Painting, drawing, sculpting...

Once more I was back at the rue de la Grande Chaumière. I have already posted about it e.g. here and here. I had an excellent lunch at a very reasonable price at the restaurant “Wajda”, which has been here since the 1930’s. (I very seldom – never – recommend a restaurant, but in this case I feel that I must – also for the nice welcome feeling).

The address is the same as the famous art school, “Académie Colarossi”, which was here between the 1870’s and the 1930’s. Among the students you may especially mention Camille Claudel, Alfons Mucha (later also teacher), Amedeo Modigliani and also his last partner, Jeanne Hébuterne... (and for my Swedish friends I can mention Carl Eldh, Jenny Nyström, Hanna Pauli, Eva Bonnier, Isaac Grünewald, Siri Derkert, Helmer Osslund…). That said, the school  has been closed for a long time, but you can still find the buildings in the courtyard (if you, as I was, are lucky enough to find someone to open the front door). Some teaching seems to continue. Someone created a funny face in the little garden.

Once I had been to the “Académie Colarossi”, I thought I had to visit also the other famous art school in the street, the “Académie de la Grande Chaumière”. This is where I found my top picture… Yes, this is another place where you can learn painting, drawing, sculpting. (You can read "ARS"; the only explanation I find is that you can translate it by "arts" - there are old expressions, used e.g. in music like "ars antiqua", meaning old art...) This school was created in 1909 and is still there (despite some threats). Among the teachers you can mention Ossip Zadkine, Antoine Bourdelle, Othon Friesz, Fernand Léger, André Lhote… and among the students Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, Tove Jansson, Eero Saarinen, Balthus, Louise Bourgeois, Serge Gainsbourg, Amedeo Modigliani (again), Serge Poliakoff, Bror Hjort, Alberto Giacometti…

I went into another building in the street, where we know that Gauguin lived for a short while, but the place is especially known as the last living place for Amedeo Modigliani, who moved tens of times during his Paris years (some difficulties to pay the rent), but got some financial help to settle down here the last two or three years of his life. This corresponds to the time he lived with his artist colleague, model, Jeanne Hébuterne. There was some interruption for a stay in the south of France (war times – WWI). We come to the dramatic end…I quote Wikipedia: “In 1920, after not hearing from him for several days, a neighbour checked on the family and found Modigliani in bed delirious and holding onto Hébuterne. A doctor was summoned, but little could be done because Modigliani was in the final stage of his disease, tubercular meningitis. He died on January 24, 1920, at the Hôpital de la Charité.”  I couldn’t get into the studio, in the  courtyard, but walking up the stairs in the front building I got a look at what was their studio, the three top windows on the left. The photo of the couple was probably taken here. I found a site where one has tried to artificially create what their studio may have looked like. We know that Jeanne, eight months pregnant of their second child, committed suicide two days after Amedeo’s death.

I mentioned Camille Claudel and that she took lessons at the "Académie Colarosso". Her family lived very close, rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, and she took a studio together with friends at no. 117 of the same street. Yes, there are tens of studios in the courtyard, but which one was Camille's?

Other places where artists lived and worked.

After a meal (or a drink) at the “Closérie des Lilas”, one of the famous bars / restaurants along Boulevard de Montparnasse, I suggest that you turn around the corner, passing the statue of Marshal Ney (by François Rude), and take a walk along Rue Notre-Dames-des-Champs., (Ney was one of Napoleon’s marshals who was executed somewhere here in 1815, condemned by the Bourbon monarchy institutions after the Waterloo defeat. There were rumours that he survived and escaped to the United States…)  

             

The Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs is not very spectacular, but is interesting thanks to all artists, authors… who have lived here especially since the latter part of the 19^th century.

The list of names could be very long. I will give only a few examples.

Camille Claudel (1864-1943) lived as a young girl with her family at no. 111 and worked in a studio at no. 117 during the years 1882-88. 1882 was the year when Auguste Rodin became her teacher.

At no. 86, Fernand Léger (1881-1955) lived and had his studio for almost 40 years (1916-55).  He was preceded by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) who worked here in a studio during the years 1891-1902. (For my Swedish friends I can also mention that this is where Isaac Grünewald and Sigrid Hjertén lived during their Paris years.)

Behind the gate of nos. 73-75 lived and worked William Bouguereau (1825-1905) and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) had a studio here when he lived in Paris.

Some artists have also lived at no. 70, but maybe I should give a special mention for the poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) who spent the years 1921-24 here, became friends with many, including Ernest Hemingway (1889-1961), who moved around a lot, but for a while was a neighbour at no. 115 (building gone).

The street is long and this time I neglected the lower part, where many of the buildings, e.g. occupied by Victor Hugo, Auguste Renoir… have disappeared. However, before leaving Rue Notre-Dame-des Champs, maybe a special mention for no. 109 where you find one of the most distinguished schools in Paris, “Ecole Alsacienne”, founded in 1874. The list of famous people who received their education here is long.

Once here, it’s worth taking a look at a crossing street, Rue de la Grande-Chaumière, much shorter, but with a lot of history.

Here, at no. 8 is where Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) spent his last years and days, together with Jeanne Hébuterne (1898-1920), who committed suicide two days after Amedeo’s death.

They had met at the “Académie Colarossi”, at no. 10, where there now is a restaurant. Here you can see others who spent some time here – once again we find Camille Claudel. (I don’t know if it was here that she met Rodin.)

Since 1905 there has been another art school, at no. 14 – “Académie de la Grande Chaumière”, still in operation. We can see a number of well-known names, teachers as well as students.

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), lived for a while in the same building where later Modigliani and Hébuterne lived. He was a friend of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), who lived and worked at no. 13, in a small flat above the little restaurant “Crémerie” (now gone), obviously partly decorated by him (and - again for my Nordic friends – where August Strindberg, here portrayed by Edvard Munch, was a regular guest.)  Here we can see both Mucha and Gauguin photographed in Mucha’s flat. Both Gauguin and Mucha went to the “Académie Colarossi”.

Some other buildings on Rue de la Grande-Chaumière include a famous “Sennelier” art-supply shop. (They opened here only in 1930.) I found no information on the impressive building at no. 6.

On the opposite side of the street, you can find a four-star hotel, “Hôtel des Académies”. It seems that almost all the rooms have Jérôme Mesnager’s (see previous post) “white men” on the walls.  

Most of the “stolen” pictures are from Wikipedia and similar sites. However a special mention for hhtp://www.muchafoundation.org/home. 

Here you can see what the area looked like in 1790, 1894 and today.