Arty Hotel Montparnasse

Small confidential hotel in Paris

Saint-Germain-des-Prés was originally commissioned as a shelter for King Childebert I’s relic of the True Cross, broungth back from Spain in AD 542. Despite the outside’s very Romanesque architecture, inside the church are many interesting examples of 19th century art. One such piece includes a series of stained glass windows showing scenes from the Old Testament. The church currently does excellent organ concerts on its antique organ.

From Mailbag

Confidential Hotel Paris

Just a few steps from the Jardin du Luxembourg, opposite the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière, a well-known art school, the Hotel des Academies et des Arts remembers the roaring twenties, when Montparnasse was a magnet for artists. Inspired by the hotel’s past and the history of the neighbourhood, Charlotte and Laurent wanted to revive the Hotel des Academies et des Arts’ artistic heritage by bringing together several artists to create an original backdrop for contemporary works of art.

Sophie de Watrigant and Jérôme Mesnager have invested the place with their artistic imagination. Sophie’s sculptures are dotted around the lobby and the “petit bistrot”, going right up the main staircase, where small figures climbing ladders are suspended in the stairwell. Jérôme Mesnager’s jointed figures are painted directly onto wallpaper which serves as his canvas. Take the lift up to the top floor and admire another of Mesnager’s works as you ascend. A white giant also appears on the red-painted wall of the inner courtyard and can be seen from the ground floor right up to the fifth floor at the Hotel des Academies et des Art in Saint Germain des Pres, Paris.

From Hoosta.com

Hotel near Jardin Luxembourg in Paris

Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris
Jean-François Raffaëlli (French, 1850–1924)
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1908 (08.123).

Available to see at the Met Museum or online.

Book cool art hotel in Saint Germain des Pres

Saint Germain des Pres Cafe: the Finest Electro-Jazz Compilation.
The Electronic Music Tribute To Jazz, 15 tracks featuring Grand Tourism, Saint Germain, Jazzanova, Ian Simmonds, De Phazz and more. 2001. Digipak.
Track Listings
1. ‘Round Midnight
2. Original Oddstep [Revised by Grand Unified]
3. Coffee Talk [Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix]
4. Jazzion
5. Chok-A-Blok Avenue [Nu-Jazz Wilde-Stereo Summer Mix]
6. Yes It’s True
7. Lo-Fi Nu Jazz #13
8. Godsdog
9. At Last
10. Theme to the Last Puma
11. Style
12. G.U.B.N.U.F.
13. Ocean Games
14. Deep in It
15. Courants d’Air

Meditation on light by Jerome Mesnager

The graceful human figures are produced by graffiti artist Jerome Mesnager. It is said that Mesnager’s white figure emerged from a meditation on light. The consistently-rendered figures are read in the same way as a stencil, which at first I thought they were, but they are all drawn free-hand.
His white spectral figures meander the streets of Paris at night, climbing, cavorting, dining, dancing, loving but leaving a distinctive imprint on doors and walls. I read an interview with Jerome Mesnager published in a recent copy of an avant-garde art periodical. When asked as to his methods of producing the elegant graffiti, he stated, “When I find the right door or wall, everything goes fast. I jump against the wall in the pose I want to represent and I paint very fast. It takes 26 seconds.” Wow, I honestly would love to see that!

From metrogirl - IgoUgo

Sleep in a different hotel in Paris

Alberto Giacometti (October 10, 1901 – January 11, 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker.
In 1922 he moved to Paris to study under the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, an associate of Auguste Rodin. It was there that Giacometti experimented with cubism and surrealism and came to be regarded as one of the leading surrealist sculptors. Among his associates were Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Balthus.
His paintings underwent a parallel procedure. The figures appear isolated, are severely attenuated, and are the result of continuous reworking. Subjects were frequently revisited: one of his favorite models was his brother Diego Giacometti.
As his last work he prepared the text for the book Paris sans fin, a sequence of 150 lithographs containing memories of all the places where he had lived.
Giacometti died in 1966 of heart disease and chronic bronchitis at the Kantonsspital in Chur, Switzerland. His body was returned to his birthplace in Borgonovo, where he was interred close to his parents.

