What do you think?
Rate this book
In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and Modernism in Paris, 1900-1910
When young Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris in October 1900 he made his way up the hillside of Montmartre . . .
The real revolution in the arts first took place not, as is commonly supposed, in the 1920s to the accompaniment of the Charleston, black jazz and mint juleps but more quietly and intimately, in the shadow of the windmills - artificial and real - and in the cafes and cabarets of Montmartre during the first decade of the century. The cross-fertilization of painting, writing, music and dance produced a panorama of activity characterized by the early works of Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and Modigliani, the appearance of the Ballet Russe and the salons of Gertrude Stein.
In In Montmartre, Sue Roe vividly brings to life the bohemian world of art in Paris between 1900-1910.
The real revolution in the arts first took place not, as is commonly supposed, in the 1920s to the accompaniment of the Charleston, black jazz and mint juleps but more quietly and intimately, in the shadow of the windmills - artificial and real - and in the cafes and cabarets of Montmartre during the first decade of the century. The cross-fertilization of painting, writing, music and dance produced a panorama of activity characterized by the early works of Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and Modigliani, the appearance of the Ballet Russe and the salons of Gertrude Stein.
In In Montmartre, Sue Roe vividly brings to life the bohemian world of art in Paris between 1900-1910.
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2014
395 people are currently reading
4209 people want to read
About the author
Sue Roe
16 books64 followersSue Roe is an acclaimed biographer and poet with a strong interest in the visual arts. Her first biography, Gwen John : A Life (Chatto & Windus, 2001), reveals that the painter best known for her quiet, restrained portraits of women was surprisingly ardent and exuberant. The Private Lives of the Impressionists (Chatto & Windus, 2006) shows how daring the early Impressionsts seemed by the standards of their own times. In Montmartre (Penguin, 2014) illuminates Picasso’s early years in Paris, when suddenly all the arts (painting, writing, film, dance) seemed to be happening in parallel.
Sue Roe’s early scholarship was on Virginia Woolf, the subject of her PhD, and she has published a number of articles on Woolf. Her critical book, Writing and Gender: Virginia Woolf’s Writing Practice (Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1990) explores Woolf’s processes of composition. She is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and editor of the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Jacob’s Room. Her teaching is inspired by her scholarship and her editorial experience. She has taught BA, MA and PhD students at various universities, and before that worked as a Commissioning Editor for two academic publishing houses.
These days she divides her time between research for her books, which includes exploring the galleries of Paris as well as copious reading, and writing. She likes to work with a good view of the colourful garden her partner Steve has created while she drafts – and re-drafts – her work.
Sue Roe’s early scholarship was on Virginia Woolf, the subject of her PhD, and she has published a number of articles on Woolf. Her critical book, Writing and Gender: Virginia Woolf’s Writing Practice (Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1990) explores Woolf’s processes of composition. She is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and editor of the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Jacob’s Room. Her teaching is inspired by her scholarship and her editorial experience. She has taught BA, MA and PhD students at various universities, and before that worked as a Commissioning Editor for two academic publishing houses.
These days she divides her time between research for her books, which includes exploring the galleries of Paris as well as copious reading, and writing. She likes to work with a good view of the colourful garden her partner Steve has created while she drafts – and re-drafts – her work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
January 19, 2020
”It is a wonderful thing how much courage it takes even to buy a clock you are very much liking when it is a kind of one everyone thinks only a servant should be owning. It is very wonderful how much courage it takes to buy bright coloured handkerchiefs when everyone having good taste uses white ones or pale coloured ones, when a bright coloured one gives you so much pleasure you suffer always at not having them. It is very hard to have the courage of your being in you, in clocks, in handkerchiefs, in aspirations, in liking things that are low, in anything.”
---Gertrude Stein
The young Pablo PIcasso, circa 1904, photographed by Ricard Canals i Llambi.
As I continue to add prints of Modernist and Impressionist painters with a few Da Vinci’s and Vermeer’s to my growing collection,I find it so inspirational to have surrounded myself with such divergent artistic concepts. When I look at a Matisse or a Picasso or a Vlaminck or a van Dongen or a Modigliani or a Dali or a Van Gogh, their expressions of ideas are so unique to them that it is as if I’m seeing the world through their eyes. I can steal the eyes of a painter, at least briefly, and even once my eyes have flicked away from the painting, the dazzling array of colors can transform my reality into a Matisse or a Picasso masterpiece.
