(11) Paris in Winter

 

Time for a little snow in the loo. I found an old magazine page of a Montmartre scene in my art encyclopedia, most likely  because I love Maurice Utrillo (1883- 1955), the son of painter Suzanne Valadon. This one here is called "Le Lapin agile sous le neige" (1921) ; it depicts the old building of a former wine trader where the cabaret 'Nimble Hare' was housed. Interestingly enough it is still standing with tourists flocking to it today. 

 There is a great vintage photo online if you google Le Lapin Agile. What is difficult to make out of the tall building on the right on Utrillo's painting becomes clear when you see the photo of this former village hill street. A crumbling brick wall and vine growing up along it. Wow, Paris in those days! And I love snow paintings, too. This one exudes the cold yet is also colorful. I can hear the crackling of shoes squashing the snow of the four figures that have just passed the cabaret. Strangely enough I could not find this exact art work by Utrillo who painted this scene many times later. Or is the one on my magazine sheet a forgery? The provenance lists American philanthropist Joseph Gruss as the collector, who he died in 1993. Ultimately all the of the Lapin Agile paintings are very fetching.

Well, and then there is Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) and her "Woman Bathing" from 1890.

Not only is it a fitting bathroom image - back in those days, a porcelain bowl and a water jug is all that most people had for a quick wash - but it fits nicely with our cabaret building which exists since 1860. Certainly people living there would have washed themselves like Mary Cassatt's model did. The American Cassatt moved to Paris in 1866 and stayed there until her death.  This painting is hanging the Washington D.C.'s National Gallery of Art. I  love the blue and brown colors coming from a "color drypoint and aquatint" technique. Something to do with powder  and etching on a metal plate. I  - sadly - have no clue how this works.

Little Maurice was only 7 years old when Mary created this image, living with his mother in poor conditions in Montmartre while Mary had a fancy apartment in the 8th arrondissement near Champs d'Elysee. 

I like to think by chance their paths somehow crossed.