Amélie du Chalard has created a place apart. A place conceived as an apartment rather than a gallery and which appeals to art or design lovers as well as collectors. Each exhibition is an opportunity for a new scenography and allows you to discover new artists or craftsmen. A joyful, playful and exciting place.
Go to the Montparnasse district, where Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) lived and worked in his legendary studio at 46, rue Hippolyte-Maindron from 1926 to 1966. The Giacometti Institute was established nearby, in the wonderful art deco mansion of the artist-decorator Paul Follot (1877-1941).
From the reconstruction of Giacometti’s studio on the ground floor, to Paul Follot’s old preserved studio on the mezzanine floor, which is at the same time minimalist, white and sculptural, where Giacometti sits gently, the Giacometti Institute has been wanted as a museum on a human scale allowing a certain proximity with the works.
It presents permanently an exceptional reconstruction of the studio of Alberto Giacometti, all of whose elements has been preserved by his widow. Among them, plaster and earth works very fragile, some of which have never been shown to the public, his furniture and walls painted by the artist. More than seventy sculptures, mainly in plaster and bronze, including the latest works in earth on which the artist worked just before his death.
This bookshop created by Karl Lagerfeld presents a great selection of books about photography, decorative arts and architecture and some trendy magazines.
The MAD is a museum which boasts excitingly rich collections as well as temporary exhibitions which reputation is steadily growing. This is a place contemporary creation lovers could definitely consider home. Located in the Marsan wing of the Louvre, its prime mission is the appreciation of fine arts and the development of ties between the industrial world and culture, creation and production. It remains true to its original mission statement which is to maintain the culture of the arts which pursue beauty and usefulness in France.
In 2018, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs became the MAD, which stands for Mode Arts Design (Fashion Arts Design)
It conserves one of the most important fine arts collection in the world in 5 departments with a chronological approach -Medieval era and Renaissance, 17th and 18th centuries, 19th century, Art Nouveau-Art Deco, Modern and Contemporary- and 7 themed departments – graphic arts, jewellery, toys, wallpapers, glass, fashion and textile, advertising and graphic design- thus taking us on a journey to the evolution of artistic production in fine arts from the Middle-Ages to contemporary design, showing furniture, tableware, graphic arts, goldsmithery, glass, ceramics, wallpaper, tapestry, painting and sculpture.
The former residence of the Kings of France, the Musée du Louvre has become the most visited museum in the world. Over 8 millions people come each year to enjoy the masterpieces.
The great palace hosting the museums dates back to the 12th century and is in itself a true architectural lesson. From 1200 to 2011, some of the most innovative architects helped build and improve the Louvre. The palace was a political center for a long period: a royal residence, and the home of French Chiefs of State until 1870, it was a key place in the history of Paris and France.
A dark fortified fortress built in the 12th century, the Palais du Louvre was the residence of King Francis I then the sumptuous palace of Louis XIV known as the Sun King. A decree from the 6 May 1791 ordered the creation of a Muséum central des arts de la République (Republic’s Central Museum of the Arts). The museum served first and foremost as a place for the training of artists as they were the only ones to have access to le Louvre during the week while the general public could only get in on sundays.
In 1803, the museums was renamed Musée Napoléon and loots from Napoleonic Wars were added to it. Only during the Third Republic did the Louvre become State Property and acquired its current ‘National Museum’ status. During the Presidency of François Mitterrand, the Richelieu wing was given back to the museum as it previously housed the Ministry of Finances. The museum underwent significant revamping under the direction of American architect Ieoh Ming Pei. Its most significant achievement is the building of the Louvre Pyramid at the entrance of the museum.
Created in 2008 by Hanane Hilmi and Jean Noël de Soy, IN CAMERA presents devotees to black and white, such as Jane Evelyn Atwood or Stéphane Duroy as well as great colourists such as Bertien van Manen, Julian Germain, Dolorès Marat or Gueorgui Pinkhassov. Those artists are displayed in museums all around the world and in great public and private collections.
Marcel Fleiss opened the Galerie des Quatre Mouvements in 1972 with an exhibition of forty rayographs by his friend Man Ray. He presented Dada, Surrealist, Pop, and Hyperrealist works there. In 1981, he opened the Galerie 1900-2000, where he broadened his artistic scope to include other avant-garde movements (Lettrism, Fluxus, etc.) and a few contemporary artists (Pol Bury, George Condo, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring’s last exhibition before his death). In 1991, his son David joined him and developed the photography department and collaborations with contemporary artists (Joseph Kosuth and Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sylvie Fleury, and Laurent Grasso). Together, they now focus primarily on Surrealist and Dadaist works (Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Hans Bellmer, Arthur Cravan, etc.) while continuing to champion the art of the 1960s and 70s.
Artists permanently presented : Hans Bellmer, Gaston Bertin, Jean-Louis Brau, Victor Brauner, Pol Bury, William Copley Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Aube Elléouët, Max Ernst, Xavier Escriba, Al Hansen, Jacques Hérold, Ray Johnson, Philippe Jusforgues, Tetsumi Kudo, Wifredo Lam, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Maurice Lemaitre,
Frédéric Léglise, Dora Maar, Man Ray, André Masson, Pierre Molinier, Francis Picabia, Edda Renouf, Miguel Rio Branco, Ed Ruscha, Robert Whitman
Created in 1926 by Christian Zervos, the Cahiers d’Art review belongs to the legend of SaintGermain-des-Prés. Picasso, Giacometti, Matisse, Léger, Beckett and Miro took part in it before it became slightly neglected. ‘Les Cahiers’ were purchased by the Swede Staffan Ahrenberg and are now headed by Samuel Keller and Hans-Ulrich Obrist and back to their former place and lustre.
Philippe Bismuth worked as a 20th century painting and sculpture expert for ten years before teaming with Vincent Amiaux, a specialist of Cubism to open the gallery in 1998. Works by Giacometti, Foujita, Dubuffet, Lhote, Picabia, Utrillo, Picasso, Warhol and 20th century masters are regularly on show.
Since 1958, the gallery has offered a vast selection of graphic and photographic editions of the greatest figures of the Surrealist movement, namely Hans Bellmer, Giorgio De Chirico, Salvador Dali, Leonor Fini or Wassily Kandinsky. It also exhibits Pre-Columbian art focusing on the cultures from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The gallery is dedicated to the major painters of the “Nouvelle Ecole de Paris” (a term coined in the 50’s) including : Karel Appel, Jean-Michel Atlan, Jean René Bazaine, Roger Bissière, Camille Bryen, Serge Charchoune, Chu Teh-Chun, Corneille, Olivier Debré, Jean Dubuffet, Maurice Estève, Jean Fautrier, Otto Freundlich, Hans Hartung, Jean Hélion, Auguste Herbin, Asger Jorn, Wifredo Lam, André Lanskoy, Alberto Magnelli, Alfred Manessier, André Masson, Georges Mathieu, Serge Poliakoff, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Gérard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Nicolas de Staël, Victor Vasarely, Bram van Velde, Geer van Velde, Maria Elena Vieira da Silva or Zao Wou-ki.
Design, architecture, photography, fine arts, fashion…situated inside the Hermès boutique rue de Sèvres, the Chaîne d’encre bookshop is a quiet corner where epicureans will find an extremely well crafted book selection.
