21 mei 2014

Auguste Rodin #3

The Hôtel Biron

(eigen foto)









"....
The mansion that now houses the Musée Rodin was built in the Rue de Varenne, Paris, between 1727 and 1737, for the wealthy financier Abraham Peyrenc de Moras (1686-1732). The project, eventually overseen by Jean Aubert, Architect to the King, is a shining example of the rocaille architecture that was fashionable at this time. Constructed on the outer limits of Paris, it was both a town house and a country residence. Abraham Peyrenc de Moras died in 1732, before his new home, notably the interior decoration on the first floor, was completed.
....
From 1788, the Rue de Varenne estate was occupied by a series of owners and tenants. In 1795, for example, the Duke of Charost transformed the kitchen garden into an English garden, completed with stretch of water, and, for almost a year, rented out the entire grounds for festive events set in the countryside, where the public could play games, dance, listen to concerts and watch firework displays. In 1806-10, the mansion, leased to the Holy See, housed one of the papal legates, Cardinal Caprara, while, in 1810-11, the Emperor of Russia transferred his embassy there.

In 1820, the Duchess of Charost sold the entire property, complete with outbuildings, to three nuns, one of whom was the Reverend Mother Madeleine-Louise-Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The religious congregation soon moved in and opened a boarding school for girls. During their occupancy, many changes were made to the buildings and the grounds, to suit the purpose they now served. As the years went by, the original decoration gradually disappeared; wood panelling, wrought-ironwork and painted decorations were sold to wealthy connoisseurs in order to fund the conversion work. In 1839, Marshal Biron’s pool was filled in order to erect a mound housing an ex-voto dedicated to the Virgin. By the late 19th century, the garden was primarily used as a kitchen garden, orchard and pastureland.
....
The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was dissolved in July 1904, the sisters were evicted and the property placed in the hands of the receiver.

The estate was put up for sale and while awaiting a buyer, tenants were allowed to occupy the Hôtel Biron from 1905. Among them were several artists, the writer Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), the painter Henri Matisse, the dancer Isadora Duncan and the sculptress Clara Westhoff (1878-1954), future wife of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1921), who first told Auguste Rodin about the estate. In 1908, the sculptor thus rented four south-facing, ground-floor rooms opening onto the terrace, to use as his studios. The garden that had run wild probably made a strong impression on Rodin, encouraging him to place some of his works and part of his collection of antiques amidst its greenery. From 1911 onwards, he occupied the entire building.

The property was officially sold to the French government in 1911, a year after it had committed itself to purchasing the Hôtel Biron, to house the Department of Civil Buildings (then under the Ministry of Public Instruction), and the part of the estate bordering the Rue de Babylone, which was reserved for a new secondary school (present-day Lycée Victor Duruy). All the occupants except Rodin were asked to leave the building. Rodin does his utmost to save the mansion and starts negotiating with the state.

“I give the State all my works in plaster, marble, bronze and stone, and my drawings, as well as the collection of antiquities that I had such pleasure in assembling for the education and training of artists and workers. And I ask the State to keep all these collections in the Hôtel Biron, which will be the Musée Rodin, reserving the right to reside there all my life.”
(Auguste Rodin - Correspondence of Rodin, volume III, 1908-1912, letter no. 103 to Paul Escudier, late 1909)

In 1916, the National Assembly voted in a law that accepted the sculptor’s three donations and allocated the mansion and its garden to a museum, called the Musée Rodin, where the works donated to the French nation by Rodin would be exhibited. Léonce Bénédite was named executor of the sculptor’s will. The task of managing Rodin’s artistic heritage and supervising the organization of his future museum thus fell to him.

The museum was officially opened in 1919." (bron: Musée Rodin)


Hôtel Biron, état actuel.


Façade sur le jardin.


Le vestibule.


Un coin de l'antichambre.


Une salle du rez-de-chaussée.


Un coin de l'antichambre.


Le grand atelier.


Auguste Rodin a l'hotel Biron. (uit: Rodin à l'hotel de Biron et à Meudon par Gustave Coquiot, uitg: Ollendorff, Paris, 1917. bron: Hellenicaworld)

The Villa des Brillants








"Built on the heights of Meudon, the Villa des Brillants is a modest-looking, Louis XIII-style house in brick and stone, which Auguste Rodin purchased at an auction sale on 19 December 1895. It was a suitable environment in which to pursue his career as an artist.

In 1900, about 50 people, including sculptor’s assistants, workers and casters, were employed here by Rodin and, although he continued to go to his Parisian studios every day, especially the one at the Dépôt des Marbres, his most essential creative work was done in Meudon. His property here soon became an inevitable port of call for an endless stream of friends, sitters, patrons and celebrities from France and abroad.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who was employed as Rodin’s private secretary, lived on the premises from 1905: “The effect of this vast hall filled with light, where all these dazzling white sculptures seem to gaze out at you from behind high glass doors, like creatures in an aquarium, is extremely powerful. It makes a huge, a tremendous impression…” 
(letter from Rilke to his wife Clara, 2 September 1902).
...." (bron: Musée Rodin)


La villa des Brillants (A gauche on aperçoit le toit du Hall-Musée).


Entrée du Hall-Musée.


Entrée du Hall-Musée.


Un coin du Hall-Musée.


Un coin du Hall-Musée.


Un coin du Hall-Musée.


Un coin du Hall-Musée. (uit: Rodin à l'hotel de Biron et à Meudon par Gustave Coquiot, uitg: Ollendorff, Paris, 1917. bron: Hellenicaworld)

De volledige teks en alle foto's uit "Rodin à l'hotel de Biron et à Meudon" zijn te vinden bij de bron. L'hotel de Biron en La villa des Brillants maken deel uit van het Musée Rodin in Parijs (hk).

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