I decided to paint some of the walls of my house a celery green. It is bold. Bolder than I expected, but maybe there was a part of me as I looked at those color chips that wanted to break loose from the safe color scheme of beiges, grays, and creams. A benefit I hadn’t expected is this color sensuously frames the art on my walls and seems to give each painting more depth. I also discovered that looking at celery green makes me happy. So when I read that quote by Gertrude Stein, I thought about my celery green and the reactions I’ve received so far from neighbors and friends who see this, dare I say, courageous color for the first time and look like they have just bit into a piece of raw rhubarb.
Americans came to Paris to experience the Montmartre district, to see the scandalous shows, drink too much, flirt with beautiful Parisian girls, and hopefully brush shoulders with some of these almost famous celebrity painters. These painters are known in certain circles, but not known as well as they soon would be. These Americans were being shown paintings unlike anything they had ever seen before, and for those who could really SEE these paintings, they were mesmerized and bought as many as they could afford. I can only imagine, when they returned to America and unboxed some of these lurid beauties with vivid colors that overwhelmed the eye, what reactions they would have received from friends and family. Those paintings might even have left some of the viewers, with a delicate disposition, feeling as if they have been punched in the gut.
It is interesting to observe the varied reactions that people have to bold colors before we can even discuss, say, a painting of a woman with three noses.
Sue Roe deftly balances all these diverse personalities who came together in Paris at the turn of the century and she shares these wonderful stories that vividly bring them back to life. The fashion designer Paul Poiret, who was immersed in this dynamic culture, shared a story that has stuck with me long after finishing the book. ”Many years later, Poiret remembered watching Vlaminck and Derain as they trudged along the riverside, forced to move out of their lodgings (their shared studio, presumably) when the landlady grew tired of giving them credit. ‘I can still see them by the flowery banks,’ he reminisced, ‘their boxes of colours under their arms, their canvases piled in a wheelbarrow.’” The book is full of intriguing snapshots, daubed in paint. These brilliant, impoverished painters were just beginning to have an idea that they were part of another renaissance in art. Another one of my favorite vignettes is of a clever, fussy writer : ”Marcel Proust sat quietly at a corner table drinking hot chocolate like a pale-green ghost.” To think of him out in the Montmartre district, observing all that decadent behavior, made me smile.
The women of Montmartre were probably some of the most liberated women on the planet in the early 1900s. They were models, lovers, dancers, mistresses, and in many ways their emancipation added fuel to the creative energy of the artists, writers, designers, and buyers who flocked to Montmartre to be inspired. One of the most alluring of these creatures was Fernande Olivier, who caught the eye of many painters, but absolutely captivated Pablo Picasso.
”Here she was now, the beautiful, tall redhead. She seemed languid, aloof, more voluptuous than the girls he was accustomed to, with strong, vivid features and a contrasting aura of lightness. From now on, wherever he went, he kept seeing her.”
The rivalry between Matisse and Picasso was one of those necessary driving forces that makes really great artists keep creating masterpieces. They would cringe and look with awe in equal measure whenever they viewed each other’s latest creations. Their relationship was cordial, honest, but sometimes mildly disagreeable. As Francoise Gilot (muse of PIcasso) put it: ”‘In their meetings, the active side was Pablo; the passive, Matisse. Pablo always sought to charm Matisse, like a dancer, but in the end it was Matisse who conquered Pablo.’” There are many great artists of this period; one of my favorites is Amedeo Modigliani, but without a doubt, the names that emerge as champions of the era are Matisse and Picasso.
I always find reading about artists so inspirational, even more so than reading about writers. I’m not sure why, except maybe that there is so much more for me to learn about artists. I don’t usually pick up overviews like this, but Sue Roe does such a wonderful job capturing the place and the people with such precise sketches that I am indebted to her for moving the needle of my understanding of the artists and of this era forward in a leap rather than just a bound.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
---Gertrude Stein
The young Pablo PIcasso, circa 1904, photographed by Ricard Canals i Llambi.
As I continue to add prints of Modernist and Impressionist painters with a few Da Vinci’s and Vermeer’s to my growing collection,I find it so inspirational to have surrounded myself with such divergent artistic concepts. When I look at a Matisse or a Picasso or a Vlaminck or a van Dongen or a Modigliani or a Dali or a Van Gogh, their expressions of ideas are so unique to them that it is as if I’m seeing the world through their eyes. I can steal the eyes of a painter, at least briefly, and even once my eyes have flicked away from the painting, the dazzling array of colors can transform my reality into a Matisse or a Picasso masterpiece.
