Picasso's Blue Period

In the spring of 1901, Picasso learnt about the suicide of friend and fellow painter Carlos Casagemas, and fell into deep depression. These blue paintings are a representation of Picasso's melancholy and sombre mood throughout the years 1901-4, his mood dominating his paintings. Picasso's Blue Period was followed in 1904 by his Rose Period, when his mood improved and this reflected in the pink, red tones of his paintings.

La Vie (1903)

Casagemas in his Coffin (1901)

Portrait of Jamie Sabartes (1901)

The Old Guitarist (1903)

The Rose Period (The Actor - 1901)

C'était un rendez-vous

C'était un rendez-vous


C'était un rendez-vous (It was a date) is a short film of under 10 minutes, recorded in Paris in 1976 by Claude Lelouch. The viewer is placed at the front of a car driving at an extraordinary speed through Paris at 5.30 in the morning, passing by famous tourist attractions such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde. The driver eventually ends up in Montmartre in front of the Sacré Cœur cathedral and meets a blonde woman who runs up the stairs to greet him, hence the name C'était un rendez-vous.

Rumour has it that Lelouch was arrested after the release of the film because the drive was of course illegal. In the film we see the driver speeding the wrong way down one way streets, driving on the pavement to avoid oncoming vehicles and pedestrians jumping out the way. The car is said to be a Mercedes, but the soundtrack of a racing car is from another Italian vehicle, a Ferrari. No one knows for sure who the driver is, some rumours suggest it is an F1 racer, others suggest there were more than 1 person in the car, but the most common suggestion is that Lelouch himself was driving as it is believed the blonde woman by Sacré Cœur is Lelouch's girlfriend.

I enjoyed the film a lot, especially because I went to Paris in March for the first time and fell in love with the city, it was great to see a new familiar city being shown in a film such as  C'était un rendez-vous and recognising the sites zooming past the car. 

Le Carnet Noir

Nacho Ormaechea is a Spanish artist who resides in Paris. He says about places which motivate him the most:

'I'm mostly comfortable with cities which I see as perfect theaters full of inspiring yet anonymous characters.'

The people in his series 'Le Carnet Noir' are anonymous characters, a snapshot of a fleeting moment in their day, and taken away from this landscape and replaced with a contrasting image. These characters are the ones which inspire Ormaechea the most, anonymous people who, although they are unknown to most, are involved with and in the day to day running of the city.

lecarnetnoir.com

Modern amongst old architecture in Paris

Placing modern architecture amongst old, grand landmarks in Paris seems to be a regular architectural theme. The Louvre pyramid is especially outstanding, it stands impressively amongst a powerful palace and demands as much attention as, if not more than, the palace. Likely because of the stark contrast from old to new and the unusual structure being next to a more comfortable, yet still majestic, one.

The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism

'a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace'

F.T.Marinetti - The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism, 1909, Le Figaro

Paris!

Paris was so much fun! And so beautiful as well.

Here's a few snaps and highlights from the trip

Some friends and myself at the Louvre

At the eiffel tower with Charlotte

Being tourists

A ceiling in the Louvre

Victory of Samothrace

Selfie with Lisa

The Pompidou Centre

Dali graffiti at the Pompidou

Bridge over the Seine river where people attach padlocks with their's and their lover's initials

Sacre Couer

View of the Eiffel Tower from Sacre Coeur

The July monument by the Bastille

The Eiffel Tower at night

Midnight Eiffel Tower trip to end the trip

I shall be posting more detailed stuff in the coming posts!