BASED ON THE BOOK BY ANNE SINCLAIR...Rosenberg’s granddaughter, Anne Sinclair, author of 21 Rue La Boétie (published by Editions Grasset & Fasquelle in 2012). The career of Paul

BASED ON THE BOOK BY ANNE SINCLAIR

Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), Anne Sinclair à l’âge de quatre ans, 1952, huile sur toile, 27 x 22 cm, collection particulière © Fondation Foujita / ADAGP, Paris 2017In cover : Fernand Léger, Three Women (Le grand déjeuner), 1921-1922, Museum of Modern Art, New York (Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund) ©ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Photo : The Museum of Modern Art / Scala (2017), Florence

Press Kit I 21 rue La Boétie I Musée Maillol 3

CONTENTS

Page 4

Press release

Page 5

Introductions by Bruno Monnier and Olivier Lorquin

Page 6

Introduction by Anne Sinclair

Page 8

Itinerary of the exhibition

Page 19

Biography of Paul Rosenberg

Page 21

The exhibition team

Page 22

In connection with the exhibition

Page 23

Culturespaces, producer of the exhibition

Page 25

The Musée Maillol

Page 26

Partners of the exhibition

Page 27

Visuals available for the press

Page 31

Practical information

21 RUE LA BOÉTIEInspired by the eponymously-titled book by Anne Sinclair (© Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2012)

PICASSO, MATISSE, BRAQUE, LÉGER...2 MARCH > 23 JULY 2017 AT THE MUSÉE MAILLOL, PARIS

The exhibition 21 Rue La Boétie retraces the remarkable story of Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959), one of the most influential art dealers in the first half of the twentieth century. The exhibition brings together some sixty or so Modern masterpieces, some of which have never before been shown in France (works by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Marie Laurencin, etc.), coming from some of the largest public and private art collections in Europe. Among them: the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Picasso in Paris or the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. Many of the artworks on display have a direct connection to the dealer, having been shown in his galleries in Paris or New York, while others provide a significant insight into the historical and artistic context of the time.

Created by Tempora and produced by Culturespaces, this exhibition benefits from the support of Paul Rosenberg’s granddaughter, Anne Sinclair, author of 21 Rue La Boétie (published by Editions Grasset & Fasquelle in 2012).

The career of Paul Rosenberg, an avid art collector, astute businessman and discerning amateur, friend and agent to some of the biggest artists of his day, allows us to understand from a new perspective the dual turning point that saw the emergence of Modern art, and the shift of the international art scene from Paris to New York against the backdrop of the Second World War.

Combining history and art, social history and politics, the exhibition highlights a crucial time in the twentieth century, of which Paul Rosenberg was an important witness, both an actor and a victim.

The hosting of the exhibition 21 Rue La Boétie by the Musée Maillol is part of their new cultural programme, developed by Culturespaces, focusing on Modern and Contemporary art. It highlights the connections that once existed between Paul Rosenberg and Aristide Maillol, an artist represented by Rosenberg in his gallery.

This exhibition was previously shown at the Musée de La Boverie de Liège, designed and produced by the Belgian cultural agency Tempora and co-curated by Elie Barnavi, Isabelle Benoit, Vincent Delvaux, François Henrard and Benoît Remiche. Elaine Rosenberg, daughter-in-law of Paul Rosenberg, based in New-York, has allowed access to her archives.

PRESS RELEASE


INTRODUCTIONS BY BRUNO MONNIER AND OLIVIER LORQUIN

In line with their modern art programme, Culturespaces pays tribute to Paul Rosenberg, one of the most impor-tant art dealers of the first half of the 20th century. Firstly, we would like to extend our warmest thanks to Anne Sinclair, author of the eponymously-titled book 21 Rue La Boétie (published by Grasset & Fasquelle in 2012), a tribute to her illustrious grandfather. Her involvement and participation have played a key role in the realiza-tion of this exhibition. By allowing us access to their archives, the family played an active role in ensuring the success of this exhibition.

We would also like to thank the following people for the loan of artworks or their collaboration on this project: Mr Bernard Blistène, Director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne; Mr Laurent Lebon, President of the Musée National Picasso; Mr Guy Cogeval, President of the Musée d’Orsay; Mr Lukas Gloor, Director of the Fonda-tion Collection E. G. Bührle; Ms Ulrike Kretzschmar, Director of the Deutsches Historisches Museum; Mr Glen Lowry, Director of MoMA, and Mr David Nahmad. A sincere thank you to all of those mentioned, as well as to the private collectors whose enthusiasm and generosity have allowed us to put together this extensive exhibi-tion of artworks.

Bruno MonnierPresident of Culturespaces

I am delighted to welcome to the Musée Maillol the exhibition, 21 Rue La Boétie, inspired by the memories of Anne Sinclair on the subject of her grandfather Paul Rosenberg, recounted in her book of the same name.

The Paul Rosenberg Gallery in Paris, and later in New York, was an iconic art venue. Paul Rosenberg was much more than a mere art dealer: he was a veritable visionary with an unwavering faith in the potential of his contem-poraries like Matisse and Picasso.

My mother Dina Vierny knew Paul Rosenberg well. He owned many works by Maillol. They remained in contact by letter and visited each other during their trips to Paris and New York. The highlight of this friendship and mutual respect was the large monographic exhibition of Aristide Maillol’s work in the United States, on display in a number of venues, organized by the artist and Paul Rosenberg’s son, Alexandre. The exhibition opened at Paul Rosenberg’s New York gallery and travelled for two years, from 1958 to 1960, and was shown at several of the country’s biggest museums.

Dina Vierny and Paul Rosenberg shared a mutual love of the arts and spent their lives promoting the work of artists. I am certain that my mother would be both happy and proud, as I myself am, to welcome to this founda-tion that bears the name of Aristide Maillol, an exhibition that pays tribute to his friend, the great Paul Rosenberg.

I would like to thank the following people for the generous loan of numerous artworks: Mr Guy Cogeval, President of the Musée d’Orsay; Mr Bernard Blistène, Director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, and Ms Anne Sinclair and Mr Elie Barnavi, exhibition curator, who had selected the Musée Maillol as the venue for this exhibition before it became a reality.

Olivier LorquinPresident of Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol

INTRODUCTION BY ANNE SINCLAIR

It required many coincidences for the exhibition 21 Rue La Boétie to see the light of day. The desire to pay tribute to a grandfather who passed away more than fifty years ago. The success of a book of the same name, translated in many countries, at a time when the search for an identity is of great concern to citizens. The proposal by Tempora to create and produce an ambitious exhibition and the agreement with La Boverie in Liège to stage it. And finally, the offer from the Maillol Museum to host the exhibition and provide a prestigious location for a voyage through art and history. A good omen, for although the museum is situated on the opposite bank of the Seine to Rue La Boétie, it bears the name of the sculptor who was my grandfather’s friend.

I must confess that I was sceptical; in a single exhibition area, how would it be possible to depict the adventure of modern art, to portray the art market of yesteryear, and to express all this with the progression of momentous historic events that touched my family, albeit less tragically than so many others who were massacred in the turmoil of the Second World War?

How to keep in sight the overriding objective of paying homage to Paul Rosenberg’s vision and passion for the art of his era? And how to meet this goal by means of paintings that were once on display in his gallery, accompanied by a rigorous historical reconstruction of the years 1920 to 1960?

