Women of Paris in Pictures, accompanies the exhibition 'Quentin Blake and the Demoiselles des Bords de Seine' which coincides with the reopening of the Petit Palais in December 2005.
Quentin Blake presents a fascinating selection of works by famous and lesser-known artists, all from the wonderful collection at the Petit Palais in Paris, exploring the mystery, image and reality of Parisian women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
‘Because we admire (Quentin Blake) and his work, and because we believe in his talent, the Petit Palais has given him carte blanche. Carte blanche to choose works from our reserve collections that he thinks have the power to charm. Carte blanche to salute our heritage by creating on the walls drawings that will charm our visitors. As a result the walls of our galleries have begun to float into the clouds, and the ladies of the banks of the Seine to talk, discuss, argue, laugh, cry, sing …’
Giles Chazal, Conservateur general du Patrimoine, Directeur du Petit Palais, musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
The exhibition opens at the Petit Palais, Musee des Beaux-Arts de las Ville de Paris on 10th December 2005 and continues until 12th February 2006.
Quentin Blake explains, ‘I chose women as the theme: women are there not merely in portraits but in many of the other pictures in the Musee des Beux Arts de la Ville de Paris, especially those of the 19th century where the collections are particularly rich. I can hardly express the privilege I felt in being invited to work on this project, and of the pleasure I have had in doing it. First, as someone who has been looking eagerly at pictures for most of my life, of encountering both little-known pictures by artists I have always admired and works by artists unknown to me, and second, as a practising artist. Of choosing from such a rich diversity of approach and method.‘
In the book Quentin Blake selects around 60 astonishingly diverse images of Parisian women and introduces them in a delightfully personal and sharply observant style. The result is a title of immense and idiosyncratic charm, featuring works by major artists like Courbet, Renoir, Degas and Cassatt, alongside unfamiliar works by lesser-known, though once admired, masters. Blake's perceptive and lucid introductions to the pictures as well as his own exuberant and witty drawings are an additional pleasure.
