Thousands of art lovers queued for hours in freezing temperatures over the weekend for a final look at a major Claude Monet retrospective in Paris. The Grand Palais opened round the clock to cope with the demand to see nearly 200 works by the 19th century French Impressionist. Film star Jodie Foster was among those to visit the exhibition before it closes on Monday evening. It is the biggest retrospective on Monet in decades.
“I came all the way here [to Paris] to work and then I got sidetracked and decided to go see the Monet,” Foster told Reuters. Jean-Paul Cluzel, chairman of the Grand Palais, said the museum had decided to keep its doors open continuously from Friday to cope with the record number of visitors. Nearly one million people have attended since the exhibition opened in late September.
“The three nights add up to 40,000 more visitors,” Mr Cluzel said. “There is a special experience, a special feeling when you visit such an exhibition by night,” he added. Staff from the museum brought hot drinks and slices of cake through the night for the crowds as some queued for up to five hours to see the exhibition. The Monet retrospective is the first devoted to the artist since 1980 and features exclusive loans from countries all over the world including Australia, Brazil, USA, the Netherlands, and Russia.