It took the talent of Benoît Remiche and Élie Barnavi to convince me, but above all to imagine and reconstruct this journey starting from the life of an art gallery, before the war, in Paris. It took all of Tempora’s know-how, particularly that of François Henrard, Vincent Delvaux and Isabelle Benoît, to sift through the infinite number of works of art in museums, galleries and private collections throughout the world to identify those paintings that had once upon a time sojourned at the gallery 21 rue La Boétie. More than this, Tempora arranged for their loan, and then devised decors, reconstructions and a scenography that would recreate the itinerary of Paris / New York / Paris which Paul Rosenberg, amid the turmoil of history, inscribed on modern art and his beloved paintings.

This exhibition is not mine, it is theirs. I have merely provided my advice and my own research in support of their immense work. But this tribute touches me profoundly. Paul, my grandfather, was a discreet man who was more interested in a dialogue with «his» painters and «his» paintings than with those who would flatter him and talk about him. He would never have imagined that a prestigious Parisian museum would honour him with a commemoration, or that all the collections solicited to lend their paintings not only responded favourably but made it a point of honour to lend their finest works, out of respect for this man who had so much concern for the art of his time and was so generous with the French And American museums to whom he donated many paintings by the masters.

Even though he had to flee the Nazis in his own country, in his own city, Paul Rosenberg would never have imagined the terrible irony of history that saw his house turned into a degrading den where art had once been enthroned in majesty. In point of fact, 21 rue La Boétie was requisitioned by the occupation authorities in 1941 to serve as the headquarters of the infamous Institute for the Study of Jewish Affairs, which created and organised violent anti-Semitic propaganda specifically for the Propagandastaffel, otherwise known as the Gestapo.

It is also this mixture of historical accidents which prompted Élie Barnavi, a former diplomat but above all an eminent historian, professor of modern Western history at the University of Tel Aviv, to undertake this journey. And the purpose of this exhibition is to tell this story.

Let us quickly take a look at the origins of the profession of gallery owner. A newcomer, this merchant acts as an intermediary between the artist and the public who buys his works. We are no longer in the age of patrons, kings or princes, who sponsored the artists of their time, but in an era of democratisation and commerce of works of art, which has need of a go-between. This was the case of Paul Rosenberg. Initiated by his father, for a time associated with his brother Leonce, himself a discoverer of many artists particularly the Cubists, he opened his gallery with audacity in 1910, in a neighbourhood which at the time was popular with merchants. As he said himself, he was at first «tormented by the idea of selling paintings he did not like», that’s to say, the landscape painters of the Barbizon school. Very soon he started to buy Impressionists, then, at the end of the First World War, he embarked on modern art

It was at this time that he met Pablo Picasso and formed an intense relationship of friendship and proximity, both personal and professional. At the Picasso Museum in Paris, I have been able to consult the two hundred and fourteen letters that my grandfather addressed to him between 1918 and 1940, and again from 1945 after the tragic interruption of the war, until Paul Rosenberg’s death in 1959. The inter-war period was the golden age of his gallery, which was one of the top places for exhibiting works of art in Paris.


Passers-by mocked what they saw in the window, for the way of life was very different from that which we know today, where contemporary art is both appreciated and speculative. This was by no means the case at the time, and Braque’s abstractions, Léger’s cubism, Matisse’s colours, and Picasso’s tortured faces were of little interest.

In the same era, sensing the growth of art and the trans-Atlantic market, my grandfather wanted to evangelise to the Americans and share his passion with them. The correspondence between Paul and the artists for whose works he had a «first option» reveals the lack of understanding in a continent which, since the fifties and sixties and in part thanks to him, has become the temple of contemporary art.

Then came the agitated times of the thirties, Hitler’s coming to power and his desire to eradicate what the Nazis called «degenerate art», far away from the academic art which to their taste best celebrated the almighty Germany. Before the war, in 1939, the Germans wanted to rid their museums of modern art and a memorable sale of paintings took place in Lucerne.

Many collectors saw it as a windfall, but certain museums wanted to put their works into safe keeping.

With the escalation of events, the Rosenberg family had to flee. Alexander, who was later to succeed his father as director of the gallery in New York, departed for London at the age of eighteen for the duration of the war, joining the Free France movement and the 2nd Armoured Division of General, and future Marshal, Leclerc. Paul, his wife Marguerite, his daughter Micheline - my mother – travelled across Spain and Portugal and had the good fortune to arrive without a hitch in New York where my grandfather would later open a gallery. Meanwhile, the Nazis occupied France, deported the Jews, plundered the works of art and subjected 21 rue La Boétie to the fate that we now know.

Stripped of his citizenship by the Vichy government, as were so many French Jews, Paul knew nothing about the theft of his paintings, and the ransacking of both his ruined gallery and the bank vault where he had stored many canvasses. The story of how works of art were plundered throughout occupied Europe is becoming a better known chapter of the Second World War. It is probably the last step in bringing these events to light, beginning with the occupation of European countries, the massacre of men, women, children, and the pillage of everything that was not Germanic art glorifying the Reich. In the same way, the story of how these paintings were recovered is starting to become better known. One example, which we see here, is Blue profile in front of the chimney by Matisse.It was necessary to rebuild, start again and continue. My grandfather had the good fortune to be able to do so and to witness the migration of artists and the art market from the old continent to the new.

It is this story that the exhibition portrays, that the Maillol Museum enthusiastically welcomes, and which offers a precious tribute to my grandfather.

It is this story, which is that of my family, and which, from September 2016 in Liège and from March 2017 in Paris, slips away from me and becomes more «official». It is this story that visitors will discover.The story of avant-garde painting that has now become mainstream. The story of a vanished world, of a distant history, and of a man, Paul Rosenberg, my grandfather, who, for them, will return to life in his gallery, at 21 rue La Boétie.

Anne Sinclair

Entête de papier à lettre de la galerie de Paul Rosenberg, années 1920 © Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York

THE EXHIBITION CONTINUED

MANIFESTO

‘21 Rue de la Boétie’ is a Parisian address, the title of a book, and now that of an exhibition.

The address was that of the gallery of Paul Rosenberg, the famous art dealer who worked between the two world wars. The book (published by Grasset, 2012) was written in tribute to his memory by his granddaughter, the journalist Anne Sinclair.The exhibition is based on the book, and studies the history of art and world history, by focusing on his gallery in the first half of the twentieth century.

The career of this exceptional man—an experienced businessman and enlightened collector—would be enough in itself to warrant a major exhibition. However, living in the period of immense upheaval between two cataclysmic world wars made him an important witness of a point in history that had a phenomenal impact on him, both as an actor and a victim.

An indefatigable promoter of modern art, he was the friend and representative of the most prestigious artists of the times, such as Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Léger, and Marie Laurencin, amongst others. He acted as a bridge between the two sides of the Atlantic and was instrumental in forging the American taste for modern art.

An impotent spectator of Nazi barbarism, who was exiled and stripped of French nationality by the Vichy government, and whose gallery was turned into a centre for anti-Semitic propaganda by the Gestapo, he was the witness and protagonist of a key moment in art history: the shift of the centre of gravity of the art market from Europe to the United States, and from Paris to New York. Lastly, he played a key role in another drama that continues to this day: the restitution of spoliated works of art.

