PARIS-3 RD/4TH ARR-THE MARAIS (2)-A WALK -PICASSO MUSEUM
Jack
http://home.earthlink.net/~primos
PARIS-3 RD ARR(1)-THE MARAIS WALK-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 jewelers 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 "high relief" in
the second courtyard, the Horses of Apollo by Le Lorrain, jumping out
of the stone with finesse and delicacy. The apartments are only
visible during temporary exhibitions. Splendid "cabinet des Singes",
Beauvais tapestries and superb wainscoting. 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
build in the 17th century for a " nouveau riche" ( new rich), Robert
de Fontenay, who made his fortune raising " la gabelle" ( taxes on
salt). Ironically, the people named the place "l'hotel Sale". The
whole life of the "monster of the painting" is assembled here, with
important works, and above all a world unique ensemble, because it
covers, from 1905 until 1973, the whole production of Picasso.
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 exhibition halls, very well lit, assemble
with great success the ancient and the modern. Very well balanced,
they constitute an ideal setting for Picasso's works.
The presentation of the collection is chronological, beginning with
the "blue" period, the "pink" period and studies for the "Demoiselles
d'Avignon". Information panels, concise and written in a pedagogic
style, give the visitor the opportunity to understand the different
tendencies and changments of the art of painting and the life of the
artist. Now come the most representative works of the cubist period.
The young Picasso, arriving from Barcelona without a penny, crazy
about painting, the revelation of cubism and the epoch of the Bateau
Lavoir and painting his bistro companions. Cubism masterworks as
"l'Homme a la guitare", "Nature morte a la chaise cannee".
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.
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)
The itinerary continues with the succession of sentimental or
political adventures of the recognized master, who changed all into
new forms, new accents, from neo-classicism to surrealism, to the
violent baroque of the great "Nudes"; the extraordinary fecundity of
the genius who said : "I don't look, I find".
Bibliography:
--Vie et histoire des arrondissements de Paris, ed.Hervas (185-1988)
--Nouvelle Histoire de Paris, ed.Hachette
--Naissance de Paris, by M.Fleury, ed. Imprimerie nationale 1997
--Le Pieton de Paris, by L.P.Fargue, ed.Gallimard 1997
--Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris, by A.Franklin, ed.Laffont, 1996
--Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris, by J.Hillairet, ed.Minuit
Jack
My Paris and Provence posts are open again at
http://home.earthlink.net/~primos
My unwonted Paris and unexpected Paris posts are also visitable
on http://www.worldtable.com/Jack/guides.html