“In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art.” Sue Roe

Jun 18

Montmartre, Le Bateau-Lavoir, c. 1910. Residence and meeting place for a group of outstanding early 20th-century artists such as Pablo Picasso.

Recently, I re-read a book by one of my favorite authors Sue Roe, “In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse, and the Birth of Modern Art,” and thought I’d share some thoughts about it. This book was so well-written that it makes the reader feel like they’re sitting at a sidewalk café in Montmartre, Paris right alongside artists and writers as they chat about shop talk and life in the early 1900’s.

This is not a straightforward biography of Picasso and Matisse, which is why I like it. It’s told in a narrative style and the author relays many stories about their lives in Montmartre in the 1900’s. Essentially, this book charts the Picasso’s move from Spain to Montmartre, Paris around the year 1900. Later Matisse, known as the colorist, would move to Montmartre also. Montmartre was an “arts” district and, at the time, was an impoverished section of Paris where makeshift shacks were common. Among the artists who lived there, also lived many low-paid workers who had brutally demanding jobs. The working conditions were also horrendous at this time, including long hours, very little time off, and debilitatingly low wages. Fun random fact: Wine was tax-free in Montmartre.

The focus of this book centers on the lifelong, competitive rivalry between Picasso and Henri Matisse. Other artists are also mentioned in the book, as they relate to the story such as: Van Gogh, Andre Derain, Paul Gaugin, Cezanne, Georges Braque, and Henri Rousseau, and others. The author also talks about the origins of cubism, fauvism, and futurism, as they relate to Picasso and Matisse and how those movements play out in relation to the artists who were involved. Societal changes and technological advancements were also taking place at that time, such as the explosion in popularity of cinema and photography, shifting away from the racy, live, dance-hall cabaret shows such as Moulin Rouge, although these were still popular also.

I’d recommend this book if you like art history, Picasso, Matisse and getting a glimpse into what life was like for artists living in Montmartre, Paris in the early 1900’s. It’s quite a fly-on-the-wall situation for the reader and this is a lot of the charm of the book.

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