“I will soon open a modern art gallery at number 21, rue La Boétie, where I shall hold periodic exhibitions of works by the 19th century Masters and painters from our epoch. I believe that one of the flaws of current exhibitions is to show a single artist’s work in isolation. Therefore, I intend to organize in my gallery, group exhibitions of Decorative Art. Many people, who are unsure of their taste or that of the Artists, independently, will see their job facilitated by

being able to enjoy in a single glance the close reunion of all of the Arts in the atmosphere of a private home.”

Paul Rosenberg, circa 1914 (family archives)

Paul Rosenberg in his gallery, before 1914 © Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York


1- A DYNASTY OF GALLERY OWNERS

The nineteenth century saw the emergence of the profession of art dealer, who was an entrepreneur, a discoverer of talented artists, and an intermediary between the artist and the bourgeois society that acquired the works. The central character of a dynasty of gallery owners, which began with his father and continued over successive generations, Paul Rosenberg (1881–1959) was a leading protagonist in this story.

Having come from Slovakia in 1878, Alexandre Rosenberg, the father of Paul and Léonce, began trading in art and antiques in Paris. Paul (1881–1959) and his older brother Léonce (1878–1947) began their careers working for their father in his gallery on the Avenue de l’Opéra and they pursued the activity jointly between 1906 and 1910. Léonce became the art dealer for the cubist painters. His gallery, “L’Effort Moderne”, located at 19, Rue de La Baume, was a forerunner and brought together the avant-garde artists of the time: Fernand Léger, Metzinger, Gris, and Le Corbusier.

In 1910, Paul Rosenberg opened a gallery in his own name at 21, Rue de La Boétie. At the time, he had already acquired considerable expertise, which he had learned from the family business. Furthermore, he had an important stock of Impressionist pictures inherited from his father, as well as a vast network of contacts. After the end of the ‘Great War’, Paul Rosenberg began to work with Picasso. At that point, he had already decided on the modern artists whom he nevertheless intended to place in the lineage of the French pictorial tradition.

With his pioneering approach and anticipating the growing influence of the United States, Paul founded a company in partnership with Georges Wildenstein in 1923 in New York.

In 1936, buoyed by this success, Paul Rosenberg opened another branch in London, at 31, Bruton Street, with his brother-in-law Jacques Helft, a famous Parisian antique dealer.

The gallery at 21, Rue La Boétie was requisitioned in May 1941 to house the newly founded Institute for the Study of Jewish Affairs (‘Institut d’Étude des Questions Juives’ or IEQJ). Exiled in 1941 in New York, Paul opened a gallery on 16 East 57th Street, New York. In 1953, the Gallery was transferred to 20 East 79th Street, and was managed by Paul Rosenberg’s son, Alexandre.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)Portrait of Madame Rosenberg and her daughter, 1918 Oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm,Musée Picasso Paris (Gift by Miche-line Rosenberg, 2008)© Succession Picasso 2017 © RMN - Grand Palais musée Picasso de Paris) - © Thierry Le Mage

Jean Metzinger, Portrait of Léonce Rosenberg in colonial soldier’s uniform,1924, graphite on paper, 50 x 36,5 cm,Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle (Bequest from Lucienne Rosenberg, 1995)© ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Photo : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais - © Philippe Migeat

Georges Braque (1882-1963), Fruit on a Tablecloth, 1924, Oil on canvas, 31,5 x 65,5 cm, Fondation Collection E.G. Bührle, Zurich© ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Fondation Collection E. G. Bührle, Zurich

2 - THE ROSENBERG SYSTEM

Working in a harsh and ferociously competitive milieu, Paul Rosenberg was one of the most influential art dealers of his day. He owed his success to the painters he chose to back and his rigorous management of his business.

The Rosenberg approach was based on four principles:1. He focused on the safe ‘bet’ of modern art, by reassuring his clientele with offers of nineteenth-century works.2. He established a network of wealthy European and American clients. He was one of the first dealers to grasp the significance of the American market and went regularly to the United States to advise the new provincial museums that were springing up.3. He used all the contemporary means at his disposal to promote his artists: the publication of catalogues, monographic exhibitions, advertisements in papers, participation in salons, and organizing charitable exhibitions.4. Lastly, he organized a whole succession of exhibitions, which enabled him to be constantly present on the art market. In 1936 alone, there were exhibitions of the work of Georges Braque (January), Seurat (February), Picasso (March), Monet (April), and Matisse (May), as well as an exhibition devoted to the nineteenth-century masters during the summer and a group exhibition of twelve modern artists at the end of the year. These exhibitions were rather formal, but spectacular, and were important events in the period between the two world wars.

3 - A LINK BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY

Paul Rosenberg acted as a go-between, organising meetings between Renoir and Picasso. The latter had great admiration for his elder confrère, whose paintings, which he had seen at Rosenberg’s, had a lasting influence on his work.

Paul gave his artists all the freedom they required to be able to pursue their aesthetic quests. He supported in equal measure experiments with abstraction and the ‘Return to Order’ (advocated by Jean Cocteau), and artists such as Picasso and Braque. At that time, after the excesses of the avant-garde artists and the cataclysm of the Great War, there was a new desire for a return to classical ideals.

Paul skilfully tempered the boldness of the modern artists exhibited in the large ground-floor room with a presentation on the first floor of Impressionist painters and the masters of the Barbizon school, who were more popular at the time. It was a clever way to reassure collectors with more conservative artistic tastes.



4 - HERITAGE OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS

Thanks to his father’s legacy and his acquisitions, Paul Rosenberg had a large collection of nineteenth-century works. On the first floor of his gallery, he displayed many paintings by the great masters of French painting: Delacroix, Ingres, Corot, Courbet, the landscape painters of the Barbizon school, and a large selection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists who, in the 1920s, were extremely popular with the general public.

With support from his brother-in-law, Jacques Helft, the famous Parisian antique dealer, he hung the paintings between items of antique furniture and marquetry in order to demonstrate to potential collectors the effect the paintings would have inside their bourgeois interiors. The strategy paid off, because Paul Rosenberg’s business flourished in the period between the two wars.

5 - ART AT THE SERVICE OF NATIONAL SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY

As soon as the Nazis came to power, modern art was officially defined by Hitler and his followers as a ‘product of Jewish degeneration’, and was attacked as such.

For the Nazis, art was not merely an aesthetic pendant of their ideology, nor was it simply a propaganda tool amongst others; it was an essential tool, which they believed forged ‘the soul of the master race’. Hence, it was part and parcel of the Nazi regime’s Weltanschauung (world vision).

The notion of ‘degenerate art’ was devised by Goebbels to designate any artistic works that did not correspond to Nazi criteria. This conception was based on the theory of racial purity, which was central to the Nazis’ world vision. It designated almost all modern art as the product of the ‘monstrous couple of Bolshevism and international Jewry’. Hence, the artistic policy implemented in Germany as early as January 1933 comprised two distinct parts:

The pillory of modern art. In total, between 16,000 and 20,000 works were removed from German museums and sold, exchanged, or burned.

