21 rue La Boétie, Paris
It was the address of Paul Rosenberg’s art gallery at the turn of the XXth century. Rosenberg was one of the most important art dealer in the world from Paris to London and New York.
Wise business man and admirer of the modern movements of its time, he based is business on selling what the general taste considered as art. Impressionist paintings such as Renoir, Cézanne, Sisley, Pissaro, Van Gogh, great masters of the previous century like Delacroix, Corot, Courbet, all kinds of confirmed values that any serious collector had to possess to be part of the big art game.
But his secret desire was to reveal the painter of his time, Picasso, Braque, Marie Laurence and later Fernand Léger or Matisse. Picasso was his next door neighbor at 21 rue La Boétie, where the gallery was opened and through the kitchen window, Picasso was showing Rosenberg his las works. A real friendship between the 2 men.
His taste was sharp and in the super competitive art world, Rosenberg became one of the very best taking after Ambroise Vollard and Durand-Ruel and the peer of the Wildenstein, Kahnweiller or Paul Guillaume.
Soon he wanted to enlarge the modern art audience and has been the first art dealer to organize a Picasso exhibit in New York, later he will show Léger, Braque, Matisse and many more.
When world war 11 started, as a jew, he and his family had to shelter. At first in the south of France then being prosecuted, the family will move to Newark where he will open a gallery on 57th street, New York.
During the war, the nazis will seize all his belongings in France, about 400 paintings. The fight of his life will be to recover all his cherished paintings all accros Europe. Some will be recovered, some are still missing and the family still works on that in the memory of Paul Rosenberg.
This exhibition at the Maillol Muséum tell this amazing story with pictures, documents and of course some of the paintings. Many of you ask me about the art stolen by the nazis in France during the war, it should be a very enjoyable way to learn more about these dreadful time.
