The Art of Becoming Parisian

Stephen ponders the artists who arrived as outsiders and became icons of the city…

I’ve always thought that almost anyone can become Parisian, even if they come from a far-flung country. This is because after living here for a while, you realise that the city has imperceptibly taught you a whole set of Parisian life skills, like self-assertiveness, menu interpretation and walking quickly along the pavement. By a Darwinian process of survival, you morph into a local. This seems to be especially true of artists; some of the most typically ‘Parisian’ artists came from abroad. Three immediately spring to mind: Picasso, Modigliani and Calder.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PARIS

None of them was French, but their names conjure up early 20th-century images of smoky Parisian days spent shut away in their studio or hanging out in one of the Montparnasse cafés that have now become posh brasseries but back then would accept drawings as payment for meals. My favourite expat is the American Alexander Calder. He’s all about elegance, which is a very Parisian preoccupation. His art is playful, like the dialogues of Ionesco (another Parisian immigrant). His pictures are restful blobs of colour, while his mobiles are breezy and balanced and restfulness, breezes and balance are things Paris sorely needs.

This is a year of anniversaries for Calder: it’s 100 years since he arrived in Paris and 50 years since he died. And this spring, the Fondation Louis Vuitton hosts a major retrospective of his work. Soon after I first came to work in Paris (several centuries ago), I tried to buy a Calder mobile -accidentally. This was before I knew who he was.

One day, wandering around a small art fair (in, I seem to remember, the Bourse), I stumbled upon a stand that was selling sculptures. Most of these were grandiose and intimidating, but on a table in one corner was what looked like a vintage shoebox. And inside the box, I saw a framework of thin strands of metal, like branches with primary-colour leaves. It was hanging from a string inside the box, and emanated (in my mind) a sort of effortless, modest perfection. It was such a great idea for a decorative object. As I said, I didn’t know that Calder mobiles of different sizes were already hanging in a vast array of museums.

Naively, I thought to myself that this tiny sculpture might be the cheapest piece of art in the whole fair. After all, it was basically wire. I didn’t have much money at the time, but honestly believed I might be able to afford it. There were no price tags (bien sûr) so I asked the lady sitting next to the table, “C’est combien, la petite sculpture?” She gave me one of those looks that I’ve since identified but didn’t recognise in my naive youth – the microsecond glance that confirms to the glancer that the glancee can’t afford anything in the shop.

“Cent-cinquante,” she replied. This was back in the days of francs, and 150FF was about the price of a pair of shoes. “I think I’ve got it here,” I said, reaching for my wallet. “Cent-cinquante mille,” she added: 150,000. That was the price of a studio apartment. I laughed at my mistake. She didn’t. Clearly I’d just wasted several cubic centimetres of her breath. But I’d learnt a valuable lesson, and decided to further this education by spending some of my 150FF on a book about Calder.

Which is why I’m predicting that his retrospective will be one of the most pleasurable, purely aesthetic exhibitions in Paris this year. Even more so because it will take place in the Fondation Louis Vuitton which – whatever you think of brash handbags – is a superb building by another American with a gift for metallic elegance, Frank Gehry.

My tip for a full springtime-in-Paris experience, is to combine the exhibition with lunch in nearby Neuilly, close to the (very un-aesthetic) main road. On weekdays, the cafés there cater for office workers, so the food is both high-quality and reasonably priced. Bon appétit!

Stephen Clarke’s latest book is Charles Frederick Worth, the Englishman Who Invented Parisian Haute Couture.

From France Today Magazine

Lead photo credit : Photo: Shutterstock