The promotion of ‘Aryan’ art. As of 1937, the policy aimed at ‘educating’ the German people comprised two series of exhibitions—one about ‘degenerate art’, and other about ‘German art’.

This presentation of works with similar themes executed by painters who sympathized with the Nazi regime and the masters of modern art, considered by the Nazis, as ‘degenerate’, contrasted two very different visions of the world.

Exposition de maîtres du XIXe siècle au 21 rue La Boétie, parmi les meubles de style© Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York

Alfred Sisley, La route de Versailles, 1875, huile sur toile, 47 x 38 cm, Musée d‘Orsay, Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

Alfred Höhn (1875- ?), Junge Frau (Young Woman),1939 ?, oil on canvas, 78 x 54 cm,Deutsches Historisches Museum, Collection Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin© Deutsches Historisches Museum, Collection Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin/© Photo : I. Desnica

Paul Junghanns (1876-1958/9 ?), Frühsommertage (Matin d’été),

Before 1944, oil on canvas, 155 x 266 cmDeutsches Historisches Museum,

Collection Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin© Deutsches Historisches Museum, Collection

Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin/© Photo : I. Desnica

6 - THE ‘GREAT EXHIBITION OF GERMAN ART, 1937, MUNICH

The ‘Great Exhibition of German Art’ (‘Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung’) was held for the first time in 1937, in Munich, at the same time as the exhibition devoted to ‘degenerate art’. It inaugurated a new House of German Art (‘Haus der deutschen Kunst’), which was established to showcase art that reflected the National Socialist vision of the world. After a call for artists to submit their works, 5,000 were selected.

The inauguration took place on 16 July 1937, the day of the annual ceremony of the ‘Day of German Art’ (‘Tag der deutschen Kunst’), involving an enormous urban procession that celebrated two thousand years of German culture, interpreted according to Nazi ide The ‘Great Exhibition of German Art’ (‘Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung’) was held for the first time in 1937, in Munich, at the same time as the exhibition devoted to ‘degenerate art’. It inaugurated a new House of German Art (‘Haus der deutschen Kunst’), which was established to showcase art that reflected the National Socialist vision of the world. After a call for artists to submit their works, 5,000 were selected. The inauguration took place on 16 July 1937, the day of the annual ceremony of the ‘Day of German Art’ (‘Tag der deutschen Kunst’), involving an enormous urban procession that celebrated two thousand years of German culture, interpreted according to Nazi ideology.

The exhibition lasted for two months and was held each year until 1944. Hundreds of artists presented their paintings and sculptures, which evoked themes such as rural life, virility, maternal purity, and military might. These were sales exhibitions. There was also an exchange programme (Austauschaktion), which was implemented until all the works were sold. Hitler himself acquired numerous works. ology.

The exhibition lasted for two months and was held each year until 1944. Hundreds of artists presented their paintings and sculptures, which evoked themes such as rural life, virility, maternal purity, and military might. These were sales exhibitions. There was also an exchange programme (Austauschaktion), which was implemented until all the works were sold. Hitler himself acquired numerous works.

7 - THE EXHIBITION OF ‘DEGENERATE ART’ MUNICH, 1937

Between 1937 and 1941, the Munich exhibition ‘Entartete kunst’ (‘Degenerate Art’) was presented in 12 cities and was viewed by over 3.2 million visitors, 2 million of whom in Munich. The considerable number of visitors attested to the mass indoctrination generated by the Nazi propaganda machine.The exhibition presented 700 works originating from 28 cities and 32 museums. Works by 112 ‘Jewish’ artists or artists ‘infected by Jewish’ values—artists whose works fulfilled the criteria established by the Nazis to identify works that reflected a ‘Jewish’ conception of the world—were exhibited.



Franz Marc (1880-1916) Pferde auf der Weide (Chevaux au pâturage), 1910,Tempera sur papier collé sur carton, 61,5 x 82 cmMusée des Beaux-Arts / La Boverie, Liège© Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ville de Liège

The Nazis therefore ‘forbade young people’ from seeing the exhibition. The exhibition was arranged thematically: Jewish art, women, the family, depravity, anarchism, madness, and so on. Each label featured the date of the work, the price paid for the work by the German museums, and the statement ‘paid for by the German taxpayers’. The exhibition aimed to discredit all the proponents of modernism, the artists, and the art dealers—including Paul Rosenberg—, the curators, and the museums.

However, in the official German Art Exhibition, organised by the Nazis in Munich in 1937, neither the acquisition price nor the date of each work’s creation featured on the paintings. Indeed, many of the works selected as examples of ‘official German art’ dated from the period of the Weimar Republic, which undermined the theory of the artistic renewal that was supposed to accompany the emergence of the Nazi regime.

8- THE LUCERNE AUCTION, 30 JUNE 1939

A large number of works were destroyed in the auto-da-fés of 1939, and others were sold to the highest bidder. However, most of the auctioned works were sold for far less than their worth.

On 30 June 1939, the Nazi Propaganda Ministry’s ‘valorisation committee’ organised an auction in Lucerne that brought together dealers, collectors, and American, Belgian, Swiss, English, French, Dutch, and Swedish museum directors. Mandated by the Nazis, Theodor Fischer, the owner of the eponymous gallery, conducted the auction on the basis that his gallery was ‘the only one still run by an Aryan’. The catalogue included 125 works (109 paintings and 16 sculptures) executed by avant-garde artists.

Paul Rosenberg advised his colleagues to desist from buying works whose sales proceeds ‘will fall on us later as bombs’. Few paid heed to his pleas. Museums, such as those of Liège and Basel, took part in the auction, enabling them to enrich their collections with less expensive acquisitions, while saving the works from potential destruction.

In February 1940, Paul Rosenberg fled with his family to Floirac, near Bordeaux. At the time, many paintings from his collection were already abroad, including a large number of works by Picasso exhibited in the New York retrospective of November 1939, and canvases sent to his gallery in Bruton Street, London. However, more than three hundred works remained in Paris and near Bordeaux, as well as his library and archives.

Part of the collection was registered in the name of the brother-in-law of his driver, Louis Le Gall, thereby protecting it from the greedy eyes of the occupying forces. Paul Rosenberg placed the remaining 162 pictures in a safe in the National Bank for Commerce and Industry in Libourne. On 15 September 1940, the Germans looted the villa at Floirac after a denunciation by Parisian confrères. A year later, they seized the entire collection that had been locked away in Libourne.


9- THE EXILE OF PAUL ROSENBERG

The gallery 21 rue La Boétie during an exhibition dedicated to Georges Braque© Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York

10 - THE DESECRATED GALLERY: THE ‘INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JEWISH AFFAIRS’

Occupation, exile, liberation, repatriation Paul Rosenberg and his family experienced the upheavals that many French people underwent in these pivotal years of the twentieth century. His experience transcended that of any specific individual: between Paris and New York, he was the protagonist of a key moment in the history of the modern art market.

Looted in July 1940 on the orders of the Reich’s ambassador to France, Otto Abetz, and subsequently ‘Aryanised’ under the direction of a certain Octave Duchez, the ‘Parisian Florence’ at 21, Rue La Boétie was requisitioned in May 1941 in order to house the new ‘Institute for the Study of Jewish Affairs’ (IEQJ). An agency of the Gestapo funded by the German embassy’s propaganda department, it was run by Captain Paul Sézille, a Frenchman who was a virulent anti-Semite.