I decided to paint some of the walls of my house a celery green. It is bold. Bolder than I expected, but maybe there was a part of me as I looked at those color chips that wanted to break loose from the safe color scheme of beiges, grays, and creams. A benefit I hadn’t expected is this color sensuously frames the art on my walls and seems to give each painting more depth. I also discovered that looking at celery green makes me happy. So when I read that quote by Gertrude Stein, I thought about my celery green and the reactions I’ve received so far from neighbors and friends who see this, dare I say, courageous color for the first time and look like they have just bit into a piece of raw rhubarb.
Americans came to Paris to experience the Montmartre district, to see the scandalous shows, drink too much, flirt with beautiful Parisian girls, and hopefully brush shoulders with some of these almost famous celebrity painters. These painters are known in certain circles, but not known as well as they soon would be. These Americans were being shown paintings unlike anything they had ever seen before, and for those who could really SEE these paintings, they were mesmerized and bought as many as they could afford. I can only imagine, when they returned to America and unboxed some of these lurid beauties with vivid colors that overwhelmed the eye, what reactions they would have received from friends and family. Those paintings might even have left some of the viewers, with a delicate disposition, feeling as if they have been punched in the gut.
It is interesting to observe the varied reactions that people have to bold colors before we can even discuss, say, a painting of a woman with three noses.
Henri Matisse circa 1891.
Sue Roe deftly balances all these diverse personalities who came together in Paris at the turn of the century and she shares these wonderful stories that vividly bring them back to life. The fashion designer Paul Poiret, who was immersed in this dynamic culture, shared a story that has stuck with me long after finishing the book. ”Many years later, Poiret remembered watching Vlaminck and Derain as they trudged along the riverside, forced to move out of their lodgings (their shared studio, presumably) when the landlady grew tired of giving them credit. ‘I can still see them by the flowery banks,’ he reminisced, ‘their boxes of colours under their arms, their canvases piled in a wheelbarrow.’” The book is full of intriguing snapshots, daubed in paint. These brilliant, impoverished painters were just beginning to have an idea that they were part of another renaissance in art. Another one of my favorite vignettes is of a clever, fussy writer : ”Marcel Proust sat quietly at a corner table drinking hot chocolate like a pale-green ghost.” To think of him out in the Montmartre district, observing all that decadent behavior, made me smile.
The women of Montmartre were probably some of the most liberated women on the planet in the early 1900s. They were models, lovers, dancers, mistresses, and in many ways their emancipation added fuel to the creative energy of the artists, writers, designers, and buyers who flocked to Montmartre to be inspired. One of the most alluring of these creatures was Fernande Olivier, who caught the eye of many painters, but absolutely captivated Pablo Picasso.
”Here she was now, the beautiful, tall redhead. She seemed languid, aloof, more voluptuous than the girls he was accustomed to, with strong, vivid features and a contrasting aura of lightness. From now on, wherever he went, he kept seeing her.”
The rivalry between Matisse and Picasso was one of those necessary driving forces that makes really great artists keep creating masterpieces. They would cringe and look with awe in equal measure whenever they viewed each other’s latest creations. Their relationship was cordial, honest, but sometimes mildly disagreeable. As Francoise Gilot (muse of PIcasso) put it: ”‘In their meetings, the active side was Pablo; the passive, Matisse. Pablo always sought to charm Matisse, like a dancer, but in the end it was Matisse who conquered Pablo.’” There are many great artists of this period; one of my favorites is Amedeo Modigliani, but without a doubt, the names that emerge as champions of the era are Matisse and Picasso.
