Catalogue d'exposition Bohèmes - Grand Palais, Paris

Exhibition catalogue"Bohèmes " at the Grand Palais, Paris (September 26, 2012 - January 14 2013).

The figure of the Bohemian first appeared in the mid-19th century, between Romanticism and Realism, at a time when the artist’s status was undergoing a profound transformation. A talented young artist no longer sought the protection of some prince or other; he was a solitary genius, impoverished and misunderstood, who anticipated social upheavals. Many of the great heralds of modernity— poets (Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine…), painters and musicians (Courbet, Van Gogh, Satie, Picasso…)—put a face on this phenomenon.

The term Bohemian was applied both to the gypsies and to the artists’ marginal lifestyle. It was emblematic of the irrepressible freedom that the Nazi regime tried to stamp out when ittargeted both gypsies and modern artists.

By making new rapprochements and crossing several disciplines (painting, literature, photography, music), this exhibition aims to shed new light on this common history. It draws on over 200 works, including new discoveries and outstanding loans (The Fortune Teller, Georges de la Tour, Metropolitan Museum New York, Absinth, Edgar Degas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Corner in Montmartre, Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Gypsy Woman, Van Dongen, MNAM, Paris…).

> See exhibition details on ArtActu.com