Lovely eras: The Avant-garde age - Paris

I never thought that I’d find myself saying this but… "Oh, to be Owen Wilson for the night.” Well, perhaps, not in a literal sense but for those who are familiar with the film “Midnight in Paris” in which Owen Wilson plays the character ‘Gil Pender’ who every midnight travels back in time to the Avant-garde era in Paris. 

Watching the film I was filled with inspiration and intrigue and wondered if I was somehow transported back to early 20^th century Paris what I would get up to? I suppose that I too would be hanging out in the coffee houses making use of the atmosphere to inspire some artistic ideas. I imagine I would also visit the bars and clubs where I would hope to be rubbing shoulders with the modern artists who were creating quite a stir in those times. 

I recently watched a documentary entitled "Paris the luminous years.'' This period gave me more of an in depth insight in to the Parisian avant-garde era. I learned a lot about the life and times, and the tribulations that these radical artists had to face and how they were all affected by “The great war”. 

I was fascinated to learn how like a lot of great art much of their initial works were heavily criticised, dismissed and over-looked. I was charmed by the relationship between Braque and Picasso that inspired many great works and sparked the cubism art movement.  I was invigorated by the artistic achievements of Gertrude Stein and her peers who dared to be different. I was enchanted by how they would have weekly meetings in what she called her Saturday salon where they could congregate and critique each other’s works and be mentored by “Le Stein” who had become a kind of guru to the group of gifted artists. 

What I was most thrilled by was seeing how people’s mind sets, society and even the world can be changed when creativity and art is allowed to truly flourish.

David, TCC