Remembering Richard Wright

Happy Thanksgiving from Discover Paris!

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city. Click here to sign up for our newsletter announcements and to receive our free guide called "Practical Paris”!

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 Richard Wright in Paris living room, 1947
Photo: National Archives

Richard Wright was the "kingpin" of the African-American expatriate writers who came to Paris after the Second World War. He promptly fell in love with the city upon his arrival in 1946, and returned to the U.S. after a few months to make arrangements to move to Paris permanently. He, his wife Ellen, and his daughter Julia returned in 1947. From his new home base in Paris, Wright would continue to write, travel the world, participate in the founding of the literary journal Presence Africaine, and act as speaker and liaison between the American and African delegations at the First International Congress of Negro Writers and Artists. He would end his days in the City of Light on November 28, 1960, at the age of fifty-two.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Wright’s death, Discover Paris! has created a new edition of its downloadable, self-guided walking tour entitled "Richard Wright’s Paris."  The tour contains descriptive commentary and photographs of the numerous sites that Richard Wright frequented during the ten years that he lived in the Left Bank.  Those taking the tour will learn about his apartment, his favorite cafés and restaurant, his local bookstore, and the Luxembourg Garden - one of the most splendid gardens in Paris - where the Wright family had numerous neighborhood outings.

Plaque honoring Wright at 14, rue Monsieur le Prince

© Discover Paris!

Discover Paris! released the first edition of this tour in 2008, in celebration of the centennial of Wright’s birth.

The latest edition of the walking tour incorporates new text and enlargements of previously included photographs, as well as new photographs that illustrate the walk, a photographic portrait of Wright, a chronology of his life in Paris, and original photos of Père Lachaise Cemetery, his final resting place.  The latter section includes images of the columbarium, where Wright was cremated, and the niche containing his ashes.

As is true for all Discover Paris! walks, "Richard Wright's Paris" includes informed commentary, photographs and illustrations, and a map that highlights the route of the itinerary.  These allow you to navigate the sometimes confusing layout of the city with ease.  We also provide restaurant suggestions, eliminating your fear of selecting a less-than-satisfactory place to lunch or dine. The walk is available in pdf format.

To access the Web page for Discover Paris’ downloadable walking tours, click HERE.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

Ed Clark, "Broom-Pusher" Artist

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city. Click here to sign up for our newsletter announcements and to receive our free guide called "Practical Paris”!

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Ed Clark, Artist
© Discover Paris!

The Montparnasse district of Paris is renowned for an artistic tradition and Bohemian lifestyle that dates from the early 1900s. That tradition was still alive when more than 200 African-American soldiers took advantage of the educational benefits of the GI bill after World War II and moved to Paris to study. Among them was Ed Clark, one of the most successful African-American artists to live and study in Montparnasse.

Ed Clark Self-Portrait

1949-1951 Watercolor on board

Collection of the artist

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Clark moved with his family to Chicago after the Great Depression and finished his primary education there. He learned at a young age that he was gifted with artistic talent. After fulfilling his military service, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, and then moved to Paris to study under the GI Bill. He arrived in 1952, determined to become a great artist. Greatness, he says, is something to which he has always aspired.

Clark is one of the few living artists of the post-World War II African-American expatriate era. Though he currently resides in New York City, he returns to Paris almost every year to paint. He is fond of the studios that are made available to artists at the Cité Internationale des Arts on quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, and has stayed there twenty-eight times since moving stateside in 1956. At the Cité, he is free to cover the floor with thick plastic, place his monumental canvases on the floor, and paint with push brooms using the unique technique that he developed in 1963.

Ed Clark at Cité Internationale des Arts

© Discover Paris!

At eighty-four, Clark is as vigorous and quick-witted as a person half his age. He is a veritable font of information about the Paris of the 1950s and 60s, and has numerous stories to tell. One particularly interesting tale concerns his studio at 22, rue Delambre. He rented an apartment on the top floor of a dilapidated building that had no windows – a great handicap for an artist! His friend and fellow expatriate Richard Gibson described the studio as a “chicken coop.” One day, one of the residents of the building climbed onto the roof, cut a large rectangular hole in it, and covered it with plastic! Clark immediately had all the light he needed, and was subsequently the envy of his artist colleagues.

Paris daylight has a special luminosity that Clark particularly appreciates. He says there is a special blue in the atmosphere of Paris that he does not see elsewhere, and that the quality of light influences his selection of colors when he paints here. This can be perceived when one looks at a collection of his works.

Clark’s first encounter with “different” colors occurred when he took his first transatlantic voyage to France. On board the S.S. Liberté, he noted a special shade of blue in the overalls that the stevedores wore. He said that the color was reminiscent of the powdery blues that Monet used in his paintings.

Clark uses these shades of blue when he paints in Paris, but not elsewhere. He first noted that his “colors changed” when painting in Paris during his three-year stay here from 1966-1969. He says that he unconsciously changes color schemes when he paints in different geographical locations – he observed this effect when he stayed in Greece, Nigeria, Brazil, and other countries.

