Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
TOthe fateful question: “What other historical period would you have liked to live in?” I would undoubtedly answer in Paris between the two wars. And I’ve always dreamed of just how it happens in Midnight in ParisWoody Allen’s film, of being kidnapped by that magical Peugeot capable of transporting you back in time to the places that animated the effervescent cultural life of those formidable years.
But after reading the beautiful book by Jacopo Veneziani Greater Paris 1900-1920. The golden age of modern art (Feltrinelli) I immediately wanted another journey into the past. The destination does not change, it is still Paris, but in its compelling narrative the popularizer and art historian takes us by the hand right at the turn of the century when it all began.
Together with him and his detailed story made up of places, encounters and suggestions it really seems like reliving the same emotion they felt two young, unknown and penniless Spanish artists who arrived in October 1900 at the Gare d’Orléans to immerse yourself in that metropolis which was at the time the center of the world.
They are Pablo Picasso and Carlos Casagemas and through their eyes eager for stimuli and novelties the author makes us discover the wonders of a capital that was building the future of art.
From Montmartre to Montparnasse, from the construction sites for the Universal Exhibition to the nightclubs, the ateliers and the “studios” of the artists, Veneziani follows the wind of creativity that blows in every corner of the city and manages to tell us how the great currents of modern art were born through the lives of its protagonists, the friendships but also the fierce discussions and cultural controversies that animated their personal stories.
“Great Paris 1900-1920. The golden age of modern art” by Jacopo Veneziani (Feltrinelli)
Page after page we feel like we are part of this incredible company and we discover the human side of artists such as Chagall, Brancusi, Soutine, Modigliani and many others which we now admire in museums around the world.
This is the great merit of Jacopo Veneziani, whether he writes or disseminates on television, he always manages to make us passionate about art as a living thing that belongs to our daily lives, clearing culture from all the dusty rhetoric in which it is often relegated. And I assure you that returning to Paris after reading her book will give you a new perspective and a new pleasure.
All articles by Serena Dandini.
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