I always find reading about artists so inspirational, even more so than reading about writers. I’m not sure why, except maybe that there is so much more for me to learn about artists. I don’t usually pick up overviews like this, but Sue Roe does such a wonderful job capturing the place and the people with such precise sketches that I am indebted to her for moving the needle of my understanding of the artists and of this era forward in a leap rather than just a bound.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
May 28, 2016
This is a extremely well researched book and there is a ton of information here. I'm slightly perplexed as to why I didn't find it more compelling reading than I did...perhaps it's partly because I just read a biography of Picasso and a lot of this was repetitive, maybe it was because of the way the story jumps from artist to artist a bit too much, maybe because there are hardly any illustrations...eight reproduced paintings and fourteen photos, period, so I constantly was having to resort to the Internet for visual reinforcement...but it is certainly readable and would be a good place to start learning about this period. (keep Internet handy)
August 11, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2022
I really enjoyed this book in the end, despite having some worries in the beginning. At first I felt like it was going to be almost a historical novel, because Roe inserted dialogue that seemed likely to be invented - how do we know exactly what Picasso said to Fernande on a certain day? But that concern faded as the book became well-documented without being too dry or scholarly. I enjoyed reading about the variety of interesting & strong personalities who were involved in the development of modern art around Paris. However, I found the ancillary characters such as Modigliani, Fernande, Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Max Jacob, Marie Laurencin, Poiret, Derain, Vollard, Braque, Sergei Shchukin & Co. actually more interesting and compelling than Picasso or Matisse. Picasso: wonderfully talented but also self-centered and misogynistic. Matisse: somewhat boring personality whose art, once he broke with Signac and found his own style, can also be a bit boring. But those are my prejudices. All around the book was very good & enjoyable. It increased my rudimentary knowledge of modern art as well as my always-fervent desire to visit and explore Paris. The sections on Spain and southern France (Collioure especially) were very evocative. And I loved the descriptions of the meeting places such as the Moulin de la Galette and Lapin Agile. As much as I'm not too fond of Picasso and his behavior, he sounds like a fun guy, leader of the "bande" of buddies (often his homies from Spain) and I'd love to be teleported, Midnight-in-Paris-style, to some of those late-night gatherings in the bars, cafes and dance halls of Montmarte!
February 12, 2019
Just as I did not want to leave Montmartre when I visited last August, I did not want this book to end.
I love biographies that are dedicated to place over person, to capturing a small group of individuals that come to characterise a place and create an unforgettable atmosphere that reverberates through the years. I am a sucker for the story of the starving artist - the elite group of dedicated people who suffer for their art, living in squalor and burning through personal and professional relationships in the name of vision and creation. This book was perfect for me. I did not want a minutely detailed account of any of these artists personal lives. I did not want to know about their childhoods or the intimate details of all their relationships. I was much more interested in their stories in the context of Montmartre and the way that life there shaped their art and allowed them to form their artistic identities.
It was an interesting read for someone who knows Montmartre only as the place dubbed the artist district of Paris. My experience was that of one of the many tourists swarming its boulevards over a century after they have all left; I know it only in terms of the residual chaos from the storm they swept up over a hundred years ago. Now, we largely experience Montmartre as a place of tourism; I could only sit in the Place du Tertre as an awed spectator trying to imagine the artistic freedom that is now almost impossible to experience due to the vast number of bodies wielding selfie sticks. Through this biography, I loved being given a glimpse of Montmartre as it was, when creativity was this raw, wild thing that could only be experienced by those willing to truly break themselves down and live in the dirt. It is a rare glimpse of something, sometime, that is impossible to get back due to the celebrity that culminated in the wake of those great artists.
I love Montmarte. Even now, even the version that I experienced. There is still an unmistakable artistic energy to be found there and it is my favourite place in the world. But next time I go back I can enjoy it all the more knowing exactly what happened on those sprawling streets, exactly what great art was created behind those closed doors, and the role the place itself played as the inspiration for many of the great works of art we are lucky enough to be able to appreciate today.
I love biographies that are dedicated to place over person, to capturing a small group of individuals that come to characterise a place and create an unforgettable atmosphere that reverberates through the years. I am a sucker for the story of the starving artist - the elite group of dedicated people who suffer for their art, living in squalor and burning through personal and professional relationships in the name of vision and creation. This book was perfect for me. I did not want a minutely detailed account of any of these artists personal lives. I did not want to know about their childhoods or the intimate details of all their relationships. I was much more interested in their stories in the context of Montmartre and the way that life there shaped their art and allowed them to form their artistic identities.
