Behind this (normally closed) gate are some nice buildings; I would imagine from the latter part of the 19th century. It’s called “Villa des Arts”. It houses some 70 apartments and studios. Obviously Cézanne, Renoir, Picabia, Signac among many others lived and worked here for shorter or longer periods.
It was rather recently supposed to be transformed into lofts and fashionable flats by some promoters, but was “saved” by the City of Paris and will fortunately after some modernisation remain a place for artists. 
I was struck by the fantastic stairs in one of the buildings. They seem to have been brought here from some Exposition Universelle pavilion. If someone has better and more complete information, I would appreciate. 
Addendum:
Thérèse found the confirmation of what I didn't find although I looked for it! She referred to an article in the French newspaper "Libération" (March 2006). It confirms that material from the World Fair (Exposition Universelle) 1889 (the Eiffel Tower one) has been used during renovation works 1889-90. This includes the stairs I show. They have been used as scenerey by different film makers, including by Fellini in the "The Clowns" (1970). Sincere thanks Thérèse!!
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35 comments:
Hello Peter!
So beautiful gate!
I loved that blue vintage door and of course the garden is fabulous!
That stair in the last shot is awesome and reminds me those sceneries of romantic movies!
And I think that sculpture is a kind of "Minerva" holding the light !
Cool place I would love to be there!
You know dear friend...I believe in dreams! ;)
One day!
Léia
purrs and love by your friend Luna(from Brazil)
Those stairs are fantastic. I hope someone will provide more information about them.
The stairs on the bottom right remind me of the Musee de Rodin. Just beautiful. Peter, HOW do you find all these treasures?
V
Bonjour Peter!
Hope all is well. I've missed seeing your pictures. They're gorgeous, as always. I'd love to see a staircase like that one day.
Looking forward to hearing from you sometime soon.
-Rhi
Really fantastic place and shots!
Best for you, Peter!
Quel escalier en effet!
Tu trouveras dans cet article de libé des petits détails qui confirment tes dires http://www.atelierlvj.com/presse/liberation.pdf
It'd be wonderful to own a flat beside such well manicured lawns and gardens!
Great pictures, as always!
Encore un portail qui ne t'a pas résisté! Je me sens une âme d'artiste tout à coup... Quel bel endroit...
la villa des arts, un coin magique de Paris, cela fait du bien de refaire une promenade grâce a toi
Je m'inscris sur la liste des artistes (on n'est pas obligé d'avoir réussi, je pense) et je déménage!
Bien sûr que je suis contente d'être revenue et de reprendre mon blog. C'est bon de partir mais c'est bien de revenir.
L'art est même dans l'escalier.
Cette villa mérite bien son nom.
I will comment more later... but sincere thanks to Thérèse who gave a confirmation of what I was not able to find! I have made an addendum.
Those stairs are fantastic. It's wonderful that they were saved and recycled. We can only wonder at all the amazing things that were destroyed after those world fairs.
Ah, good call Peter! Thérèse's find has confirmed your suspicions (very keen ones indeed). And from the Eiffel Exposition as well... so impressive (thrilling, in fact!).
I am satisfied the place was "saved" for the arts, as it would've been a shame to lose to new flats... though, I wouldn't have minded owning one of them (in my dreams, of course, since I haven't the funds to attain one).
Lovely photos, and, as usual, I appreciate the ones of foliage. A very pleasant post, indeed!
Thanks Peter...
David
J'ai lu avec beaucoup d'intérêt l'article de Libé. Alors, la Ville a racheté ou pas?
Merci Thérèse!
Tout un programme dès la première photo. Un nid d'artistes à préserver.
Encore un coin au charme provincial que tu as déniché à Paris.
Je suis passée devant, mais je n'ai jamais franchi les grilles, merci de l'avoir fait pour nous.
Cet escalier est en effet extraordinaire.
wow thanks Thérèse and thanks Peter!
Léia
I wonder - could I afford one........
That certainly is some staircase. Nowadays we don't seem to see staircases as such focal points in buildings, or maybe I'm not looking in the right places
I must say, Peter, this is a fabulous staircase. I like it very much. It is a reminder of those we saw while visiting Savannah, Georgia.
Thank you to Thérèse for supplying the information regarding those elegant stairs... so beautiful! I am always amazed by your posts, Peter, you find the most interesting corners of Paris to show us, and I am assuming that there are plenty more that you haven't introduced us to yet. How peaceful to live in such a hidden corner of the busy city.
Ah ! J'ai cru que c'était un nouvel Award, celui du "blog le plus désopilant" et je t'aurais dit que tu ne le mérites absolument pas.
Pourtant, c'est vrai que tu fais beaucoup la foire en ce moment, de plus avec les vacances cela ne va pas s'arranger. Aussi maintenant tu fais travailler ton lectorat à commencer par Thérèse, tu as monté un cabinet de bloggueurs et tu n'as plus qu'à ramasser les copies...
[Ben dis donc, les artistes miséreux du 19ème étaient pas si mal logés, dans une villa, qui est pas la villa Médicis...]
Léia:
You should beleive in your dreams! Thanks for the "purrs"! :-)
Starman:
As you can see below ... and by an addendum, "someone", Thérèse, did! :-)
Virginia:
I just keep looking! :-)
Rhi:
Really nice to see you back after a few months! :-)
Krystyna:
Thanks! The same to you! :-)
Thérèse:
Un très grand merci!! J'ai fait un addendum! :-)
Rakesh:
Maybe you can apply! Artists may be welcome! :-)
Alice:
Des fois on a vraiment envie d'être un artiste! :-)
Olivier:
Donc, tu connaissais déjà? :-)
hpy:
Si, si, il faut être affirmé! Tu as peut-être un chance quand' même! :-)
Claude:
Comme tu dis, on est en général content d'être de retour ... avant de repartir! :-)
Adam:
At least the Tower was saved! Not so obvious!:-)
SparkleMirror:
If you lived in (or moved to) Paris, I'ms sure you would be qualified! :-)
Alice:
Bien! Oui, la ville a racheté! Ouf! :-)
Catherine:
Les portes sont fermées, mais avec un peu de chance... ! :-)
Léia:
As you say! This is how blogging should work! :-)
Richard:
I guess you are completely right about the importance of stairs. ... and now there are lifts! :-)
Abe:
Do you have some pictures? :-)
Shammickite:
Yes, the dream of many, to live in the city, but in a calm little place like this! :-)
Cergie:
Je suis très content du message de Thérèse! C'est comme ça qu'on doit travailler ensemble!
(Un petit détail, on est dans le 18e!) :-)
And, of course, you managed to cross the closed gate and even enter the buildings! That's an expert work, definitely!!
Have a great weekend!
GMG:
With a smile, it works (sometimes)! :-)
That was a good guess about the stairs on your part then. They really are eye-stopping. It's good the building wasn't turned into lofts. Yay for Paris once again!
Ruth:
Yes, everybody is happy, except the promoters... :-)
Absolutely wonderful! Paris looks just great!
Sonia:
Paris IS great! :-)
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