Picasso Museum and More

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.”

Hans Christian Andersen

Sites/Topics covered in this post:

•  Architecture Museum
• Picasso Museum
• Sidewalk voyeurism

Go-Date: Day 133, Tuesday, June 4

Lesson Learned: Paris has some amazing city parks. You don’t have to climb the Eiffel Tower, stroll the halls of the Louvre or walk the corridors of the dead (Catacombs)to have a great time. There is no need to find a Michelin star-rated restaurant, have drinks on a sidewalk café on the Champ Elyssees, or even walk along the Seine. You definitely don’t have to pay to visit these beautiful parks. Paris is a lovely city, and their green spaces are amazing.

Architecture Museum – Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine

Over the years, Ellen and I have owned eight houses and one office building. Three of the properties saw major restorations under our ownership (Melita, Locke, & Wellington Road), we built three houses (Palomino, Modlin I & Modlin II), and we built Ellen’s office building in Ft. Worth (Purcey St.). We kinda dig architecture.

So, when we saw that Paris had an architecture museum while we were on the Hop-on, Hop-off bus, we decided to pay it a visit. And an interesting visit it was. The Museum of French Monuments (one of the numerous names this place is known as) is one the leading and oldest museums dedicated to architecture and monument heritage. It was started in 1882 as the Museum of Comparative Sculpture, before becoming the Museum of French Monuments in 1937. It was subsequently integrated into the new cultural establishment created in 2004, Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine. Its located on Trocadero Square on the Avenue of President Wilson. They like Americans on this side of town. There’s a statue of George Washington down the street, the Avenue of New York runs along the Seine behind the building and the Mona Bismark American Center is just around the corner.

Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine is a moving force in France for the spread of architectural culture, knowledge, support, and contributing to the protection of the remarkable features of French buildings. I’d say the building itself from the outside is quite unremarkable, but very functional. I’ll also say there are no crowds lining out in front of the entrance.

The museum works to enhance public appreciation of architecture history from the Middle Ages to the present. In addition to architecture they had a very interesting furniture exhibit. Furniture is really not my thing, but they had an interesting collection displayed in a unique manner. The had a collection of modern furniture designed by architects from 1960 to the present. The furniture exhibit was sprinkled throughout the permanent exhibit rooms and through prototypes, single pieces, limited edition or mass productions laid out around the whole Cité, the exhibition invites visitors to discover the furniture production of architects. With near 300 pieces, and more than 125 architects and nearly 90 editors represented this exhibition is an invitation to take a stroll through the Cité, discovering the furniture creations.  

In the past few months I’ve decided that the medieval times would have been horrible to live in, and I find the art a little too churchy, stiff, and biased. I also feel the divide between the nobility and common man was a terrible gulf which led to some amazing structures but was also evidence of deplorable cruelty to the rank and file, not to mention witch trials, executions for blasphemy, and generally “My Bible is better than your Bible” attitudes . I find it fascinating to view from afar, and hope history isn’t repeating itself, again. The Cité has an extensive collection of models from the dark ages, not too much original products, but is still well worth the visit.

Musée Picasso

The Musée Picasso is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris, dedicated to the work of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). The museum collection includes more than 5,000 works of art (paintings, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, prints, engravings and notebooks) and tens of thousands of archived pieces from Picasso’s personal repository, including the artist’s photographic archive, personal papers, correspondence, and author manuscripts. A large portion of items were donated by Picasso’s family after his death, in accord with the wishes of the artist, who lived in France from 1905 to 1973.

The building that houses the collection was built between 1656 and 1659 for Pierre Aubert, seigneur de Fontenay. The Marais arrondissement is one of my favorites (along with Montmarte and Canal St. Martin). You can walk for hours in these areas and find new and interesting sights all over the place. Even better than that, you can get off the beaten path of tourists and find amazing dining experiences at a fraction of the cost.

This museum, at the time we visited should really be called the Picasso-Calder Museum. There were as many Alexander Calder works as those of Pablo. The building is stunning. It is also a bizarre setting for modern works by Picasso and Calder with its neo-classical décor hosting avant-garde art. Occupants of the building (French call public buildings hôtels for some reason) have included the Embassy of the Republic of Venice (1671), then François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi; it was expropriated by the State during the French Revolution; in 1815 it became a school, in which Balzac studied; before housing the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1829. It also housed the municipal École des Métiers d’Art. It was acquired by the City of Paris in 1964, and was granted historical monument status in 1968. The mansion was restored by Bernard Vitry and Bernard Fonquernie of the Monument historique in 1974–1980.

If you’ve never heard of Alexander Calder…… (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) he was an American sculptor who is best known for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors, air currents, or touch) that embrace chance appearance in form and his monumental public sculptures. Calder’s work first gained attention in Paris in the 1920s and he took up residence here and became a part of the thriving art scene. After this, he began to earn international interest and was soon championed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, resulting in a retrospective exhibition in 1943. Major retrospectives were also held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1964) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1974). OK, I had an idea what a retrospective is, but its formally defined as an exhibition of an artist’s works that shows off the entire oeuvre (complete works) of an artist’s career. Typically arranged chronologically and later in an artist’s life, retrospectives treat art viewers to the progression of the work in a single space.

Calder’s work is in many permanent collections, most notably in the Whitney Museum of American Art, but also the Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Centre Georges Pompidou (which I will cover later). He produced many large public works, including .125 (at JFK Airport, 1957), Pittsburgh (Carnegie International prize winner 1958, Pittsburgh International Airport) Spirale (UNESCO in Paris, 1958), Flamingo and Universe (both in Chicago, 1974), and Mountains and Clouds (Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 1996).

Although primarily known for his sculpture, Calder also created paintings and prints, miniatures (such as his famous Cirque Calder), theater set design, jewelry design, tapestries and rugs, and political posters.

Calder and Picasso were contemporaries. They met, discussed art, and previewed their art to each other, but I wouldn’t call them friends. One day Calder made comment about a piece Picasso was working on that so pissed off the Spaniard that they never spoke again. Nice day, nice art, nice walk.

Streets of Paris

OK, so I love to people watch. Here are some pics I took as we wandered through the neighborhoods of Marais. We also discovered a little shop that has the best sandwiches in the city. Mmmoza..!

They call it an Italian restaurant, but I’d call it a total surprise of the best kind. Its located across from Square du Temple – Elie Wiesel which is a lovely park you can take your food (and beer or wine, which is completely legal in Paris). Its located at 57 Rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris. Just remember Mmmoza..! = Fabulous sandwiches.