It was an interesting read for someone who knows Montmartre only as the place dubbed the artist district of Paris. My experience was that of one of the many tourists swarming its boulevards over a century after they have all left; I know it only in terms of the residual chaos from the storm they swept up over a hundred years ago. Now, we largely experience Montmartre as a place of tourism; I could only sit in the Place du Tertre as an awed spectator trying to imagine the artistic freedom that is now almost impossible to experience due to the vast number of bodies wielding selfie sticks. Through this biography, I loved being given a glimpse of Montmartre as it was, when creativity was this raw, wild thing that could only be experienced by those willing to truly break themselves down and live in the dirt. It is a rare glimpse of something, sometime, that is impossible to get back due to the celebrity that culminated in the wake of those great artists.
I love Montmarte. Even now, even the version that I experienced. There is still an unmistakable artistic energy to be found there and it is my favourite place in the world. But next time I go back I can enjoy it all the more knowing exactly what happened on those sprawling streets, exactly what great art was created behind those closed doors, and the role the place itself played as the inspiration for many of the great works of art we are lucky enough to be able to appreciate today.
February 21, 2017
With nonfiction, it's often hard to say whether my reaction to a book is because of the writing or because of the general reality of the topic. I started reading this last April because I was teaching Picasso but ended up basically giving up until I decided a few weeks ago (January 2017) that I was going to finish it once and for all. I did learn some things that I could incorporate into my lesson plans, though, so that's why it's two stars instead of one.
To be perfectly honest, I came into this book already not much of a fan of Picasso and his set. Their artworks interest me, yes, but Picasso as a person is someone I criticize a lot. This book did nothing to help that. Sue Roe adopts a fawning, noncritical tone about Picasso and his affairs as well as his blatant appropriation of "African" art. There's a lot said about the inspiration he takes from them but never any interest in talking about the fact that he rampantly borrowed visual vocabulary without ever caring beyond that the work was "primitive" enough to suit him.
To that end, Sue Roe often uncritically and unironically uses terms like "oriental" and "negro" in the narration. Time appropriate terms, yes, but never with the critical discussion of a modern eye.
To be perfectly honest, I came into this book already not much of a fan of Picasso and his set. Their artworks interest me, yes, but Picasso as a person is someone I criticize a lot. This book did nothing to help that. Sue Roe adopts a fawning, noncritical tone about Picasso and his affairs as well as his blatant appropriation of "African" art. There's a lot said about the inspiration he takes from them but never any interest in talking about the fact that he rampantly borrowed visual vocabulary without ever caring beyond that the work was "primitive" enough to suit him.
To that end, Sue Roe often uncritically and unironically uses terms like "oriental" and "negro" in the narration. Time appropriate terms, yes, but never with the critical discussion of a modern eye.
August 8, 2014
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
Sue Roe's story of Pablo Picasso and other artists in the famous Paris quarter.
4* In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse, and the Birth of Modernist Art
TBR The Private Lives of the Impressionists
Sue Roe's story of Pablo Picasso and other artists in the famous Paris quarter.
4* In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse, and the Birth of Modernist Art
TBR The Private Lives of the Impressionists
October 24, 2021
A good look at the birth of Modernist art. Roe's book is friendly to non-art historian and a fun read.
September 19, 2015
Не так цікаво, як її книжка про імпресіоністів, зате подарувало милу анекдотку. Всі ми чули це стандартне бу-бу-бу про сучасне мистецтво з серії "та я сам міг би намалювати чорний квадрат". Отримала підтвердження, що світ все ж здрібнів - навіть у тролінгу :)
Бо на початку ХХ століття на нові віяння в мистецтві, звісно, також скаржилися - але не лінувалися зробити зі своїх скарг гепенінг. Ось, скажімо, на Салоні Незалежних у 1910 році виставили картину "Сонце засинає над Адріатикою" такого собі новачка Йоахима-Рафаеля Бороналя. Коли картина доробилася на схвальні відгуки, виявилося, що це - містифікація Реймона Доржеле, створена так: він прив'язав пензель до хвоста віслюка, й підставив полотно. Оце, я розумію, скарги, а не це ваше бубубу :)
Бо на початку ХХ століття на нові віяння в мистецтві, звісно, також скаржилися - але не лінувалися зробити зі своїх скарг гепенінг. Ось, скажімо, на Салоні Незалежних у 1910 році виставили картину "Сонце засинає над Адріатикою" такого собі новачка Йоахима-Рафаеля Бороналя. Коли картина доробилася на схвальні відгуки, виявилося, що це - містифікація Реймона Доржеле, створена так: він прив'язав пензель до хвоста віслюка, й підставив полотно. Оце, я розумію, скарги, а не це ваше бубубу :)
November 13, 2020
For all Paris and art lovers this is a must read-- the author takes you into the heart of Montmartre where Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Modigliani and others all swirled around each other at shabby apartments, low-class cafes and of course at Gertrude Stein's. Depicts the rise of all these (and more) scruffy young artists living in Montmartre and working to make their mark on art.