The Institute became a rallying point for all the ‘Nazified French people’ in Paris, including Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who continually bemoaned what he saw as the ‘lack of importance’ given to his anti-Jewish literature. The IEQJ, which published a journal entitled Le Cahier jaune, focused exclusively on the dissemination of anti-Semitic propaganda. A tragic symbol of the collaboration and an irony of history, this temple devoted to art became, by the will of the occupying forces, the venue par excellence for racial hate.


At the beginning of the Occupation, in May 1940, the German authorities organised—with the help of French people who collaborated with Nazi Germany—a vast operation to confiscate Jewish property and, in particular, works of art. The major collectors and art dealers, including Paul Rosenberg, were the first to be targeted.

With the help of the French authorities that collaborated with the Germans, the extensive spoliation of Jewish property was carried out with remarkable efficiency throughout the occupation of Paris, from June 1940 to August 1944. Jewish property was confiscated and handed over to ‘Aryan’ administrators, and the art collections were spoliated.

According to a German report, dating from 15 July 1944, at the very end of the Occupation, 22,000 objects of art originating from over two hundred collections—including that of Paul Rosenberg—had been seized. Less prominent art dealers took the place of those in exile and a whole network of shady middlemen facilitated the occupying forces’ grip on the art market.

Two rival Nazi administrations were responsible for the spoliation of Jewish property

From the outset, two groups competed for the spoliated works of art. On the one hand, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his ambassador in Paris, Otto Abetz, and, on the other hand, Hermann Göring and Alfred Rosenberg and their task force, the ERR (Reich Leader Rosenberg’s Special Task Force), under the direction of Kurt Von Behr (1890–1945) in Paris.

A part of the NSDAP’s office of foreign affairs, managed as of 1933 by Alfred Rosenberg (1893–1946), the ERR carried out (as of 1940) extensive confiscations of property belonging to Jews and freemasons in the territories occupied by the Wehrmacht.

Objects of art confiscated in more than fifty different locations were presented in seven exhibitions in the Jeu de Paume, with the aim of giving Alfred Rosenberg and Hermann Göring, with whom the ERR collaborated closely in Paris, an overview of all the valuable objects that were confiscated. In mid-1941, the ERR’s mission in France had practically been completed. According to the report, 21,903 objects had been seized in 203 interventions. Thanks to the initiative of Rose Valland, an assistant curator at the Jeu de Paume, a detailed inventory was drawn up of the works that were transferred and their locations between 1940 and 1944.

11- THE GREAT THEFT

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Bather and Bathers, 1920-21Oil on canvas, 54 cm x 81 cm, Collection David Nahmad, Monaco© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo: Collection David Nahmad, Monaco

Henri Matisse (1869-1954), The Piano Lesson,1923 Oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm,Private collection© Succession H. Matisse


The victims

Two groups were targeted in particular: the leading collectors (Alphonse Kann, the Rothschilds, David-Weill, Weil-Picard, Schloss, and so on.) and the art dealers (Georges Wildenstein, the Bernheim brothers, the Seligmann brothers, and, of course, Paul Rosenberg).

The works

Two categories of works were stored in the Jeu de Paume. Most of the museum contained so-called ‘classical’ works, which were deemed to be in ‘conformity’ with the official art criteria established by the Nazi regime. These works were destined to become part of Hitler’s private collections or those of Göring, which were housed in his Carinhall estate, or were sent to the Austrian city of Linz, where the Führer wished to build the largest museum in the world.The modern works that were deemed to be ‘degenerate’ were stored in the ‘Salle des Martyrs’.

The locations

The Musée du Louvre was sequestered and then emptied of its collections. Only the statues were left in place. The German administration stored and listed the works spoliated in the exhibition rooms.The Jeu de Paume became the principal centre for the storage and sorting of the spoliated works, and was managed by the ERR.

The sequence of events

Two historical events forming a counterpoint punctuated the development of the large-scale Nazi confiscation of works of art and the importance that was subsequently given to the so-called ‘official’ German art. They both took place in the Jeu de Paume:- The auto-da-fé of 27 July 1941: ‘degenerate’ works were burned in one of the museum’s interior courtyards.- The presentation of the exhibition of official German art, entitled ‘L’art du front’, in November 1941: works were exhibited by painters and sculptors who admired the Luftwaffe. The aim was to acknowledge the role played by the Luftwaffe pilots in the transportation and safe transfer of the works that were spoliated and sent to Germany. The Normandy landings and the advance of the allied troops hastened the Nazis’ retreat from the occupied territories. The Germans began to empty the Musée du Jeu de Paume. The last convoy, containing 148 boxes of works of modern art (by Picasso, Matisse, Léger, Braque, Masson, and so on), was derailed in the Parisian suburbs. An assistant curator in the museum, Rose Valland drew up an inventory that was as comprehensive as possible of the spoliated works, which proved crucial for the retrieval of the works before the Liberation and their subsequent recuperation.


Paul Rosenberg’s gallery in New York, 57e street © Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York

12 - NEW YORK, AMERICAN REFUGE.

The war in Europe emptied the Old Continent of its elite families, enriching America. Paul Rosenberg was one of the many members of this elite who found refuge in the United States. After a stopover in Lisbon, he arrived with his family in New York on 20 September 1940.

Unlike other exiles, he was acquainted with the city; he had already had the opportunity of working there and had a number of good friends, such as the influential director of the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred H. Barr. Sensing the impending conflict, Paul Rosenberg had had the foresight to disperse part of his collection throughout the world during the pre-war period. He was therefore able to open an art gallery in Manhattan soon after his arrival. He discovered that he had been stripped of his French nationality, by a decree of 23 February 1942, in New York—a humiliation that he never forgot and could not come to terms with, like many French Jews who suffered the same fate. The family played an active role in the Allied war effort: Paul Rosenberg, his wife, and his daughter Micheline contributed to the effort in New York, and their son Alexandre served in the armed forces in the African campaign, and subsequently during the Liberation of France in the Free French Forces.

13 - THE LIBERATION AND THE BATTLE TO RETRIEVE THE WORKS

After the war and the spoliation of the works, came the time to recover them. Paul Rosenberg embarked on a long battle to retrieve his stolen property—a story with many twists and turns that has still not ended.

Having returned from exile, Paul Rosenberg did not hesitate to go and see unscrupulous confrères whom he knew possessed works that had been stolen from his gallery or the villa at Floirac. In the absence of proof that would formally identify them (some of his archives were lost when he fled the Old Continent), it was sometimes difficult for him to retrieve his property.

Many works are therefore still missing or reappear periodically and quite randomly. An example is Henri Matisse’s Seated Woman, which was discovered in 2012 during a search of the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a leading art dealer who was active during the Third Reich, and who had been designated by the Nazi regime to sell spoliated Jewish property. One thousand four hundred and six paintings and master drawings were discovered by the police in his Munich flat, including a large number of stolen works. Seated Woman was restored to the Rosenberg family in 2015.

A memoir published in 1961, entitled Le Front de l’art, attests to the resistance work carried out by this exceptional woman.

