Toby and Allan in Paris 2016: Musée Picasso

Sunday was a bit cooler (high of 9C), but it was sunny!! We started our walk towards the Picasso Museum in the Marais, but first passed the Sunday market on Rue Monge, about five minutes from the apartment. It was quite busy- mostly a food market with fresh produce, and a bit of a flea market. Lots of nice looking fruits and vegetables, meat and cheeses.

Lovely small radishes

Charcuterie

Market on Rue Monge

Busy Sunday market

After stopping for a coffee at Strada Café, we heading to the Picasso Museum for the Picasso- Giacometti show. We passed by the bouquinistes setting up, and crossed the Seine.

Bouquinistes setting up

The Seine and Notre Dame

The two geniuses-- interestingly the photos are both by Dora Maar (1907-1997), one of Picasso's lovers

Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum and the Foundation Giacometti presented the first exhibition of two of the twentieth century's leading artists: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). The exhibit highlighted both their friendship and closeness in their approach to their work. They met in the early 30s and kept up a friendship through the postwar period. The curators did an amazing job of organizing the works and showing the parallels in their art.

Both men did early sculptures in the tradition of Auguste Rodin. Giacometti soon followed in Picasso's footsteps (he discovered Picasso's work when he moved to Paris from Switzerland in 1922) in abandoning the classic style and moving to a more multifaceted cubist approach.

Tête d'Otillia 1925- Giacometti (more classic style)

Picasso- Tête de Femme 1902-3

Picasso-La Femme enceinte, deuxième état 1950-59

Giacometti- Grande Femme 1958

Both Picasso and Giacometti began to paint and sculpt when very young. Both their fathers were artists. Both Picasso and Giacometti moved to Paris at an early age to pursue artistic endeavours.

Picasso- Three-Quarter View of the Back of a Man's Head 1906-7

Giacometti- Tête d'homme de face 1960

Giacometti- Tête du Père, ronde II 1927-30

Picasso- La Père de l'artiste 1896

I really liked the two self portraits of the artists done when they were both 20 years old.

Giacometti- Autoportrait 1921 and Picasso- Autoportrait 1901

Both men drew inspirations from non-Western art and archaeological objects. Lots of African and Oriental influences on both their works.

Picasso-Trois figures sous un arbre 1907-8

Giacometti- Femme cuillère 1927

Both artists had a "shift to the flat"- moving more into flat surfaces.

Giacometti-Femme (Plate V) vers 1929

Picasso- Figure 1927

Both men often dealt with death, their work featuring lifeless figures (often someone dear to them), skulls, or heads.

Picasso-Tête de Mort 1943

Giacometti- Tête Crâne 1934

Picasso-Tète de mouton écorchée 1939

Picasso- La Mort de Casagemas 1901

Giacometti-Braque sur son lit de mort 1963

Both Picasso and Giacometti also explored love in many different ways.

Picasso- Les Amoureux 1919

Giacometti-Le Couple 1927

They also used their wives and lovers as models. Dora Maar was Picasso's lover and principal model from 1935-44. Annette, Giacometti's wife, whom he met in 1943, posed for him for long periods of time.

Giacometti-Buste d'Annette 1953

Picasso-Portrait de Dora Maar 1937

After World War II, the two artists visited each other regularly. They moved back to realism including works featuring animals and still lifes. To create his famous Dog (1951), Giacometti chose the silhouette of the Afghan Hound that belonged to Picasso.

Man Ray- picture of Picasso with his afghan dog at the beach at Golf-Juan 1937

Giacometti- Le Chien 1951

Picasso- L'Ombre 1953 with Giacometti- Homme qui marche II 1960

Giacometti- Femme qui marche (1) 1932 and Picasso- Grand Nu au Fauteuil Rouge 1929

Both artists also did groupings of sculpture showing figures in space.

Picasso- Les Baigneurs 1956

Giacometti-La Forêt 1950

Alain enjoying the exhibit

There was also a large section documenting their friendship. Giacometti often went to Picasso's studio and sketched some of his works. There was a wonderful extract from an interview of Giacometti and Igor Stravinsky in 1957, where Giacometti says that from 1940 until the occupation of Paris, he had dinner with Picasso every night. That didn't stop him from fondly referring to him as "a monster." I don't think I had realized that the two artists had spent so much time together. There were also extracts from two separate videos of the artists working. I took a few photos of the screen shots.

Screen shot from video of Stravinsky and Giacometti

From Ernst Scheidender (1923-2016) Alberto Giacometti 1961-65

From Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-77)

Le Mystère Picasso 1955

It was a truly magnificent exhibit. Lots of work by the curators. The juxtaposition of the works of the two artists really worked. An exploration of how two exceptionally creative artists worked.

As we were leaving the gallery, we noticed a banner across the street opposing the opening of a restaurant.

Non Au Resto Toit Silence Picasso

After the exhibit, we had a quick bite to eat and then checked out Merci, the concept store on Rue Beaumarchais. Lots of sparkle.

Red car outside Merci

Wonderful holiday chandeliers at Mer

We then wandered to the 11th arrondissement where we were meeting my cousins for dinner. As we weren't meeting them until 8:00 p.m. we stopped at a neighbourhood wine bar called La Buvette for a glass of wine and an appy of white beans with lemon zest. Everyone seemed to know each other and people wandered in to stop for a drink or buy bottles to take home. Lots of fun.

At La Buvette

Moi

Alain at La Buvette

We met my cousins at Square Gardette, a bistro where they had made a reservation. My cousin Laure lives in Paris and her sister Anna was up from Marseilles for work. It was great seeing them together in Paris. We had a lovely dinner and a nice bottle of wine.