It is known as end of century to the French period which extends from the last decades of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th, notably until the first Great War, which began in 1914. At this time, the whole of Europe experienced a whirlwind of changes, both artistic , cultural and social, which marked the future of the century which began.
It is a time of great excitement in avant-garde and artistic movements reflected in music, theater, dance, writing, poetry and, of course, the visual arts. Paris was its great temple and its cultural capital, a pole of attraction for thousands of artists from all over the world who lived grouped together in the narrow streets of the Montmartre district, first, and Montparnasse, later.
Catalan artists do not escape this attraction. Today, the Picasso Museum in Barcelona is devoting an exhibition to them to tell through their eyes what this bohemian Paris was, scoundrel and fascinating, but also dark, sometimes perverse and miserable for the less fortunate.
More than 250 works exhibited
Organized by historians Vinyet Panyella and Eliseu Trenc, From Montmartre to Montparnasse. Catalan artists in Paris, 1889-1914 It starts today and will last until March 29 next year. As the director of the Picasso Museum, Emmanuel Guigon, points out, “it is a multidisciplinary and immersive exhibition; not in the sense of being 3D, as is the case today, but because in addition to the pictorial and sculptural works, many photographs and films from the period are included which give context to the ‘exposure.
He also emphasizes that “the exhibition has extensive documentary support which is reflected in the books, notebooks and publications of people of the moment who speak and profile this environment”. In the exhibition you can see paintings by the famous Picasso, Rusiñol, Casas, Nonell, Anglada Camarassa, Clarà, Casagemas and Sunyer. But also others less known like Eveli Torent, Utrillo, Joan Sala or Gaspar Cassadó.
“In total, there are more than 250 works exhibited, which correspond to 84 artists and come from 59 service providers,” boasts Guigon. He thus wants to reflect the scale of the project, which combines paintings, drawings, sculptures, bibliographical contributions or original scores by Catalan musicians who then lived in Paris, such as Pau Casals, Isaac Albéniz or Enrique Granados. It also offers phonographic material from these artists dating from those years, most of which come from private collections.
Guigon explains that the donors have been very varied and important, such as the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) and the collection of Catalan painters it houses. In turn, it largely belongs to Baroness Thyssen; the museum network of Sitges – a city which welcomed many of these artists on their return to Catalonia after 1914 –, the Mapfre Foundation or the Picasso Museum in Paris, among others.
Between cabaret and poverty
Curator Vinyet Panyella emphasizes that the exhibition aims to show what the urban and human landscape of Paris looked like at that time, describing its daily reality and the lifestyles of the bohemian and artistic Catalan colony. In this way, it brings us closer to the work of these cultural exiles and the difficulties they went through.
The numerous photographs describe the environmental excitement of this era, animated by the new mass leisure activities of the time, embodied in the amusement parks where the bourgeoisie had fun. The films show the main avenues and boulevards of Paris, as well as the atmosphere of the party places. It is for this reason that the exhibition begins in 1889, “because it is the year of the Universal Exhibition in Paris and the moment when Picasso, a great reference for the group, arrives in the city where he will reside for the life”.
From Montmartre to Montparnasse. Catalan artists in Paris, 1889-1914 This also reflects, explains the curator, the moments of leisure of the Catalan colony and their presence in the shows of the moment, in particular the cafes and cabarets, which inspire numerous paintings and drawings, some of which are present in the exhibition. From now on, it does not hide the brothels and especially the prostitutes, represented by Casas, Picasso and other artists.
For Panyella, the story of the exhibition “is twofold: landscapes and people; These are the boulevards and the shows, but also the desperate poor – that Nonell paints –, the bourgeoisie and the washerwomen with their miserable lives – that Sunyer paints – or the suicides. He emphasizes that “this is the vision that these artists had of Paris”.
The “Spaniards”
Finally, the section on “Españoladas” stands out, which works with a folkloric and orientalizing Spanish flavor that reproduces themes from the peninsula. They were in high demand in France in the late 19th century, largely thanks to Bizet’s opera Carmen. The exhibition presents various works in this regard, some with a purely commercial intention, but others, as Panyella points out, of considerable quality. Appointment Tangoa work by Claudi Castelucho painted in 1908 which depicts a dancing flamenco trio.
The “españoladas” section also includes scores of pieces like the following Iberia of Albeniz or Goyesque by Granados, who, although they must be included in Spanish nationalist romantic music, were very well received in Paris. You can also listen to phonograph record recordings from the era.
From Montmartre to Montparnasse in search of cheap rentals
The exhibition cites the name of two of the most popular districts of Paris, because the Catalan colony lived mainly there, but also in the Latin Quarter. The first place they arrive is late 19th-century bohemian Montmartre; the second is Montparnasse, which has established itself as a place linked to art since the beginning of the 20th century.
“Both were extremely poor and dangerous, so the rents were very cheap, ideal for these bohemians who could barely earn a living,” explains Eliseu Trenc, the other curator of the exhibition. In this regard, Trenc reveals that the core of the group had a hard and austere life “because creative freedom took precedence over economic profit”. Even if he points out that not everyone had the same principles.”
The established artists, who at the beginning sacrificed profit for their art and exhibited in Berthe Weil’s gallery, lived in the aforementioned districts, but “the lesser known, who devoted themselves to painting and drawing professionally, settled in the bourgeois neighborhoods, which was where his clients lived.
Many of these lesser-known artists, however, have achieved commercial success. Trenc cites the example of the impressionist Gaspar Cassadó, “whom the municipality of Paris appointed as the city’s official landscape painter and allowed him to paint wherever he wanted.” Also to Joan Sala, “who has become one of the most sought-after portraitists internationally”. In the consecrated section, he assures that few succeeded at the time. The one that had the greatest projection, at least until the emergence of Picasso, was Anglada Camarassa. “It is considered that there were three great Hispanic painters throughout Europe at that time: Anglada-camarasa, Zuloaga and, above all, Sorolla,” explains the curator.
Concerning the most important works of the exhibition, although the curators emphasize that it is an exhibition that can only be explained by its entirety, Panyella wanted to mention the importance of certain works present. Highlights Romantic novel of Rusiñol and The washerwoman from the Belleville districtby Sunyer, which shows the hard work of the washerwomen. Another painting he cites is The white peacock by Anglada Camarassa and, finally, “the three drawings that Josep Clarà made of the dancer Isabella Duncan”.
