Concert + walking...

Last Sunday afternoon I went to a concert. I listened to music by Mendelssohn, Grieg and a Gottschalk by a young very talented Japanese piano player, Kanae Endo. To listen to music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869), an American composer (and pianist), was for me a new – very nice – experience. If you are interested you may as an example listen to “Banjo”, inspired by his birth town, New Orleans, almost with some ragtime rhythm. (See the sidebar.) Unfortunately, I cannot offer Kanae Endo’s version, but I can assure you that it was at least as good! “Bravos” and “bis”!

The concert took place at “Fondation Dosne-Thiers” at Place Saint Georges. I already posted about this building, which used to be the private home of one of the French Presidents, Adolphe Thiers (in office 1871-75).* It’s now owned by “the Institute” (the home of the French academies) and serves as a library... and e.g. for concerts. Behind the building, what used to be the garden is now a nice little park.

To go there, I could have used the metro, but it’s fairly close to where I live, so of course I walked, back and forth. It was a bit chilly, but nice! As you can see from the map we are quite close to Montmartre, but Place Saint George is rather in what is called the “Nouvelle Athènes” area on which I have made a number of posts. Where I live is called “Batignolles” on which I have also written quite – too? – often. The major central place you pass on the way is Place de Clichy (see top picture). There is a lot to say about this Place, but I will revert on this another day. (So, now you know how to find the way to where I live.)

I took some photos on the way to show you the atmosphere of the area. Let’s say that it’s on the way back home. In the beginning, you find a mixture of what is more or less the Pigalle atmosphere (bars, cabarets, theatres...), mixed with more elegant housing and some nice squares, like Square Berlioz.
Reaching the Place de Clichy area, you will find what is one of the biggest cinemas in Paris, some nice eating places, a small theatre... From the place leads the Avenue de Clichy with, close to the Place, another cinema and just behind, what used to be a café where somehow the impressionist movement was born (now a shoe shop) (see previous post). On the way from Place Clichy, you find L’Européen, a music theatre where perhaps mostly a bit less known artists generally perform, but it’s also frequently used by well established artists for some kind of pre-shows. The walls are decorated by the famous graffiti artist Jef Aérosol. Further down the same street, there are some graffiti covering the entire walls (artist?). (See previous posts -1,2- about graffiti.)
All the way, you will find a number of restaurants, shops... often with a 19th century atmosphere, which actually the whole district inspires!
If I had walked the same way during the 19th century I could possibly have met a number of (still) famous artists, but I have already talked about this in my previous posts (George Sand, Chopin, Liszt, Rossini, A. Dumas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, G.Moreau, A.Scheffer, Monet, Manet, Zola...and I forget). Maybe with only this additional remark: Delacroix lived and worked in this building (Rue Notre Dame de Lorette) between 1844 and 1857.

*/ The house was actually rebuilt in 1873, destroyed in 1871 by the communards, for good reasons upset about Thiers.
Time to wish you a nice weekend!

Mid-month theme - subways

Normally, I don’t post on Thursdays, but today is the 15th of the month which means that it’s time for the mid-month theme “subways”, which I share with bloggers form NYC, Stockholm and Budapest.

Like last month, when Virginia contributed, this month’s contribution is again by a guest star. This time the photo has been taken by Karen, who visited Paris recently. These are the quays of the Abbesses station in Montmartre with its recently renovated 1912 design – only the smiling five chairs seem to be to have been designed later.

This completes my previous reports on the Abbesses metro station, well-known for its Guimard entrance and for its stairs.

You can find today’s and some related posts by using the following links:

New York City Daily Blog – Stockholm by pixels – Budapest by Andrea Gerak – Peter’s Paris.

(You can also find some other related posts on my previous blog via this link: PHO.)

Passages, Galleries

During the 19th century, a large number of covered galleries, arcades, passages... were built in Paris, predecessors to today’s shopping centres. I have already posted about some of them (see list below). A few are still missing; today I will talk about two: Passage Puteaux and Passage des Grands Princes.

The first Paris very simple railway station was built in 1837 just north of the present Gare Saint Lazare (see my previous posts and a recent one by Adam – Invisble Paris). Around 1835-40 there were plans that the future bigger Gare Saint Lazare (or Gare de l’Ouest) should be placed much closer to the Madeleine Church. Finally this did not happen and the station was built where it now is, in 1842, ready in its first phase in 1853. It finally got its basically present shape in 1889.

Hoping that the station would be built, as thought for a while, near the Madeleine Church, someone decided to create a gallery or “passage” (ready in 1839) between rue de l’Arcade and rue Pasquier. It became a flop as the station finally never was built where it then was thought. It got the name of Passage Puteaux, Puteaux being one of the destinations from the station. Still today, it’s one of more modest galleries in Paris. It’s only about 30 meters long and not much visited, but it has a certain charm. Over one of the entrances you can since a number of years read: ASSAGEPUTEA X.
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The Passage des Princes (see also top picture) is the most recent of the 19th century galleries; it was ready in 1860, then a very elegant passage, close to the financial district, later “forgotten” during some decades. It got its name from a hotel “Grand Hôtel des Princes et de l’Europe”, which was demolished to build this gallery.

