The Paris Blog: Paris, France Expat Tips & Resources » Art

Cézanne in the City

Le Best of Paris — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:37:17 +0000

Through February 26, Musée du Luxembourg hosts a special exhibition of paintings that Cézanne did while visiting Paris. Known best for his pastoral paintings of Provence, Cézanne also made more than twenty trips to Paris, where he learned a style of painting that he would continue to develop in Provence, ultimately attracting interest and praise from critics, art dealers and collectors. The 80 works in this exhibition provide insight into the southern painter’s time in Paris.

The first section describes his arrival in Paris and early paintings, taking a close look at his mastery of landscape painting and use of impressionist techniques. It then explores Cézanne’s nudes. Working at a time when erotic paintings were becoming increasingly popular, he experimented with new ways to portray female nudes and invented his particular pictorial representation of them.

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French Tapped to Compose Obama Reelection Song

Laurel Zuckerman — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:18:12 +0000

According to Le Figaro, United States President Barack Obama has chosen two French composers from Bordeaux (yes, France!) to write his campaign theme song. The ditty, entitled “What’s More,” was written by Tony Jazz and Mathieu Billon.

Raised in the infamous 9-3 (the Seine Saint Denis region just outside Paris), Jazz at 26 had already racked up credits at Universal and Sony and founded his own communications company specializing in musical design. Billon is a case study in finding one’s talents. After a two-year DUT diploma, he entered a work-study (alternance) program in Bordeaux with the hope of founding a restaurant. An internship in marketing at Kaizen Marketing Group opened up a whole new world for him, an “American vision of entrepreneurship” with bosses barely older than himself.

One thing led to another and the two young French entrepreneurs met. In January last year Jazz and Billon created On Air Agency.

How did these two Frenchmen with no connections seduce the president of the United States?

“Talent,” says le Figaro, “Simplement du talent.”

This clip that Tony Jazz made in honor of Obama’s 2008 election caught the eye of Obama’s campaign, which led to a meeting with Charles Rifkin, the US ambassador to France.

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Giant Blossoms

Paris Weekends — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:13:20 +0000

Although the exhibition of the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at the Centre Pompidou ended on January 9th, three of her works can still be seen in the Jardin des Tuileries. Called ‘Flowers that bloom at midnight’, these monumental creations add a big splash of color to a park currently wearing its dark winter clothes!

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Poets of the Underground

Paris Imperfect — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:31:07 +0000

On my way to one of my errands, I got off at the Saint Ambroise metro stop and paused, as I was bit surprised: I was reading the stairs. Living in New York and then in Paris, I’ve always noticed the poems that are sometimes posted in subway cars. I hadn’t gotten off at the Saint Ambroise station in a while, though, so I hadn’t yet seen the poem “published” on the steps.

Do you think this is an honor for the poet—or kind of sad? I guess I like the idea, but with the graffiti and general grubby feelings I get underground, I wasn’t sure whether it was actually cool. What do you think?

Any Excuse to Celebrate!

Jennyphoria — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:41:10 +0000

Last weekend marked the 5th anniversary of the re-opening of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. To celebrate, they offered a buy one, get one free deal on ticket entrance (normally 9€) and set up 10 special interactive displays encouraging visitors to experience the museum in a new way.

There are three locations for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. My friend and I decided to go to the one on rue de Rivoli.

The plaque just inside the entrance reads, “Les Arts Décoratifs: là où le beau rejoint l’utile…” (roughly: where beauty meets function.) Spread over six floors, this museum is an eclectic mix of treasures, spanning from medieval times to the present. According to the museum, collections include items showcasing the art of living, decorative arts, design, fashion and textiles, advertising and graphic design.

The museum itself is a maze of rooms, hallways, staircases and elevators. There are arrows on the floor, presumably to lead you along the way, but my friend and I seemed to be going against them as often as we were with. It was actually quite fun.

It’s hard to concisely sum up what we saw, since it ranged from vintage to contemporary, beautiful to functional, with a healthy sprinkling of everything in between.

Most rooms are organized by time period, from art nouveau (which I love) to art deco (which I loathe) to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, all the way up to today.

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Nightlife by Day

Paris Weekends — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:47:46 +0000

This week sees the second edition of the Nuits Capitales festival, an event that was set up last year to counter reports stating that nightlife in Paris was dead.

