L'Atelier des Lumières: Van Gogh Starry Night Exhibit

Recently, I wrote about my experience visiting the Louvre museum. After writing my review on a more well-known museum, I thought I would take the time to review a slightly less well-known museum that I recently visited.

Located in Paris, the Van Gogh Starry Night exhibit at the L'Atelier des Lumières offers an experience that is a lot different than the typical art museum. Before I went to this exhibit, the only thing that I knew about it was that it was a light show featuring Van Gogh's paintings. As a fan of Van Gogh and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, I decided to give it a go.

Tickets are 14,50€ for adults or 11,50€ for students. Just like for the Louvre, I recommend buying your tickets online before you visit so you are guaranteed an entry and you do not have to wait in line at the museum.  

The exhibit itself is one large room with columns and walls in the middle. Unlike ordinary art museums, visitors do not walk around looking at each individual painting. Instead, visitors are presented with a multi-sensory show. Images from Van Gogh's most popular works including The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, Starry Night, and Bedroom at Arles are projected onto the walls, ceiling, and floor and are animated to music. 

When I arrived, I was confused as to what I was supposed to do: was I supposed to walk around the whole room during the show, or simply sit in one place and watch? I came to the conclusion that there was no right way to go about this exhibit. I ended up exploring the space and then finding a seat to sit and watch Van Gogh's art come to life in the room. 

There are three shows in total that each run around 10 minutes on a loop, so if you miss one of them you don't have to wait long to see it again. There are also other artists represented including famous Japanese artist Hokusai.

My favorite part about this exhibit was watching all of the children interact with the art. When Hokusai's painting Wave came to life and the fish were jumping out of the water, the kids watching would run up to the wall to try to grab the fish and run along the floor to follow their path as they swam.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Van Gogh Starry Night exhibit because it presented art in a unique way by giving movement to typically stationary art and it was truly engaging for all ages. 

The exhibition runs through December 2019. However, the museum space has rotating exhibits so whatever artist is represented next will surely be a memorable experience as well.