a photo. This person I photographed on purpose because of how quintessentially Parisian she looked while browsing in the Louvre bookstore. She had something in her hand that I could not discern so I turned it into an umbrella. The angle of it made me think about her protecting her purchase so that’s the direction I went.
In May of 2025 we spent 10 days traveling around France. We We met up with Linda’s sister and brother-in-law in the town of Amboise in the Loire Valley, drove through Caen, Bayeaux, and Giverny in the Normandy region, then on to Versailles and Paris.
In past travels I carried a DSLR camera but this time I used my iphone exclusively. Sometimes I wished I had a full camera but on balance I felt I got most everything I wanted without the hassle. All the images here were converted to BW from color. The color added a lot to some of the images but overall I like the mood and feel the BW images give so decided to be uniform in imagery.
I have been scanning my sketchbooks of the past 54 years. Some were line drawings I knew I wanted to paint but never got around to them. This is especially true of a large black sketchbook I drew in from 2008-2010.
Here is a selection of the drawings from that sketchbook that I painted this year, 15+ years later.