This passage has actually been completely rebuilt, last time in 2002, but maintaining the original architecture. Today it’s completely devoted to the sales of toys. These pictures were taken after Christmas; the decorations are still there, but as you can see it was relatively empty. The days before Christmas, this was not the case (I know, I was there).

Previous posts about galleries:
Galérie Véro Dodat
Passage Jouffroy
Passage Bourg l’Abbée
Passage du Grand Cerf
Passage des Panoramas
Galérie Colbert
Galérie Vivienne
Passage Vendôme
Galérie de la Madeleine
Passage Prado
Passage Brady
Passage des Deux Pavillons
Passage Hulot

Normally, I don't post on Thursdays, but tomorrow I will; it's time for the "Mid-month theme - subways". I will again have a "guest star"!

Statues - Tuileries Gardens (2)

In the Tuileries Gardens (see also my post from last Friday) we find also a large number of more modern statues and sculptures.

The Gardens are known for an extensive exposition of Maillol statues. They are all in the part of the Gardens which are close to the Louvre and are installed here since 1964, more or less hidden by hedges. Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) has also his own museum in Paris (59-61 rue Grenelle) and is also represented in a number of prestigious foreign museums.

Some of the contemporary statues seem to be deposited here for shorter periods by Paris’ different museums and then replaced; some seem to be more permanent.

On the below patchworks, you can see works by Henry Moore, Jean Dubuffet, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Bourgeois, Paul Landowski *, Paul Belmondo, Henri Laurens...

Maybe a special remark about the “fallen tree” above: It’s made by Giuseppe Penone. I thought it may have been ordered as a reference to the number of trees that fell down during the strongest storm Paris has ever suffered – in 1999, but obviously it was ordered before. It was installed here just after the storm in 2000.

I'm not the only one to have been disturbed by the recent installation of a sculpture called “Clara Clara” by Richard Serra at the Place de la Concorde entrance to the Gardens. In my mind it completely destroys the “Historical Axis” perspective. It seems however that it will be (already should have been) removed and placed elsewhere. Also the Ferris wheel is temporarily installed, so it should hopefully soon again be possible to get a view from the Louvre via the Champs-Elysées, the Arch of Triumph ... to the new business skyscraper area, just outside Paris – La Défense.

*/ See also the post about Pont de la Tournelle; Landowski was also the sculptor of the famous “Christ the Redeemer” in Rio.

(GMG immediately commented on the absence of snow. It's still there - to some extent - but these photos were taken just before the snowfall.)

Addendum:
In the above collages there is a bronze statue of which I could not find the name, nor the sculptor.... if it hadn’t been for Virginia, who visited Paris late last year, and also in 2007 with her granddaughter Eva. (See her Paris-through-my-lens site.) She kindly sent me this charming photo with the indication (after long research) that it is made by the Swedish sculptor (working in France), Erik Dietman (1937-2002) and is called “L’ami de personne” (Nobody’s friend). It’s definitely worth a second look!

Statues - Tuileries Gardens (1)

The Tuileries Gardens have been where they are since the 16th century. Until then you could here find a quarry for tiles (« tuileries » in French). Originally it was the garden park of the Tuileries Palace, built for Catherine de Medicis. The Palace was destroyed by fire during the Paris Commune in 1871 and a bit later completely dismantled. (You can find pieces of the Palace at some places in Paris – see previous post.)
The Gardens were rather immediately – as the first one in Paris – opened to public. They were redesigned by Le Nôtre (1664), Louis XIV’s major gardener (Versailles...), and have still more or less kept his design. They make today the junction between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde and were also the beginning of the “Historical Axis” (later completed via the Champs Elysées, the Arch of Triumph etc.). I plan to revert with a post about the Tuileries Gardens later this year, when the season makes them look nicer; leaves on the trees, flowers...). Today – and in a coming post – I will concentrate on the statues in the Gardens.

There are more than hundred of them, including a large number of white marble statues, a majority from the 19th century, but some are older (17th, 18th century). A few are moulded and the originals can be found at the Louvre or elsewhere. Among the better known artists you can notice G. Coustou and his uncle A. Coysevox who made the statue you can see on the top picture: “Fame of Louis XIV” which dates from 1702 and was placed here in 1719 (removed from the Marly Castle).

Among the older statues there are also a few in bronze from the 19th century (A. Carles – “Return from hunting” - and A.N. Cain)... ... and also four by Auguste Rodin, including a bronze version of the famous “Kiss”, placed just in front to the “Orangerie” building. (Marble version at the Rodin museum – see previous post.)
There are also a number of more modern statues and sculptures. I will revert on this on Monday.

... in the meantime, I wish you a nice weekend!

(I got a request to see the individual photos on my previous "snow post". I have put them "in full" and as a slideshow on Ipernity.)