Art Saint Germain des Pres Paris

Tamara de Lempicka née à Varsovie et décédée le 18 mars 1980 au Mexique.
Elle est la peintre polonaise la plus célèbre de la période Art déco. Brillante, belle et audacieuse, inclassable, mystérieuse et contradictoire, elle a fait de sa vie une succession de mises en scène très élaborées.
En 1914, elle est retenue par la guerre à Saint-Pétersbourg où elle s’inscrit à l’académie des Beaux-Arts. La Révolution d’octobre bouleverse sa vie et elle gagne Paris où elle est recueillie par ses cousins. Tamara commence alors avec beaucoup de ténacité une carrière de peintre.
En 1920, à l’Académie Ranson, elle reçoit l’enseignement de Maurice Denis et à l’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere celle d’André Lhote. C’est là qu’elle forge petit à petit son style. De retour en France, elle participe pleinement à la vie artistique et mondaine parisienne où elle rencontre de nouveaux modèles : André Gide, Suzy Solidor, de riches industriels, des princes russes émigrés, etc.
Elle divorce en 1928 pour se remarier, en 1933, avec le baron Raoul Kuffner . Ce passage de l’état de comtesse à celui de baronne coïncide avec une crise morale et artistique qui provoque un ralentissement de sa production. Fuyant les menaces de guerre, elle s’installe aux États-Unis en 1939 où elle fait trois expositions à New York et à San Francisco chez Paul Rheinardt et chez Julien Levy. Après-guerre, son œuvre tombe dans un profond oubli jusqu’à ce que la redécouverte de l’Art déco, dans les années 1970, fasse ressurgir son nom.

Design Hotel in Saint Germain des Pres Paris
Here are various photos of Saint Germain des Pres on Flickr. Please follow the link to see more.

Hotel artistique au coeur de Saint Germain des Pres

Saint Germain des Pres est depuis toujours un quartier au charme particulier dont le mystère ne cesse d’étonner et inspirer de nombreux auteurs.
Tout a commencé lorsqu’en 542, l’armée de Childebert, fils de Clovis, assiège les Wisigoths à Saragosse. C’est à cette période que l’on peut situer la naissance du quartier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés qui se développe autour de l’abbaye construite par Childebert sur les conseils de l’évêque Germain afin d’abriter les trésors et notamment la tunique de Saint-Vincent, obtenus de la reddition des barbares. Cette église, entourée d’un monastère, s’impose rapidement comme la plus riche de France et est rebaptisée Saint-Germain-des-Prés à la mort de l’évêque Germain.
Le faubourg se développe petit à petit pour devenir dès le XVIIème le foyer du monde littéraire et dramatique. Déjà les artistes prennent pour habitude de se réunir dans les nombreux cafés qui fleurissent dans le quartier, tel le Procope qui ouvre ses portes en 1689 à la foire Saint-Germain.
C’est ainsi que Saint-Germain-des-Prés se présente comme un lieu de cohabitation singulière entre clergé et artistes, dérogeant par là à toutes les convenances de l’époque.
Mais la Révolution de 1789 sonne le glas de l’existence de la puissante abbaye bénédictine

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Ever heard of Moleskine, the note-book? Well they have edited collection about various cities such as Paris, Tokyo etc.
Here is what they say about Montparnasse on their blog:

“The Montparnasse quarter has so much to discover, but it’s not too large to visit the whole area. That’s why it’s at the top of my list of places to go in Paris. In order to get there, you pass behind the Tour Montparnasse and into the quarter, where - if you chose to follow my advice - you should head for the rue Montparnasse not to be confused with the boulevard de Montparnasse!). Along the rue is a Thai restaurant, that is said to be very good indeed, it’s called Krua Thai. The food is supposed to be tasty and most of all authentic. Move on to the boulevard Edgar Quinet, a street completely lined with trees with the Tower, the tallest skyscraper in France, at the end of it and every Sunday there’s an artist’s market there. Then follow the street signs to reach the famous Montparnasse Cemetery, where you can’t not take a picture next to the grave of Alfred Dreyfus.”

A stylish and design hotel in Montparnasse