When I first saw the Charles Cordier busts of an African man and a Caribbean woman at the Musée d'Orsay, I thought I might never again see such noble and faithful "ethnographic" works.
Charles Cordier
Marble, onyx, and bronze
Musée d'Orsay
© Discover Paris!
At the Musée des Années 30 in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, I was amazed to find dozens of them!
The museum was founded in 1939 and was originally located at City Hall. In 1998, it moved into 3,000 m² of exhibition space at the Espace Paul Landowski.
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
While there are works portraying blacks on each floor of the museum,
Auguste Clergeau
Oil on canvas
Ruhlmann Furniture display, fourth floor
© Discover Paris!
including a small representation of Josephine Baker (second floor),
Sebastien Tamari
Plaster
© Discover Paris!
the majority of the paintings and sculptures of this genre are found on the third floor.
Here, almost half of the display space is devoted to "colonial art."
Information panels (in French) provide background information on "orientalism" and the early 20th-century scientific/ethnographic missions in Africa, Central Asia, and China. Paintings and sculptures by dozens of artists are displayed. Several of these were originally exhibited at the former Museum for African and Oceanic Art in Paris.
Below are photos of some of the works found here. I found the sculptures to be particularly magnificent.
Antoine Lyée de Belleau
Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
Evariste Jonchere
Patina on Plaster
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Alexandre Iacovleff
Sanguine, pastel on paper
© Discover Paris!
Pierre Meauze
Bronze
© Discover Paris!
The collection includes two paintings by Emile Bernard, the French Post-Impressionist painter who mentored Loïs Mailou Jones.
Emile Bernard
Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
Emile Bernard
Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
Boulogne-Billancourt is easily accessible from Paris via metro. The Musée des Années 30 is well worth a visit to this western suburb!
To access an online brochure on the museum (in French and English), click HERE.
Musée des Années 30
Espace Landowski
28, avenue André-Morizet
92100 Boulogne-Billancourt
Telephone : 01 55 18 46 42
Metro : Marcel-Sembat (Line 9), Boulogne-Jean-Jaurès (Line 10)
Opening hours:
Tuesday through Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM (ticket office closes at 5:15 PM)
Entry fee: 6.50 euros; reduced rate for seniors: 4.50 euros
Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.
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