More than 200 events are promised, the largest of all being the launch party that took place at the 104 Center , in the 19th arrondissement, on Monday evening.

A slightly bizarre feature of the event is the fact that several of the concerts take place during the day, suggesting that the event is less about getting people to stay up all night and more about getting them outside in the first place, to discover new venues and artists.

From the official website:

You should consider Les Nuits Capitales as an invitation to stroll and discover artists, but also – and perhaps primarily – as a journey off the beaten tracks of the city, to discover the many places (music bars, cafés-concerts, concert halls, and clubs) which are, after dark, the cultural heart of Paris.

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Montmartre Open Art Studios

Paris on Demand — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:39:58 +0000

Once a year in November, magenta flags with white points flourish on many Montmartre buildings’ facades. Most people don’t even see them. The few who notice them and dare to push the doors of the buildings will discover the artists’ lofts and will understand why Montmartre is the epicenter of Paris’ artistic life.

More than 200 painters and sculptors take part in this event, initiated 20 years ago by the artists themselves. What is striking in this itinerary is the wide diversity of locations and types of apartments. From the tiny studio under the roof to the huge and luxurious apartment dominating Montmartre, all of them have a common point: tenants willing to share their passion for their art. They will therefore be more than happy to show you their pieces of art, answer your questions and even offer you a drink.

Eventually, you might end up negotiating the price of a painting. The initiative has been a success and many other districts have followed suit: Menilmontant or Belleville also have open days now.

Montmartre artist’s lofts open days: November 18th to 20th.
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A Month-Long Paris Photo Fest

Girls Guide to Paris — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:06:57 +0000

Photos in Paris are always irresistible, whether you come to snap the sites or worship the greats. Now, for the month of November, a quartier central to the photo’s role will celebrate it. The Festival of the Photo in St.-Germain-des-Prés features four-dozen venues showing works around the theme of image, writers, and writing.

The theme is appropriate. From the rabble-rousing pamphlets of the Revolution through its postwar existentialists, St.-Germain was always a mecca for the literati. The idea is so rich, in fact, that it will be broken down further. Some spaces are showing photographs that “illustrate” works (such as an homage to St.- Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince). Some are mining vintage photos in Paris for portraits of writers (rare shots of Oscar Wilde will be at L’Hôtel, where he died in 1900). There are collaborations between writers and photographers and there are portfolios inspired by texts both modern and classic.

The festival, which was the idea of the area’s art merchants, runs all month. As well as the 50-plus galleries, additional host sites include the Chapelle des Beaux-Arts, Institut de France, Romanian and Czechoslovakian Cultural Centers, Hungarian Institute, Académie des Beaux-Arts, and University of Paris Descartes. Many cafés and bookstores plan their own informal shows.

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19th Century Paris

Invisible Paris — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:27:41 +0000

“Le Peuple de Paris” running at the Musée Carnavaet until February 26, 2012. It is a sociological investigation into the lives of the working classes in Paris in the 19th century, looking particularly at how these people and their lifestyles, were portrayed by artists and the media at the time, and provides an intruiging and original insight into an era that continues to fascinate us today.
I asked Miriam Simon, Chief Curator of the exhibition, about how the idea for the exhibition came about and what messages it is seeking to get across about a population and a period which is much misunderstood.

How did this exhibition originate?
The project stems from the fascinating graphic art collection we have at the Musée Carnavalet, particularly the fascinating and important set of caricature lithographs of the people of Paris. French historiography had, certainly until the 1970s, mainly studied the ‘people’ through the labour movement, so it seemed there was room for a more sociological investigation of this socio-economic category, which – taken in its widest sense – represented over two thirds of the population of Paris in the 19th century.

How different was life in Paris in the 19th century for the proletariat compared with earlier centuries?

Paris was confronted by many fundamental changes in the nineteenth century, including the industrial revolution, the extension and transformation of the city, and a population explosion, all of which substantially changed the lives of the people – their rhythms, their working conditions, their housing, the way they moved around, how they were looked after by philanthropic societies or governments, not to mention the beginnings of mass culture and the consumer society. However, some features remained from previous centuries, or in fact became things to fight for, in resistance to what was often becoming a very brutal way of life.
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Photoquai 2011

Karins Kamera — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:58:23 +0000

The third edition of Photoquai shows no less than 46 photographers from 29 countries. Here are my favorites from this Parisian biennial of non-Western photography. The show only lasts until November 11!

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