Archive | February, 2013

Posters of Paris–part deux

21 Feb

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L’affichomanie/poster mania reached a climax in Belle Epoque Paris in the 1890′s, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec was the most famous poster artist of them all.  Singer and songwriter Aristide Bruant sang in Le Chat Noir cabaret about life on the outer fringes of Paris, and Toulouse-Lautrec’s popular posters of him made the performer recognizable on the street, sporting his signature red scarf.

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A burgeoning merchant class became so enamored of this street art that they began bribing the poster hangers to sell them the works directly. Others resorted to stealing freshly hung works.  Residents decorated their homes with them and hosted “poster parties”, with the cocktail conversation centered around the latest art on the streets of Paris, of course.

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Alphonse Mucha’s brilliant 1894 Art Nouveau poster called Gismonda (sorry, couldn’t snap that pic) for another American actress, Sarah Bernhardt, signaled a new era in poster design featuring flowing lines and organic subject, plus freedom from the restrictions of classical art.  A bicycle craze in Paris coincided with the poster mania, and this piece by Mucha represents both newly discovered freedoms.

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Pierre Bonnard created this breakout poster for the France Champagne company in 1889, although it would not be displayed for another two years, the same year Lautrec created his own work, Moulin Rouge.  More interestingly, it was Bonnard who had earlier introduced Lautrec to the printer who would later print the Moulin Rouge poster.  The bubbly certainly is flowing…

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Marc Auguste Bastard created this ad in 1896 for a French beer maker (and we thought the French only drink wine).  I appreciate the use of symbolism instead of featuring a product image, and of course the image of lovely lady certainly helps.

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This poster, circa 1906, by Leonetto Cappiello evokes an image la fée vert, or the green fairy, the nickname for that mind bending drink, Absinthe, popular during the Belle Epoque, but recently reborn as something less potent.  However, this is actually an ad for an alcoholic beverage called Quina, with the brand name Maurin, that was also banned in France.  Apparently, it  too has been re-introduced in both France and the US.  Sounds devilish, doesn’t it!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Do you think any of today’s popular adverts will be remembered so fondly?

X Katie

 

It was all Haussmann’s idea, but…

13 Feb IMG_1302

 

copyright Martin Crush via flickr

Sure, Haussmann is universally credited with fulfilling Napolean III’s dream of a “revolution proof” Paris in the 1860′s, creating a modern city designed to replace the dark, dirty medieval one. Yes, he also designed the city’s new sewage system which relieved the population of disease epidemics.  Fine, he brought order through uniformity.  But what about the architects and sculptors who created the beautiful structures that make Paris, well, Paris?  Who were they?

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ornate doorway

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doorway detail

Architect Achille Champy and sculptor Henri Depois de Folleville were frequent collaborators in creating the Art Nouveau designs that were still very much in vogue, featuring flowing lines and organic subject matter.  I delighted in capturing the “signatures” of the designers as well as details of their work, as if knowing their names would create a sense of connection to the artists behind the stone creations.

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Another classic example of de Folleville’s work.  By the mid 1880′s, Haussmann’s strict design rules had been loosened thanks to urban legislation, freeing architects to employ the talents of sculptural artists to adorn the buildings they had designed.

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The third age in life

 Théo Petit was a prolific architect who was as concerned with the details of his buildings’ façades as he was with their interiors.  His design at 276 boulevard Raspail (14th) is included in a collection of his best work, due in no small part to the exterior work by the equally prolific sculptor Émile Durré, titled “Three Ages of Life”.

copyright Yvette Gauthier via flickr

The first and the second ages, by Durré, whose work can also be found in the square Louise Michel in Montmartre.

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detailed carvings

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beauty in details

Varying details create so much interest in this close-up view.  According to Paris’s records of building permit applications, Émile Hurtré designed only three buildings in the city, with his greatest contribution being the magnificent and very Art Nouveau-esque Fermette Marbeuf restaurant in the city’s 8th arrondissement.

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Dozens of examples of the Art Nouveau architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries can be found in the 16th arrondissement, far away from the pulsating center of Paris.  This stunning doorway of an equally impressive private home on rue Montevideo is the work of Joachim Richard.

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Gentil and Bourdet were the creative minds behind the design of the home itself.  Imagine living in a mansion like this one in Paris.

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Or maybe one of these curvaceous, light-filled creations, also by Gentil and Bourdet.  ”Fantasy roof construction” was the term given to this type of rooftop architecture, and I’d say it describes the style quite well.  Don’t you?  I’ve seen these two amazing “fantasies”, which over look the Seine in the 7th, and I’m sure I could manage to be quite happy in the apartment on the right.   Et vous? Which would you choose?

These are obviously just a few of the dozens of talented artists who created then molded the beauty of the Paris we enjoy today.  I know this might sound strange considering all there is to see, but during your next trip to Paris, take a moment to look at the buildings’ walls…you may be surprised by what you find.

“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”–Winston Churchill

xx Katie

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