14- PAUL ROSENBERG: A VISIONARY GALLERY OWNER IN NEW YORK

Like many artists, intellectuals, scientists, and writers who fled war-torn Europe, Paul Rosenberg arrived with his family in New York on 20 September 1940. Acquainted with the city, he foresaw, at the beginning of the 1920s, the increase in the economic power of the United States and the emergence of New York as an artistic capital. He held the first exhibition devoted to Pablo Picasso in America in 1923. Paul Rosenberg also had some close friends, notably the influential director of the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred Barr, who acquired Le Déjeuner by Fernand Léger, through the art dealer.

Possessing a stock of works that had been stored in safety during the conflict, he set up a gallery on 57th Street soon after his arrival. Paul Rosenberg continued to present works by modern artists. During the war, he focused on the oeuvre of Jean Hélion, an artist who was already well known in New York since the 1930s. In June 1953, Nicolas de Staël signed an exclusive contract drawn up by Rosenberg for the United States. Several months later, Paul Rosenberg inaugurated the exhibition ‘Recent Paintings by Nicolas de Staël’ (8 February–6 March 1954) in his New York gallery. The painting Fleurs blanches et jaunes was given pride of place, above the gallery’s reception desk. Lastly, in 1958, Paul Rosenberg organised a major itinerant exhibition across the United States, devoted to the work of the sculptor Aristide Maillol.

Nicolas de Staël Fleurs blanches et jaunes, 1953 Oil on canvas, 130 x 89 cm Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Genève, Suisse. Courtesy Galerie Applicat-Prazan, Paris© ADAGP, Paris 2017© Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Genève. Photo : Sandra Pointet


BIOGRAPHY OF PAUL ROSENBERG

An immigrant from Slovakia in 1878, Alexandre Rosenberg, the father of Paul and Léonce, began a career in art and antiques in Paris.

Paul (1881-1959) and his older brother Léonce (1878-1947) began their respective careers working for their father in his gallery on the avenue de l’Opéra and oversaw its succession from 1906 to 1910. Léonce became a dealer of Cubist artworks. His gallery L’Effort Moderne, at number 19 rue de La Baume, was a pioneering venue and exhibited many avant-garde artists of the day.

In 1910, Paul opened a gallery in his own name at number 21, rue La Boétie in Paris.

In 1936, having built up a successful career, Paul Rosenberg opened a new branch in London, at number 31, Bruton Street, with his brother-in-law Jacques Helft, a famous Parisian antiques dealer. In 1941, Paul opened a gallery in New-York at 16 East 57th Street.

Paul Rosenberg died in 1959.

Already involved in the running of the gallery, Paul’s son Alexandre took over the reins at 20 East 79th Street, New-York (Paul had moved the gallery to this location in 1953).

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Portrait of Paul Rosenberg, 1918-1919, Graphite on paper, 35,6 x 25,4 cm,Private collection© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo: Studio Sebert / Galerie Troubetzkoy

Paul Rosenberg, présentant un tableau de Renoir à Somerset Maugham © Archives Paul Rosenberg & Co, New York


THE EXHIBITION TEAM

PROGRAMMING: SOPHIE HOVANESSIAN

Sophie Hovanessian worked as director of Paris Musées and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux before being made administrator of the Musée Jacquemart-André. Since 2010, she has been the director of cultural programming and exhibitions at Culturespaces.

Agnès Wolff, head of exhibitions, Sixtine de Saint-Léger, exhibitions manager for the Musée Maillol and Camila Souyri, régisseur at Culturespaces, have also played an important role in the organization and realization of this exhibition.

CURATED BY TEMPORA

Tempora is now a major player in the design, production, promotion and management of (cultural, historical or scientific) exhibitions as well as of cultural attractions.

Founded in 1998 by Benoît Remiche and Elie Barnavi, the company now employs some forty or so employees. Tempora has built up a strong track record, organising memorable cultural events in both Belgium and abroad, as well as designing numerous museums and permanent exhibition spaces.

The two main features of Tempora are:

- its unique capacities of «ensemblier» which enable it to create and develop exhibition projects;

- the internationalization of its activities through the development of exhibitions intended to travel (often making Brussels a first station), and its involvement in the development of permanent exhibition paths abroad.

Tempora’s approach is based on a number of values: respect for places and their history; the enhancement of collections; the search for a balance between play, aesthetics and rigorous respect for scientific achievements; cultural access to the largest number and pedagogical concern, all in a European and humanistic spirit.

SCENOGRAPHY: HUBERT LE GALL

Hubert Le Gall is a French designer, creator and sculptor of contemporary art. Since 2000 he has produced original scenographies for exhibitions.https://hubertlegall.wordpress.com/

The scenography of the exhibition 21 rue La Boétie proposed by Hubert Le Gall will recreate the atmosphere of Paul Rosenberg’s art gallery and will include archive documents that illustrate this vital chapter in the history of 20th century art.

IN CONNECTION WITH THE EXHIBITION

THE CATALOGUE

On the occasion of the exhibition 21 rue La Boétie Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Léger, Culturespaces and Hazan have published a catalogue of 280 pages containing all the works on display. Combining the history of art, society and politics, the book, which features 150 illustrations, highlights a crucial moment of the twentieth century, of which Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959) was an emblematic witness, actor and victim. This catalogue also invites us to rediscover the singular journey of Paul Rosenberg who was one of the greatest art dealers of the first half of the 20th century.On sale at the Maillol museum bookshop, price €30, and online at www.boutique-culturespaces.com.

CONNAISSANCE DES ARTS SPECIAL ISSUE

The special issue of Connaissance des Arts (Knowledge of the Arts) retraces the history of Paul Rosenberg via an interview with Anne Sinclair, his granddaughter and author of the eponymous book 21 rue La Boétie. It presents the main themes that are covered by the event: a life in the service of modern art, Paul Rosenberg among the art dealers of the twentieth century, despoliation and restitution. On sale at the gift shop of the Maillol museum, price €9.50.

THE JOURNAL OF THE EXHIBITION - BEAUX ARTS MAGAZINE

The «Journal of the exhibition» Beaux-Arts magazine recounts Paul Rosenberg’s extraordinary journey, which traverses the turbulent history of the twentieth-century. Covering the legacy of the Impressionists, the works of the great masters of modern art, the confrontation between so-called «degenerate» art and «official art», the exhibition invites us on a journey through the history of twentieth century art, in the light of the great events of the period. On sale at the bookstore: price €5.

BROCHURE OF THE VISIT

Available at the entrance of the museum, this leaflet offers a step by step guide along the route of the exhibition and allows you to enrich your visit with a general presentation of each room. On sale at the museum: price €1.

GUIDED VISIT ON IPHONE/IPAD AND ANDROID

This application, available in both French and English, provides a video presentation of the exhibition, including a special focus on some twenty artworks, as well as practical information allowing visitors to make the most of the exhibition. The varied content (video, audio, images) and smooth Cover Flow navigation make this app anindispensable tool for an in-depth tour of the exhibition.The high-definition iPad version allows users to observe the artworks in detail thanks to its exceptional zoom depth. The app can be downloaded on-site and does not require a 3G connection thanks to the Wi-Fi access exclusively devoted to downloads from the Apple App Store or Google Play. This on-site download is also available to users of an iPod Touch, as well as foreign visitors at no extra cost to their data roaming charges.The application costs €1.99 for the low resolution version and €3.99 for the HD version.

