21 Rue La Boétie exhibit poster

|| 5 March 2017

21 Rue La Boétie Exhibit

What would artists do without art dealers and galleries to show and promote their work? Without Parisian art dealer Paul Rosenberg, the careers and reputations of such artists as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse and Marie Laurencin surely would not have experienced stellar heights as rapidly. Nor would those artists likely have earned as generous sums for their art.

Currently the Musée Maillol, Paris, is exhibiting 60 of the finest works by Picasso, Braque, Léger, Laurencin, Matisse and others that the Rosenberg gallery represented. The exhibition is titled “21 Rue La Boétie,” the Rosenberg Paris gallery’s address. “21 Rue La Boétie” is also the title of the 2012 book chic French certain age journalist Anne Sinclair wrote about her grandfather Paul Rosenberg’s art gallery. Mme Sinclair has assisted with the Musée Maillol exhibit.

February 2016 in a 5 o'Clock Tea with Anne Barone, I featured Anne Sinclair’s book (titled “My Grandfather’s Gallery” in the USA) as tea reading. Many paintings in this Musée Maillol exhibit are discussed in the book — including Picasso’s painting of Anne Sinclair’s mother and grandmother.

While the names Picasso, Braque, Léger, and Matisse are likely familiar. Marie Laurencin might not be. The Frenchwoman, born in Paris in 1883, was one of the few female Cubist painters. As Anne Sinclair relates in her book, in 1952 when she was four — and the artist in her late 60s — Paul Rosenberg commissioned Marie Laurencin to paint his granddaughter’s portrait. The little girl was extremely proud of her blue eyes, and she emphatically pointed out this physical trait to the artist. The result was a portrait in which Anne Sinclair’s eyes are rendered a startlingly blue color.

Ten years later Anne Sinclair, with her family, visited Picasso at his home. When Picasso expressed a desire to paint a portrait of Anne Sinclair, the teenager was well aware of how women appeared in Picasso paintings. She reports she ran from Picasso’s presence screaming “No!” Anne Sinclair did agree to have her photo taken with the artist.

 

21 Rue La Boétie Exhibit collage

 

Visiting art exhibitions and collecting ideas for their personal style, particularly how lines and colors work together, is one way French women perfect their chic. Fortunately, today many of the world's finest museums show their collections online via high quality digital images and videos that give the viewer the sense they are actually visiting the museum. No matter where you live, you can view, and be inspired by, fine art.

You can learn more about the “21 Rue La Boétie” exhibition on its Musée Maillol page. If text appears in French and you prefer English, in upper right corner of webpage, click on EN. You can also view a short video preview of exhibit paintings from the page. Also links at bottom of exhibition webpage to the official exhibition app available on the iTunes Store and Google Play.

A Gallery Tea in 5 o'Clock Tea with Anne Barone

Link to information about "21 Rue La Boétie" exhibit

image top of page: Poster for 21 Rue La Boétie Exhibit at Musée Maillol.

lower image: (left) Anne Sinclair and Pablo Picasso (middle) Anne Sinclair at age 4 painted by Marie Laurencin. Photos courtesy Sinclair family. (right) exhibit collage from Musée Maillol Twitter feed.

be chic, stay slim — Anne Barone