MARAIS-3RD ARR-THE PICASSO MUSEUM
Jack
My Paris and Provence posts are visible on
http://home.earthlink.net/~primos
MARAIS-3RD ARR--THE PICASSO MUSEUM
A dark, narrow alley leads to a little garden, or better said a
fountain...without light, without air, a pestiferous receptacle for
the dirt that falls down from the first floor...." That's the way the
French writer Eugene Sue (1804-1857) described the rue du Temple 17
during the renovation of this area. Our walk starts here (a side
street of the rue de Rivoli, near the BHV department store). The rue
du Temple is one of the oldest of the area, noticeable by its narrow,
surelevated houses, mainly with jewellers and trinket shops. At the
right you will see the HOTEL DE SOUBISE, where the state archives are
stored. Unfortunately you cannot visit them but you can admire a few
exemplars in the MUSEE DE L'HISTOIRE DE FRANCE, rue des Francs
Bourgeois. We make a left at the rue Rambuteau and a right in the rue
des Quatre Fils and we arrive at the HOTEL DE ROHAN, built in 1708 for
Armand de Rohan, bishop of Strasbourg at 87, rue Vieille du Temple.
Last time I went there it was closed for renovations but it should be
open again. Maybe you can now admire the "sun rose" by Le Lorrain,
sculpted with finesse and delicacy. The apartments are only visible
during temporary exhibitions. At the right, on the rue de la Perle
no.1, the "MUSEE DE LA SERRURE" (Lock museum). The key manufacturer
Bricard organized this small private museum in the hotel Liberal
Bruant (1685). On display, keys and locks from the Gallo-Roman times
until the 19th century, with a few items from the royal house.
We continue and make a left into the rue de Thorigny. We arrive at a
very important and beautiful museum, the MUSEE PICASSO, at the left
side, located in a superb hotel de maitre, the hotel "Sale". It was
built in the 17th century for a " tax collector on salt" (gabelle in
old French), Robert de Fontenay. The fortune he made like that (today
he would be sentenced to jail for practises like that!) Salt, meaning
"sel" in French, you can guess where the name of "l'hotel Sale" came
from. The facade on the courtyard is not very decorated but inside a
magnificent interior stairway, enhanced with "ignudi" (antique busts)
and a lot of sculptures. The museum, besides being an ideal setting
for Picasso's works, presents a perfect retrospective of his life
production, not with minor works but with master pieces forming a
world unique ensemble, because it covers, from 1905 until 1973, the
whole production of Picasso. It's after his death in 1973 that about
200 paintings, 160 sculptures, 80 ceramics and 3000 drawings and
sculptures were given to the French state as succession duties
(inheritance taxes)
The exhibition halls, very well lit, are easy to walk and you are
constantly informed by concise and understandable (!!) information
panels. The presentation of the collection is chronological, beginning
with the "blue" period, the "pink" period and studies for the
"Demoiselles d'Avignon". Now come the most representative works of the
cubist period. Picasso, arriving from Barcelona without a penny in his
pocket, finally stranding at the Bateau Lavoir, living a poor mans
life, passing a lot of time in cafes with his painter companions and
suddenly revelation of cubism. Cubist masterworks as "l'Homme a la
guitare", "Nature morte a la chaise cannee" were created.
The displayed works continue in the same chronological order with
other remarkable pieces like the plastic "Woman with the
baby-carriage" and absolute top works like "L'Homme a la Pipe", "Le
peintre et son modele", " Portrait d'Olga". Other works to see on the
first floor: "the "Pan Flute" (1923) and the "Kiss" (1925) which
violent character reflects a crisis period the artist had at that
time.
During your itinerary continues you will notice the incredible number
of extra-marital adventures this man had and how it affected his
paintings. New forms, from the cubist to the neo-classic period,
baroque (see the heavy nudes) to surrealism.
Don't forget to visit also Picasso's private collection of other
painters: Chardin, Cezanne, Matisse, Derain, Rousseau, and Renoir
(those seem to have influenced him most of all)
Bibliography:
--Vie et histoire des arrondissements de Paris, ed.Hervas
(1985-1988--Nouvelle Histoire de Paris, ed.Hachette--Le Pieton de
Paris, by L.P.Fargue, ed.Gallimard 1997--Histoire et dictionnaire de
Paris, by A.Fierro, ed.Laffont, 1996--Dictionnaire historique des rues
de Paris, by J.Hillairet, ed.Minuit--Dictionnaire des monuments de
Paris, by J.Colson and M.C.Lauroa,ed.Hervas 1992--Guide du Routard
1998-1999 (Ed.Hachette)--Paris, 2000 d'histoire, by J.Favier,
ed.Fayard 1997--Naissance de Paris, by M.Fleury, ed.Imprimerie
Nationale 1997--Paris 19eme siecle, l'immeuble et la rue, by F.Loyer,
ed.Hazan, 1994
Jack
My Paris and Provence posts are open again at
http://home.earthlink.net/~primos