THE AUDIOGUIDE

An audio guide presenting a selection of major works is available in both French and English, at a cost of €3.

FOR YOUNGER VISITORS: GAMES-BOOKLET

Provided free of charge to our younger visitors (aged 7-12 years), this booklet serves as a guide, allowing children to experience and enjoy the exhibition through a variety of fun games and puzzles.


Culturespaces produces and manages, with an ethical and professional approach, monuments, museums and prestigious historic sites entrusted to it by public bodies and local authorities. With 25 years of experience and more than 2,5 millions visitors every year, Culturespaces is the leading private organisation managing French monuments and museums, and one of the leading European players in cultural tourism.

Are managed by Culturespaces : Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris (since 1996), Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (since 1992), Hôtel de Caumont Centre d’Art, Aix-en-Provence (since 2015), Carrières de Lumières, Baux-de-Provence (since 2012), Château des Baux-de-Provence (since 1993), Roman Theatre and Art and History Museum of Orange (since 2002), Nîmes Amphitheatre, the Maison Carrée, the Magne Tower (since 2006), Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse (since 1999).

Culturespaces is responsible for upgrading spaces and collections, welcoming the general public, managing staff and all services, organising cultural activities and temporary exhibitions and promoting sites at national and international level, with efficient and responsible management methods certified ISO 9001.

« Our aim is to help public institutions present their heritage and develop their reputation in cultural circles and among tourists. We also aim to

make access to culture more democratic and help our children discover our history and our civilisation in remarkable cultural sites »

Bruno Monnier, CEO and Founder of Culturespaces.

CULTURESPACES, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF THE EXHIBITION

CULTURESPACES, PARTNER OF THE MUSÉE MAILLOL

The Fondation Dina Vierny has chosen to entrust Culturespaces with the temporary exhibitions at the Musée Maillol in Paris. Olivier Lorquin, president of the Musée Maillol, and Bruno Monnier, president of Culturespaces, signed a partnership agreement in October 2015 regarding the management of the museum and its cultural programming. This programming will showcase modern and contemporary art, thereby respecting the wishes of the founder of the Musée Maillol, Dina Vierny.

With two large exhibitions per year (in the spring and in the autumn), the programme will highlight some of the different artistic currents from the 20th to the 21st century, and is open to all forms of expression (painting, sculpture, photography, illustration, video and installation art). Without forgetting Aristide Maillol, his friends and modernity, and his muse, Dina Vierny, whose collections of artworks will enter into a dialogue with the temporary exhibitions.

Culturespaces is in charge of:

• the production, organization and communication of the museum’s temporary exhibitions.• the welcome desk, ticket office and tours.• overseeing connected activities (bookstore-gift shop, café, receptions and events), etc.

The museum, closed between February 2015 and September 2016, has undergone significant renovation work aiming to restore the courtyard to its former splendour, and to reorganize the exhibition spaces by clearly separating the permanent collection from the temporary exhibition spaces.

‘We plan to return to the fundamentals with exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.’ Olivier Lorquin

‘We are very pleased of this new partnership which will allow us to develop, hand in hand with Olivier Lorquin, a programme of modern and audacious exhibitions.’ Bruno Monnier

THE CULTURESPACES FOUNDATION INVITES 500 CHILDREN AT THE MUSÉE MAILLOL

Placed under the aegis of the FACE Foundation (Foundation Against Exclusion), the Culturespaces Foundation was created in 2009 by Bruno Monnier, President and CEO of Culturespaces. It offers priority schools in the education network as well as social structures the opportunity for children 6 to 11 years to discover the new exhibition «21 rue La Boétie, Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Léger.» *

HELPING TO DEVELOP CHARACTER BY CULTURE

By promoting access to the arts and heritage, the Culturespaces Foundation has been fighting cultural deprivation since 2009 for those children who are ill, handicapped or affected by poverty and social exclusion. Thanks to tailor-made educational projects, the Culturespaces Foundation encourages them to discover historical and artistic treasures, and helps them to develop their character through culture.

AN ORIGINAL PEDAGOGY

he Culturespaces Foundation offers an active and playful pedagogy that is adapted to children who are in care. It brings together culture, education and solidarity. This particularity, carried by a true project of communication and sharing, makes the Culturespaces Foundation a bench mark in France for providing access to the arts and culture to children who are otherwise excluded.

THE CULTURESPACES FOUNDATION AND THE MUSEE MAILLOL

Since the museum’s reopening in September 2016, the Foundation has been implementing an active policy to provide access for children attending priority schools and those with long-term illnesses, in collaboration with paediatric hospitals and children with disabilities.

Between March and July 2017, the Culturespaces Foundation will thus welcome 500 children aged between 6 and 11 to whom it will offer a visit to the museum and a tour of the exhibition, followed by a playful workshop. Among the organisations already included in the project are the Margency Red Cross Children’s Hospital in the Val-d’Oise, the Secours Populaire, the Môm’artre association, the Oasis des Cités Le Rocher Foundation (Bondy branch), the Sport in the City Association, the Apprentis d’Auteuil Foundation.

The Culturespaces Foundation’s work at the Musée Maillol is supported by the Fondation Obélisque (Cholet Dupont), Conseil Plus Gestion and individual donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Contact : Gersende de PontbriandTél. 06 31 86 41 38 - [email protected]


Contact : Gersende de PontbriandTél. 06 31 86 41 38 - [email protected]

THE MUSÉE MAILLOL

The Musée Maillol is steeped in history. Throughout the Middle Ages and up to the Renaissance, the land on which the Museum now stands had not yet been built on, and was part of a vast property belonging to a Benedictine Abbey founded in 543. In 1739, the nuns of the Couvent des Récollettes graciously allowed the city to build a monumental fountain at the heart of the district.

Edme Bouchardon, sculptor of the King, created the majestic fountain of the Four Seasons which forms a magnificent forestage to the facade of the museum, and was built between 1739 and 1745 to the glory of the City of Paris. The ensemble was listed as a historic monument in 1862.

During the Revolution, the convent was closed and sold at auction. The different buildings were then owned by individual owners. In the 19th century, it was home to many famous figures, including the poet Alfred de Musset whose apartment was located on the first floor. Painter Paul Jacques Aimé Baudry, a member of the Institut de France, occupied the large studio for a long period. This studio space was conserved during the renovation works of the museum. Opening onto the second floor, it houses Maillol’s life-size sculptures.

In 1951, the Prévert brothers opened a cabaret here, known as La Fontaine des Quatre Saisons, in the large columned exhibition hall on the ground floor. Boris Vian, was a regular, and penned Le Déserteur here; Francis Blanche presented his Frères Jacques sketches, and Yves Montand performed the poems of Prévert, set to music by Kosma. A plethora of young artists all started out here: Maurice Béjart, Guy Bedos, Pierre Perret, Jean Yanne, Philippe Clay, Jacques Dufilho, etc.

In 1955, Dina Vierny, the sculptor’s model and collaborator, purchased and lived in an apartment in the building. Then, little by little, over the course of some twenty or so years, she managed to purchase all of the buildings. Following some fifteen years of renovation and construction work, under the eye of architect Pierre Devinoy, who had studied under Auguste Perret, the much anticipated institution was born that would house the works of Maillol.

