Made in Paris

Setting the Stage

Paris in the 1800s

Throughout the 1800s, Paris had begun to establish itself as the art capital of the West. The epicentre of Impressionism and Post-Impression, and home to Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh, Paris drew artists from around the globe to its studios, salons, and cafés.

One of the most significant developments of the 19th century was the rise of commercial art galleries, such as those run by Paul Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard, which played crucial roles in promoting modern artists. Vollard was pivotal in establishing a market for the works in which Hidden specialises: original prints. He elevated the medium of printmaking by publishing significant portfolios, collaborating with renowned artists, and pioneering the creation of luxurious limited-edition art books.

The Birth of European Modernism

The advent of a new millennium brought with it immense social, technological, and artistic change. Modernism represented a break with the past, a response to contemporary realities, and a quest for new means of expression in a rapidly changing world.

To tackle this challenge, artists, writers, and intellectuals flocked to Paris, with Bohemian districts such as Montmartre and Montparnasse becoming centers of artistic activity. Cafés in the city provided a space for lively discussions. They were often referred to as 'theaters of conversation' and were frequented by Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, to name a few. Gertrude Stein, an American writer who emigrated to Paris in 1903, also played a pivotal role in promoting the exchange of ideas, holding salons in her apartment where artists and writers could share their work

Key Modernist Movements

Cubism: A movement to explore perspective. Artworks are characterised by deconstructed objects and geometric, sculptural forms. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, pioneered Cubism. Fernand Léger was associated with the Salon Cubists who produced a more colourful version of Cubism than that of Picasso and Braque.

Surrealism: Artists explored the unconscious mind, dreams, and irrational juxtapositions. The Surrealists sought to revolutionize human experience by reconciling the contradictory conditions of dream and reality. Key figures from the movement include Salvador DalÍ, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray.

Fauvism: The fauvists used bold, non-naturalisitc colours and simplified forms. They emphasised painterly qualities and strong colour over representational accuracy. Henri Matisse was central to the development of Fauvism, and Marc Chagall was also associated with the movement.

Expressionism: Artists focused on emotional experience rather than physical reality, often using bold colors and exaggerated forms. Edvard Munch was a key proponent of the Expressionist movement.

Parisian Printmakers

Atelier Mourlot

You're probably familiar with the names of great artists such as Picasso, Chagall and Matisse. But you might not have heard of the man responsible for printing a large number of their works - and a significant proportion of the work that hangs in the Hidden galleries. In the 1920s Fernand Mourlot, a Parisien who inherited a printing business specialising in wallpaper and wine labels, transformed the production of artists' prints, allowing their work to be distributed more widely than any other aritsts preceding them.

Mourlot, who himself had trained as an artist in Paris, created the world's leading fine art print studio, tirelessly experimenting with colour, varnishes and inks, to translate a functional, commercial medium into one that was suitable for painters. Lithography was invented in 1796 by German playwright Alois Senefelder. Named after the Greek word for stone, 'lithos,' and mark, 'graphein,' the process centres around the immiscibility of oil and water. A slab of limestone is drawn upon using a greasy substance, while ink adheres to the oily residue left on the plate, enabling images to be printed.