28 mei 2014

La Cité Falguière


La Cité Falguière, this is a shot from the end of the Cité, showing the only remaining structures, numbers 9 and 11.

"The Cité Falguière is a cul-de-sac located in Paris’ 15th arrondissement, near Montparnasse.

It was constructed during the late 19th century as an initiative of the sculptor Jules-Ernest Bouillot, praticien for sculptor and painter Alexandre Falguière. Bouillot had the idea of building low-cost studios that could be rented to artists with little means. To this intent, in the 1860s he purchases a land at Chemin des Fourneaux and in the 1870s the first artists’ studios are built. The ateliers are set-up in a cul-de-sac separated from the Rue (previously Chemin) des Fourneaux by a wooden fence. The cul-de-sac is named Impasse Frémin after the first owner of the studios, Mrs. Frémin. A few years later, the street changes its name to Cité des Fourneaux. In 1901, Rue des Fourneaux takes its current name, Rue Falguière, and the cul-de-sac becomes Cité Falguière.

Located between the famous artists’ residence La Ruche and the increasingly vibrant area of Montparnasse, Cité Falguière served in the early years of the 20th century as work and/or living place to several modern artists, of which Amedeo Modigliani, Chaïm Soutine, Tsuguharu Foujita, Constantin Brancusi, and Paul Gauguin are examples.

In general, virtually penniless painters, sculptors, and writers came from around the world to thrive in the creative atmosphere of the Montparnasse neighborhood and for the cheap rent at artists’ residences such as La Ruche and Cité Falguière. Living without running water, in damp, unheated studios, seldom free of rats, many sold their works for a few francs just to buy food. Writer and filmmaker Jean Cocteau once said that “poverty was a luxury in Montparnasse”. First promoted by art dealers such as Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, today works by those artists sell for millions of euros.

Urban renewal of the street began in the 1960s and artists’ studios were destroyed in order to give place to residential buildings. Of the original structures, only numbers 9 and 11 remain standing today. Both buildings continue to house artists’ studios.

-La cité Falguière à Paris, vue depuis la fin de l’impasse by Ralf Treinen, 20 May 2012 – Creative Commons License-"


View of Cité Falguière in 2013, showing number 14 building at the end of the cul-de-sac. (bron: Paris in Images)

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