The Musée Maillol opened its doors on 20 January 1995. Today, it presents the largest collection of the artist’s works to the public and presents a complete overview of Maillol’s creation, not just his sculpture, but also his paintings, drawings, ceramics and tapestry.

THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS: NEW EXHIBIT

In order to make visitors’ experience more coherent, the permanent collection of the works of Aristide Maillol are now displayed on the second floor, even though the thoroughfares and walkways on the ground and first floors are still decorated with several life-size sculptures by the artist.

The exhibit, both chronological and thematic, is spread over several rooms: the early paintings and wood sculptures (1880-1900); tapestry (1895-1900); the creation of bronze, terracotta and plaster statuettes (by subject, theme, and material spanning the artist’s career); the emblematic life-size sculptures; small drawings, and finally, a double space displaying works from the 1930s to the 1940s, with his last paintings and large-scale drawings.

PARTNERS OF THE EXHIBITION

www.france5.fr www.anousparis.fr www.leparisien.fr

www.lejournaldesarts.fr www.lefigaro.fr www.franceinter.fr

www.fnac.com www.ugc.fr www.ratp.fr

A DOCUMENTARY

21 RUE LA BOÉTIE, a film by Virginie Linhart, based on the eponymous book by Anne Sinclair, will be shown in March on France 5, on the occasion of the retrospective devoted to the French art dealer Paul Rosenberg (1881-1956) in Liège, Belgium (November 2016 - January 2017) and then at the Musée Maillol in Paris (from March 2017). 21 rue La Boétie retraces the life he who was close to Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Laurencin, Léger, and who helped shape the taste of Americans for modern painting. Produced by IMAGISSIME, STROMBOLI PICTURES, GARNER & DOMM, RTBF with the participation of France Télévisions and Toute l’Histoire.


VISUALS AVAILABLE FOR THE PRESS

1 I Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Portrait of Paul Rosenberg, 1918-1919, Graphite on paper, 35,6 x 25,4 cm, Private collection © Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo: Studio Sebert / Galerie Troubetzkoy2 I Jean Metzinger, Portrait of Léonce Rosenberg in colonial soldier’s uniform,1924, Graphite on paper, 50 x 36,5 cm,Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle (Bequest from Lucienne Rosenberg, 1995)© ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Photo : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais - © Philippe Migeat3 I Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Mademoiselle Rosenberg, 3 August 1919, oil on panel, 21 x 15 cm,Private collection © Succession Picasso 20174 I Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Portrait of Madame Rosenberg and her daughter, 1918, oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm,Musée Picasso Paris (Gift by Micheline Rosenberg, 2008). © Succession Picasso 2017 © RMN - Grand Palais musée Picasso de Paris) - © Thierry Le Mage

1 2

3 4

The RMN displays can be reproduced as a quarter-page, with a maximum of 4 images, for the promotion of the exhibition only. Reproductions in a larger format are subject to the payment of reproduction rights. The article must specify the name of the museum and the exhibition’s name and dates. All RMN images that are used must state the Press service / Museum name, in addition to the photo credit. The works affected by this measure are the following: 2, 4, 5, 7, 12 and 16.

5 I Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec, Justine Dieulh, 1891, oil on panel, 74 x 58 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris- Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski6 I Henri Matisse (1869-1954), The Piano Lesson,1923, oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm, Private collection © Succession H. Matisse The exemption applies to the reproduction of up to a quarter of a page (any reproduction exceeding this format will result in the application of copyright fees by the Matisse estate).7 I Alfred Sisley, The Road to Versailles, 1875, oil on canvas, 47 x 38 cm, Musée d‘Orsay, Paris- Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski8 I Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Bather and Bathers, 1920-21, Oil on canvas, 54 cm x 81 cm, Collection David Nahmad, Monaco© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo: Collection David Nahmad, Monaco

5

6

7

8



9 I Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Still Life with Jug, 1937, oil on canvas, 46,3 x 64,8 cm, Collection David Nahmad, Monaco© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo: Collection David Nahmad, Monaco10 I Pablo Picasso, Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit, 11 February 1931, Huile sur toile, 131 x 196 cm, Collection David Nahmad, Monaco© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo : Collection David Nahmad, Monaco11 I Georges Braque (1882-1963), Reclining nude, 1935, oil on canvas, 114,3 cm x 195,6 cm. Collection David Nahmad, Monaco© ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Photo: Collection David Nahmad, Monaco12 I Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Antique Bust, 1925, oil on canvas, 97 x 130 cm,Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle (Donated by Paul Rosenberg, 1946)© Succession Picasso 2017 © Photo : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN- Grand Palais - © Jacques Quecq d’Henripret13 I Georges Braque (1882-1963), Fruit on a Tablecloth, 1924, Oil on canvas, 31,5 x 65,5 cm, Fondation Collection E.G. Bührle, Zurich © ADAGP, Paris, 2016 © Fondation Collection E. G. Bührle, Zurich14 I Fernand Léger, Three women (Le grand déjeuner), 1921-1922, oil on canvas, 183,5 x 251,5 cm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund), 1942 © ADAGP, Paris, 2017 © Photo : The Museum of Modern Art / Scala (2017), Florence Fondation Collection E.G. Bührle, Zurich © ADAGP, Paris, 2016 © Fondation Collection E. G. Bührle, Zurich

9

1211

13

10

14


15 I Alfred Höhn (1875- ?), Junge Frau (Young Woman),1939 ?, oil on canvas, 78 x 54 cm,Deutsches Historisches Museum, Collection Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin © Deutsches Historisches Museum, Collection Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Berlin/ © Photo : I. Desnica16 I Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), Anne Sinclair aged four, 1952, oil on canvas, 27 x 22 cm, Private collection © Fondation Foujita / ADAGP, Paris, 201717 I Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), The Rehearsal, 1936, oil on canvas, 120,5 x 120,5 cm,Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle (Donated by Paul Rosenberg, 1947)© Fondation Foujita / ADAGP 2017 / © Photo : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI,Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Droits réservés

15 16

17


PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Musée Maillol61 rue de Grenelle 75007 ParisTel : +33(0) 01 42 22 57 25Metro : Rue du Bac (L. 12); Sèvres-Babylone (L. 10 and 12) Bus n° 63, 68, 69, 83 and 84.

Opening TimesThe museum is open every day for the duration of its temporary exhibitions, from 10.30am to 6.30pm.Late night opening on Fridays until 9.30pm.

TarifsFull fare : 13 € Reduced fare : 11 €

Café des Frères PrévertOpen everyday :from 11.30 am to 6.30 pm from Monday to Thursdayfrom 11.30 am to 7.30 pm Fridayfrom 10.30 am to 6.30 pm Saturday and Sunday

Websitewww.museemaillol.com

Press contactAgence L’Art en direct24 rue de Richelieu 75001 ParisTel : +33(0)1.55.35.25.10 - Port. : +33(0)6.88.89.17.72Ingrid Cadoret - [email protected]

Follow us on

#21rueLaBoetie#MuseeMaillol

Documents

BASED ON THE BOOK BY ANNE SINCLAIR...Rosenberg’s granddaughter, Anne Sinclair, author of 21 Rue La Boétie (published by Editions Grasset & Fasquelle in 2012). The career of Paul