Esprit de france - le blog

From February the 19th to July the 18th, the Pinacothèque presents “Edvard Munch or the Anti-Scream”.  The 100 works exhibited represents the Norwegian artist’s first and larger retrospective in Paris, where he used to live.

Munch is mainly famous for “The scream”, a symbol of his melancholy. At the Pinacothèque you will discover the complete expressionist and colorful work of this major painter.

Edvard Munch or the Anti-scream
Until July the 18th

Pinacothèque de Paris
28, place de la Madeleine
75008 Paris

www.pinacotheque.com

From January the 13th to April the 18th, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, just a stone’s throw from the Hotel Aiglon, presents « Robert Doisneau, From craft to art». The exhibition shows about hundred prints of Robert Doisneau closely linked to Paris and street scenes taken between 1930 and 1966.

Doisneau’s photographs are immortalized life instants. And he treats here its favorite subject: Paris and its suburbs. The irresistible talent of the one that claimed he “photographed to survive” grabing the right instant, press on the button on the right moment is amazing. The spectator guesses the pleasure that “the poacher of transience” should feel hunting the best picture while going all over town.

This is finally “real life” which is exhibited to the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation: children laughs and plays, a passer-by’s jump or pace. That is what raised Doisneau’s photographs from a craft to an art.

Expressions of faces and dynamic of movements expressed on Doisneau’s subjects could be from 2010. This timeless aspect and the human universal arouse a beautiful emotion while visiting this exhibition.

Robert Doisneau , « From craft to art »
From January the 13th to April the 18th

Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation
2 impasse Lebouis
75014 Paris
www.henricartierbresson.org

In Paris, until March 14, 2010, the Bourdelle Museum presents an ambitious exhibition dedicated to Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), a pioneer figure of dance.

Autodidact born on the coast of California, this bold, modern woman put her art at the heart of a project of a society based on more freedom and democracy. Defying convention, Isadora danced barefoot, wearing a tunic revealing her nudity.

Sculptures, paintings and drawings by Antoine Bourdelle, Auguste Rodin, José Clarà, Rik Wouters, Jules Grandjouan, Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac, Abraham Walkowitz, illustrate the revolutionary art of Isadora. These artists, fascinated by the expressiveness of her dance empathy with nature and music, have sought to capture the force of it.

Isadora Duncan by Antoine Bourdelle

While restoring the artistic and intellectual context of an era, many photographs, books and documents also help to trace the tumultuous life and career of Isadora, her world tours and dance schools.

In the gardens and studios where Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) lived and worked, the Bourdelle museum also houses an outstanding collection of plaster, bronze and marble works of art of the artist.

The extension made in 1992 by the architect Christian de Portzamparc gives full dimension to the work of this great sculptor, who was a contemporary of Rodin, and also Giacometti’s master.

Musée Bourdelle
18, rue Antoine Bourdelle
75015 Paris
Tél : 01 49 54 73 73

Through March 14, 2010

In Paris, the Rodin Museum places side by side until the 28th of February 2010, two geniuses in the world of art: Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954).

A generation separates these two great creators; the first dominates the art of sculpture, the latter introduced decisive revolutions in the painting.
For the first time, the sculpted work of Matisse and a number of his drawings, are confronted with a selection of Rodin’s works.

Rodin. “La voix intérieure” (“The inside voice”). Circa 1894

For the first time, the sculpted work of Matisse and a number of his drawings, are confronted with a selection of Rodin’s works. The exhibition recalls the role that Matisse gave to sculpture and drawing, while simultaneously insisting on this parallel mode of expression that was drawing to Rodin.

Matisse. “La Serpentine”. 1909

This unprecedented artistic dialogue between Matisse and Rodin contributes to debates addressing in particular the link between sculpture and drawing, or the place of the nude in developing a visual language.

Musée Rodin
79, rue de Varenne
75007 Paris
Tél. 00 33 (0) 1 44 18 61 10

Through February 28th

The museum of Les Arts décoratifs – in the Louvre Palace, in Paris – exhibits Toulouse-Lautrec until the end of 2009.
Any exhibition of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters is automatically a nostalgic celebration of the legendary Belle Epoque, when Montmartre and the Chat Noir were the artistic and entertainment centre of the world.
If these most famous creations continue to fascinate us today, it is because they have become part of our international collective memory.

At the same time as the posters designed by the artist between 1891 and 1900, are presented the works of one hundred contemporary designers from 24 countries; their works were carried out in 2001, on the occasion of the centenary of Toulouse Lautrec’s death.

Gathered under the title “New Salon des Cent”, these designers attest to the timeliness and the vitality of the contribution of Toulouse-Lautrec.
An exhibition not to be missed…

Through the 3rd of January, 2010

Musée des Arts décoratifs
107 rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris
Tel:0144 55 57 50