The Barnes Foundation

On October 15th, we visited an art Museum in Philadelphia centre called the Barnes Foundation. This museum is located not too far from the Museum of Art, more exactly on the Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It was designed by two architects named  Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

It’s an exceptional collection put together by an art lover who bought numerous impressionist and post impressionist works (Renoir, Cezanne..). This museum countains different works by many  classical or modern artists, like Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin ect…

In addition to the works, there were also collections of furniture and jewels.

The Museum gave us audio headsets to have more information about some paintings of the collection.  In each room, there was also the presence of small books which listed the different paintings.

I think it was very interesting, I loved this Museum! The given information was very clear and structured. It was impressive because this art lover owned a  big collection which is displayedon three floors!

Lauret Estelle

Grynberg Clara

 The Philadelphia Fine Arts Museum/ Thomas Eakins

On Thursday, the 15th, we had a cultural visit of different museums in Philly.

At first, we went to the Fine Arts Museum situated on Broad Street in Philadelphia next to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in downtown Philadelphia. This museum offers a vast collection of American Art.

All of us took part in a guided tour and saw many interesting works including Thomas Eakins’ ones, the Staircase Group by Charles Willson Peal and also some modern paintings such as Picasso’s ones.

Thomas Earkins is Philadelphia’s greatest painter of the 19th century. This man is connected with FCS because his father was a calligraphy teacher and his wife was a student of the school. He resolved to paint contempory American life.

He used to study anatomy in Paris in the Beaux Arts, and was interested in surgery. He realised two big epic paintings dedicated to American science.

This painting represents a surgical operation on a young man. The doctors operating on the patient are dressed with street clothes because of the bad hygiene ( they weren’t aware of bacterias and bad germs at that time ). The chief surgeon is Doctor Gross, who studied at the Philaldephia University.

This second painting also shows a surgical operation when doctors are taking off a woman’s breast. Doctor Agnew supervises the operation and explains some facts about surgery to his students. Thomas Earkins includes himself in his painting. The scene takes place in the center of Pennsylvania.

We can notice that surgeons are wearing surgical crubs, progress has been made during Thomas Eakins’s period.

Marie-Line Younes and Maya Rachail

At the Rodin Museum

Maya Rachail

Philadelphia Fine Arts Museum

 Philadelphia Fine Arts Museum

Part II

Maya Rachail

MEETING FOR WORSHIP 14/10

Wed. 14/10


     The meeting for Worship*  took pace in the amphitheater in Shallcross Hall at 9:50, we were all looking forward to that moment we had never seen before but to be honest we were also kind of nervous because it was all new for us.

When we got into the room, everyone was remaining quiet which created a really special atmosphere in this huge room.

    The 10th and the 11th graders, the teachers and the principal (and obviously us)  were gathered there. 

All our partner told us to be quiet and we stayed with our French friends to make that moment funnier so they stayed with their friends too.

The most disturbing thing was that we never knew when it was starting.  But about 10 minutes later, a student stood up and talked about baseball, 4 students took the floor after him about different subjects (the stress for applying to college, the accomplishment of our goals in life, the real meaning of Colombus Day, and the fact of being humble).

    We thought that it was very brave to speak to a crowd of people about your feelings, otherwise it made us feel really uncomfortable to be silent during 40 minutes with so many people around us.

Nevertheless, we were more open-minded after that experience, it made us understand  Quaker values a bit more.

     *"Worship" means practicing a religion, Friend's Central school is a Quaker school so they have this weekly event which is on Wednesday. This meeting doesn't take place in a church or a religious building, no one prays. That moment is dedicated to the students who can express themselves (they talk about their feelings, something that makes them happy or philosophical thoughts)

<- Quaker symbol.

This is Friends' Central School seal.

They all have a meaning:

- The scale: equality and justice
- The dove and the olive branch:  peace
 -  The shaking hands : fraternity,                                                                    brotherhood, and friendship

Impressions  of Philadelphia: Landmarks and Architecture

Inside this city we were impressed by the number of traffic lights and clusters of tower blocks and skyscrapers. Outside the city, in the suburban areas, we find clusters of individual houses and each neighborhood has the same style but there aren’t any skyscrapers.

In the city center of Philly,  the old and modern styles of architecture  are mixed in perfect harmony. Some museums and art buildings belong to the neo-classical style.

The city between the two rivers took its  inspiration from the European style like:

‘L’église de la Madeleine dans Paris’ = ‘Museum of Art’

Benjamin Franklin Parkway was built by the same method that Napoleon used to remake the Paris boulevard plan in the 19th century.

The city is split into different parts, including the Historical Center, the Civic Center, the Central Business District and other neighborhoods like Chinatown where we find Asian food. 

Tuesday, October 13th

 National Constitution Center

We visited the National Constitution Center and went to the City Hall; both places are in the city center of Philadelphia .

The National Constitution Center is an institution which gives us information and explanations about the United States Constitution; it is also a way to teach American citizens more about the Constitution, the birth of the U.S and the historic circumstances of its birth. It opened on the  4th of July  2003, on the national holiday so there is a real relation between this place and the early stages of U.S history.

City Hall

City Hall is located in the center of Philly; it was built between 1871 and 1901 and was the tallest building in all Pennsylvania until 1932, and until 1987 in Philly because there was an unofficial law which said that you couldn’t build a taller building than City Hall. Now it is the 16th highest building in Philly. At the top, there is a  bronze statue of William Penn who was the founder of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia; it is the biggest statue atop any building in the world : it is 11,3 m (37 ft.) and it weighs 27 tons.


 OUTSIDE CITY HALL

INSIDE CITY HALL












Gaëtan DAVEAU Guillaume CRITTOGAMO