The Adventurers of Modern Art

In joyous, early 20th century Montmartre, a band of penniless artists comprising Max Jacob, Picasso, Apollinaire, Derain and Vlaminck, among others, takes up residence in an old piano factory : le Bateau-Lavoir. Soon enough, anyone who is anyone in the way of painters, writers, and art collectors is rubbing shoulders in the shabby-chic hallways of their warehouse. The bohemian lifestyle that they cultivate revolves around doing work, meeting muses, and making merry. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Seine, Matisse, known for leading a life of austerity, is busy turning the established order upside down at the Salon d’Automne of 1905, exhibiting works that burst with flamboyant color. Fauvism is born. From within the murky halls of the Bateau-Lavoir, Picasso prepares his response. Paying homage to their respective visions of modernity, the two painters ready their brushes for a contest of canvases.

Picasso responds to Matisse with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. The canvas causes a scandal and ushers in the aesthetic of cubism. Not long thereafter, however, a series of rifts occur. Picasso, now wealthy from record sales figures, leaves the Bateau-Lavoir. Apollinaire moves into the heart of the Saint-Germain neighborhood. The poet Max Jacob, the poorest of them all, is one of the only bohemians to continue living in the hardscrabble misery of Montmartre. When the First World War breaks out, yesterday’s friends part ways forever. Braque, Derain, and Vlaminck go to the front. Picasso stays in Paris. Apollinaire is wounded on the front lines in 1916.

On being released from the hospital, Apollinaire discovers what life is like in Paris during the war. In Montparnasse, foreign artists - most of whom are Jewish, having fled the anti-Semitism of Eastern Europe - are dying of hunger. They form the School of Paris. Soutine, the poorest of the Russian artists, strikes up a friendship with Modigliani, the handsomest of the Italians. In 1917, Apollinaire stages a performance his play Les Mamelles de Tirésias using the subheading “surrealist drama.” The word “surrealist” is born. It catches on, becoming common currency in art circles around the globe. One year later, Apollinaire succumbs to the Spanish flu. Modigliani passes away on January 24, 1920. His funeral, attended by all the artists of Montparnasse, brings the age of bohemianism to a definitive end.

The war has ended, and the streets erupt in celebration. Montparnasse swings to the rhythms of jazz and hops to the buzz of lively cafés. Paris is a movable feast. Conceived as reactions against the absurdity of war, the Dadaist and Surrealist revolutions are underway. Leading the charge are “the three musketeers”: Breton, Aragon, and Soupault, backed by Man Ray, Desnos, Tzara, and many others. In 1919, one of the major works of the Surrealist movement is unveiled : Les Champs magnétiques. The model Kiki, revered by every painter of the day and poised to be crowned queen of Montparnasse, has a tumultuous love affair with Man Ray before he takes off with Lee Miller.

The interwar period is significant for its tumults of enthusiasm and illusion. Communism is a tempting alternative, and the desire for social, moral, artistic, and political revolution hangs in the air. In 1936, war erupts in Spain. Malraux and Hemingway are covering the Republicans’ struggle as journalists, and photos by Capa and Gerda Taro get published in the international press, fostering a broader awareness of the conflict. In April 1937, the Guernica massacre inspires Picasso to create a monumental canvas symbolizing the violence perpetrated by Franco’s supporters and by fascism more generally. The Spanish Republic is lost, and one war ends as another begins.

World War Two erupts, and France mobilizes its war effort. After the debacle of June 1940 and the Occupation of Nazi Germany, Europe is in tatters, and artists and intellectuals flee in droves. Old friends among those who stay behind are eventually torn apart. Some collaborate, some resist - many make do as they can, and others pay for their commitment with their lives. When the war at last is over, Paris reawakens to find that an astonishing work has been created from within its war-torn midst : the film "Les Enfants du paradis", an homage to freedom written by Jacques Prévert and masterfully directed by Marcel Carné.