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Ed Clark is participating in an exposition entitled African American Abstract Masters at the Opalka Gallery on the Sage College campus in Albany, NY through December 12, 2010.  To learn more about him and to see samples of his work, visit http://www.artistedclark.com/.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

Le Petit Dakar: Not Just Any African Restaurant

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city.
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In the heart of the Marais district, just north of the trendy rue des Francs Bourgeois, lies a small restaurant called Le Petit Dakar.  It is an unusual find in this fashionable neighborhood, and one worth exploring!

The old façade of the restaurant was more evocative of Africa than the modern one, so that now, only the name indicates to passersby that they will find something other than French fare inside.

Le Petit Dakar - Old Façade

© Discover Paris!

Le Petit Dakar - New Façade

© Discover Paris!

Upon entering, one does not find the kitsch that decorates the interior in many of Paris’ African restaurants. The walls and ceiling are light-colored, and the tables are made of light-colored wood. Multi-media works of contemporary African art on the walls and African music playing on the sound system are the only indications that this is anything other than a traditional restaurant.

Le Petit Dakar - Dining Room

© Discover Paris!

As the name suggests, Le Petit Dakar specializes in Senegalese cuisine.  Yet not all of the dishes on the menu come from Senegal.  The entire series of entrées is listed under the title Un Détour par les Iles (An Island Detour), which acknowledges the culinary culture of France’s departmental and territorial islands, and one of the main dishes on the menu is from central Africa (see below).  One dessert is Senegalese (Tiacri - consisting of a millet couscous and milk-based preparation flavored with ginger and cinnamon), but the Fondant Tout Choco (chocolate cake with a melted chocolate center) is unabashedly French.  A small selection of ice creams round out this part of the menu.

As for beverages, the restaurant proposes two apéritifs that I recommend: Vodka bissap orangé, made from vodka and bissap (juice from the hibiscus flower) flavored with orange juice, and Rhum gingembre ananas, made from rum, ginger, and pineapple. It also proposes virgin bissap juice and ginger juice on its beverage menu.  A Senegalese beer called La Gazelle is available for beer drinkers, but be aware that the bottles contain a whopping 63 centiliters of the brew!  If you prefer wine with dinner, there is selection of French wines on the menu as well.

My husband Tom and I first dined at Le Petit Dakar a few weeks ago.  The traditional, Senegalese Yassa (chicken marinated in lemon juice, then smothered in onions) that I ordered as a main dish was quite tasty, and Tom loved his Thiéboudiènne (the national dish of Senegal, made from fish, rice, and tomato sauce – served only on Fridays and Saturdays).   We returned last Thursday, anticipating that dinner there would be the perfect follow-up to the vernissage (art opening) we attended that evening at the contemporary African art gallery Les Arts Derniers on the nearby rue Saint-Gilles. 

Thiéboudiènne

© Discover Paris!

This time, both Tom and I ordered the same thing: Assiette Seka (warm bell pepper, eggplant, and zucchini atop a mixed salad) and a central African main dish called Sauce Graine.  This consists of lamb stewed with okra and palm nuts, with a mound of white rice served alongside. (The “gravy” was not at all slimy, which is what most people fear when they hear that okra is part of a dish.)  We happily accepted the server’s suggestion to accentuate the dish with finely diced peppers served in a tiny ceramic container, and dosed our dishes with the fiery condiment according to our individual taste.  I had a glass of ginger juice with the meal, which was refreshing and pleasantly complementary to the flavor of the stew. 

Sauce Graine

© Discover Paris!

While we found the appetizer to be “correct,” we both devoured the Sauce Graine!  We forewent dessert, as we were quite satiated after finishing the main dish.  We were even more pleased with our bill - we paid a modest 60 euros for our apéritifs (two Vodka bissap orangé), first and main courses, and my glass of ginger juice.

For an “off-the-beaten-track” dining experience in the center of Paris, try Le Petit Dakar!

Le Petit Dakar
6, rue Elzevir
75003 Paris
Telephone: 01.44.59.34.74
Metro: Saint-Paul (Line 1)
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday—Noon to 2:30 PM and 7 PM to 11:00 PM; Sunday—Noon to 2:30 PM

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

Black Paris Profiles™: Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city.
Click here to sign up for our newsletter announcements and to receive our complementary guide called "Practical Paris”!

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I am pleased to announce a new feature of the Entrée to Black Paris™ blog:
Black Paris Profiles™. These profiles will introduce you to individuals who make up Paris' African-American community today. Our stories are rich, complex, and exciting, and I am looking forward to bringing them to you!

Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen

Photo courtesy of Prissy Mag

Today, I bring you the story of Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen—writer and online magazine editor. Priscilla hails from Heflin, Alabama.  She moved to Paris in 1999 after having met "a charming Frenchman" while working at Sigs Publications in Manhattan.  Now she is kept very busy juggling marriage, family, and career in Paris.  She says that it’s tough at times, but that "you sort of just go with it after a while.  There’s a set rhythm here that you have to get used to.  Big cities are busy in general, but Paris has its own rhythm.  I try to make Sundays my 'family day' but now and then I do tend to sneak some work in too."

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Black Paris Profiles™ is now available on Kindle.  Only excerpts are available on this blog.

To get your copy of Black Paris Profiles™, click HERE.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.
Black Paris Profiles™is a Discover Paris trademark.