Tell me, Blaise...
dal 25/6/2009 al 11/10/2009
Segnalato da
25/6/2009
Tell me, Blaise...
Three locations, Nice, Biot, Vallauris
The exhibition focuses on the relationships that the writer, poet and great traveller, novelist and essayist Blaise Cendras maintained with Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Fernand Leger. These relations lasted for several years with the first two and continued with Leger until the artist's death. Cendrars belonged to the same generation as the artists and shared many of their ideas, which he often noted in his writing. His taste for the modern city and a world of frenetic change, and his interest in new forms that he invented or discovered during his incessant travels brought him in contact with modern artists and he shared their dream of a new world modelled by an active imagination.
curated by Maurice Fréchuret
Musées nationaux du XXe siècle des Alpes-Maritimes
Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice,
Musée National Fernand Léger, Biot,
Musée National Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la
Paix, Vallauris
An exhibition organised by the Réunion des
Musées Nationaux and the Musées Nationaux du
XXe siècle des Alpes-Maritimes.
The three national museums of the 20th century in the Alpes-Maritimes will be presenting a
large exhibition called “Tell me, Blaise...” throughout summer 2009. The title is taken from a
play adapted from texts by Blaise Cendrars. The exhibition focuses on the relationships that
the writer, poet and great traveller, novelist and essayist maintained with Pablo Picasso,
Marc Chagall and Fernand Léger. These relations lasted for several years with the first two
and continued with Léger until the artist’s death. Cendrars belonged to the same generation as
the artists and shared many of their ideas, which he often noted in his writing. His taste for
the modern city and a world of frenetic change, and his interest in new forms that he invented
or discovered during his incessant travels brought him in contact with modern artists and he
shared their dream of a new world modelled by an active imagination.
He settled permanently in Paris in 1912 and moved in avant-garde artistic and literary
circles. In Montmartre, he met Picasso and then Chagall and Léger in the studios of La Ruche,
in Montparnasse.
The friendship between Cendrars and Chagall was no doubt facilitated by their use of Russian,
which the writer spoke fluently. But they also shared a vision which, as the art historian J.
J. Sweeney has pointed out, makes the verbal imagery in Cendrars’ poetry comparable to the
elements Chagall used to construct his paintings. Cendrars found titles for several of
Chagall’s paintings: A la Russie, aux ânes et aux autres (To Russia, Donkeys and the Rest),
Dédiée à ma fiancée (Dedicated to My Betrothed), Le village russe, de la lune (Russian Village
under the Moon), Le Saint Voiturier (The Holy Coachman), Moi et le village (I and the
Village), Paris par la fenêtre (Paris through the Window).
It was at La Ruche that he met Fernand Léger. A lasting friendship developed between them,
cemented by their faith in modernity. They collaborated on a number of publications. At the
end of the First World War, in 1918, a text by Cendrars illustrated by Léger was published
under the title J’ai tué. The next year it was La fin du monde filmée par l’ange Notre-Dame.
The two artists were keenly interested in the cinema and theatre, working together on the
ballet La création du monde. This interest never flagged: in 1927, Léger painted ABC, nature
morte (ABC, Still Life), probably in homage to Cendrars’ ABC du cinéma. Their friendship
continued after the Second World War. They were working on the publication of Paris ma ville
when Léger died.
Cendrars met Picasso through Apollinaire and, like several other writers, was fascinated by
his creative force. In Poèmes élastiques he emphasised the Spanish artist’s spirited yet
adroit, violent and yet elegant technique and concisely described the way he worked: “The
painter cuts, saws, stabs, quarters, tears, strangles. Suddenly the matter is there. Visible
to the naked eye, slightly enlarged...”
This project is being carried out in collaboration with the Centre d’études Blaise Cendrars at
the University of Berne and the Blaise Cendrars Collection in the Swiss National Library,
Berne, and enjoys the support of Mrs Miriam Cendrars and the Chagall Estate. It explores texts
by Blaise Cendrars, the writer’s archives and the work of the three painters in an attempt to
discern links and possible influences between them.
The three national museums will present the exhibition of paintings and drawings by the three
artists alongside archival documents from the Cendrars Collection in the Swiss National
Library in Berne. The exhibition brings together over 170 works using all techniques
(paintings, works on paper, photographs).
Exhibition curator
Maurice Fréchuret, chief heritage curator, director of the Musées Nationaux du XXe
siècle des Alpes-Maritimes.
Responsible for the collections of the Musée National Fernand Léger
Nelly Maillard
Responsible for the collections of the Musée National Marc Chagall
Elisabeth Pacoud-Rème
Opening 26 June h 6pm
Musée national Marc Chagall,
Avenue
Docteur Ménard 06000 Nice-
T +33(0)4 93 53 87 20
Access: Railway station SNCF - Nice; bus no.22, bus stop Musée Chagall; by car,
ollow the arrows from the city centre
Opening hours: open every day except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: € 9,50, concession : €7,50,
including the permanent collections. Free for visitors under 26 and for all on the first Sunday of the month
Musée national Fernand Léger,
Chemin du Val de Pome 06410 Biot,
T +33(0)4 92 91 50 30
Access: Nice-Côte d’Azur airport, 15 km.
By train: Biot station then Envibus no. 10 (bus stop Musée Fernand Léger), By motorway, exit Villeneuve-Loubet RN7, direction Antibes, at 2 km direction Biot.
Opening hours: open every day except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: € 7,50, concession: € 6, including the permanent collections. Free for visitors under 26 and for all on the first Sunday of the month
Combined ticket Léger/Chagall: € 15 For the
three exhibitions : € 17
Musée national Pablo Picasso,
La
Guerre et la Paix, Vallauris. Place de
la Libération - 06220 Vallauris-
T +33(0)4 93 64 71 83
Access: By car, highway 7 or motorway A8, exit Antibes then RD 135 Vallauris
, By train from Nice, continue to Golfe Juan, then take the bus to Vallauris.
From Cannes station, take the bus at the station for Vallauris Aéroport Nice-Côte d'Azur, the bus line between Nice and Cannes is operated by fast Cote d’Azur buses
Opening hours: open every day except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m.
after September 15th), every day from
july 1 to August 31 from 10 a.m. to
7 p.m.
Admission: € 3,25, concession : €
1,70, including the permanent
collections. Free for visitors under
26 and for all on the first Sunday of
the month