Paris, part deux

After the compulsory cafe au lait + croissant breakfast, I headed out early to le grand palais for another exhibition I was beyond excited about, Les Bohèmes. 

An exploration into the sources of the bohemian ideal that has inspired countless artists throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this exhibition covered the subject through the ages, from Roman times to Victor Hugo's Esmerelda in Notre Dame de Paris

Beginning in Roman times, outsiders who lived on the fringes of society were well-documented in writings, drawings, and paintings - they were thought to be from Egypt, hence the name gypsy.

These people were part of Renaissance culture as well...they're captured in Leonardo's grotesque heads sketch - he likely did this as an exercise in sketching faces but it was certainly drawn from direct observation of these mysterious people.

I loved this picture...the details are so amusing! The face of the woman on the far right is incredible and  you have to look closely to see that the man in the center is being pit-pocketed from both sides.

The gypsies were confused with the idea of the bohemian in sixteenth and seventeenth century western Europe...these nomadic, exotic people existed the outside of polite society. Bohemians were actually Christian immigrants from Byzantium and Bohemia. Their darker complexions and distinct dress set them apart. 

Van Gogh painted this gypsy caravan that visited Arles, France, where he lived at the time in the 1880s.

In painting, the bohemian gypsy made a perfect foil to the young, beautiful maiden aesthetically...in these paintings, the gypsy is usually playing the role of traveling fortune-teller.

This idea of a traveling, nomadic existence of a bohemian who didn't adhere to the law was appealing to artists in the nineteenth century. They embraced the idea fully, choosing to exist in poverty in their ateliers and live out the romantic ideal they had of these bohemians...this room in the exhibition was decked out in ripped wallpaper and it was made to look like an attic that a romantic artist would have lived in.

I love this picture...this is a self-portrait of Delacroix, French romantic artist of the nineteenth century who fully embraced this idea (and I wrote my thesis on him!)

The next room explored the whole atelier idea and put paintings on literal easels with drips of paint as if that was where they were painted.

This painting by Van Gogh, Shoes, was exciting to me because I had just read Heidegger, Shapiro, and Derrida's comments on the painting - so neat to see the thing I've been reading about for ages right in front of me! 

This portrait of Charles Baudelaire was also a personal highlight...perhaps my favorite piece of writing of ALL time is Baudelaire's The Painter of Modern Life....

...I think I've read his essay at least 25 times.

The next section had to do with the cafe culture and nightclub culture in Montmartre - this was the original sign from Le Chat Noir.

And this room was set up like an actual cafe! The paintings around the sides showed figures at cafes in Paris - really amazing the effort they put into each room. 

This bohemian artist culture was at its height between the Romantic and Realist periods. The talented, intentionally impoverished, mysterious, romantic individuals no longer appealed to princes for patronage - they indulged in their tortured existence, acting as independent, solitary geniuses in their artistic endeavors. This kind of artist became a heroic figure to writers like Cervantes. 

Both gypsy and the bohemian artist were free spirits, wanderers, social outcasts, elusive, shrewd, secretive misfits...it is no wonder that artists were fascinated by the enchanting gypsies and immigrants from Bohemia. It was such a great opportunity to understand the origins of the idea and why it appealed to these artists we know so well.

Left le grand palais and popped into Shakespeare & Co for a bit to sit and read upstairs...the quirky place is always calm and has interesting books on the shelves (upstairs is a reading room and downstairs a functioning bookshop)

LOVED this bookend...

This is what a reading room should be.

Headed back to the apartment stopping only for a fresh baguette, brie cheese, and a good, dry Bordeaux - perfectly satisfying dinner.