Boulogne-Billancourt’s Musée des Années 30 invites Parisians to dream of traveling to exotic destinations with its exhibition “l’Invitation aux Voyages.” The museum’s “invitation” includes three separate shows all variations on the landscape theme.
The traditional concept of artists renderings of a landscape has been broadened to include not only colorful foreign settings, decorative ruins or jardins à la française, but also images that refer to the tactile exploration of a voyage “within,” by the blind.
Landscapes by a multiplicity of French artists embark the viewer on a trip around the world. This visual journey begins in Boulogne-Billancourt with paintings of the Gothic church and islands along the Seine, then moves on to the more outlandish, exotic subjects favored by 19th century Orientalists. There is a salon feel to the installation that allows one to discover or rediscover French artists like Faure, Flandrin Humblot or Osterlind, whose decorative works were highly appreciated during the period between the two world wars. Some of the subject matter reflects contemporary interest in daily life in this country’s former colonies, as depicted by the artists of the time.
The exhibition also spotlights over 60 large format drawings recording the celebrated “peintre voyageur” André Maire’s travels throughout Asia and Africa. His exquisite sepias evoke the temples of Angkor Vat emerging from the tropical jungle, sampans gliding along the Mekong river as well as animated African conversations under giant Baobab trees. Maire was a protegé of the famous Symbolist artist Emile Bernard.
His life of travel to faraway places reads like a painterly travel guide for a world tour that includes India, Egypt, Madagascar and the Antilles. Yet, however sensitive his approach may be, after 1948 one feels a more humanist approach that transcends the pleasing, decorative qualities of the earlier pieces.
“The Hearing Hand” is a moving display of black and white photographs by Thomas Bilanges, that constitutes an account the museum’s work with Marie de Ramefort to provide tactile art experiences for children with sensory handicaps. This is the ultimate voyage “within.”
To Aug 14, Tue-Sun, 11am to 6 pm, Musée des Années 30, Espace landowski, 28 av André-Morizet, Boulogne-Billancourt, M° Marcel Sembat, tel: 01 55 18 46 42