August 18, 2017
Good overview of the period, but I really wanted to get inside Picasso’s head and understand the reasons for the changes in his art in that period and felt disappointed that this never really came out. It was readable, but lacked depth and never actually got me excited.
July 31, 2025
I just finished Paris in Ruins, a nonfiction book about the birth of Impressionism, and this book, In Monmartre, feels like a perfect sequel to that one, a story about the birth of Modernist Art.
December 26, 2020
4.5 stars. A very “lively” interesting study — more social and biographical than critical — of Matisse and Picasso (and their artistic relationships) from 1900-1910. This focused time span allows Roe to develop her themes in some depth. She is especially good on the period before their financial successes, with fascinating discussions of Montmartre, the Butte, the various personalities, including Fernande and Modigliani, the circuses, early cinema, and the dealers of that time. The final section (IV) on cubism and its aftermath is less enthralling.
August 17, 2015
I'm pretty sure Picasso and Matisse's lives were more enthralling than this biography attempts to depict.
June 5, 2017
Um livro que aguça a curiosidade para continuar a abrir portas no âmbito deste tópico.
February 1, 2022
Entertaining Glimpses of Those Living in Turn-of-the-Century Paris
In a survey that is intensely Francophone, Sue Roe opens up a trove of art and societal stories from the first decade of the 1900's. The book is structured around the day to day lives and art of important Impressionists, and gives us the details in depth of how their movement came to be. Where it diverges from many similar works I have read is that it does not focus on just one person, but is biographical about the group as a whole. I felt the largest benefit was in viewing the world through the lens of France.
I was satisfied with the subject matter, and felt the description was exactly indicative of the topics covered. I did have a difficult time getting started though, since I did not enjoy the narration of the Audible I heard by Emma Bering. I'm no expert on the French language. Far from it. But, the pronunciation was not like what I've heard on radio, movies, and in other books. Be that as it may, it was not read with any real sense of prosody, so it was unpleasant listening. The narrator gave this little pause before pronouncing each French word. There are many French words, of course. So, that was a real hurdle to tolerate for a lengthy read.
I did feel like I wanted to hear what the author had to say, since it was an interesting topic, so I increased the speed to 1.30X to listen without the pauses being as noticeable. This keeps your brain occupied with focusing on the thoughts and ideas, rather than little details like prosody and rhythm. In this way, I enjoyed hearing all that Ms. Roe had to share about this fascinating time period.
In a survey that is intensely Francophone, Sue Roe opens up a trove of art and societal stories from the first decade of the 1900's. The book is structured around the day to day lives and art of important Impressionists, and gives us the details in depth of how their movement came to be. Where it diverges from many similar works I have read is that it does not focus on just one person, but is biographical about the group as a whole. I felt the largest benefit was in viewing the world through the lens of France.
I was satisfied with the subject matter, and felt the description was exactly indicative of the topics covered. I did have a difficult time getting started though, since I did not enjoy the narration of the Audible I heard by Emma Bering. I'm no expert on the French language. Far from it. But, the pronunciation was not like what I've heard on radio, movies, and in other books. Be that as it may, it was not read with any real sense of prosody, so it was unpleasant listening. The narrator gave this little pause before pronouncing each French word. There are many French words, of course. So, that was a real hurdle to tolerate for a lengthy read.
I did feel like I wanted to hear what the author had to say, since it was an interesting topic, so I increased the speed to 1.30X to listen without the pauses being as noticeable. This keeps your brain occupied with focusing on the thoughts and ideas, rather than little details like prosody and rhythm. In this way, I enjoyed hearing all that Ms. Roe had to share about this fascinating time period.
May 23, 2021
Interesting and very well-researched, but I have to admit sometimes my interest waned. No fault to the author — I think I just don’t generally do well with biographies.
January 12, 2022
This basically reads like a sequel to the book "The Private Lives of the Impressionists". So much so, in fact, that I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realize it was the same author until after finishing the book. Essentially, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Georges Braque, Henri Rousseau, Gertrude Stein, and even Igor Stravinsky, picked up the baton from the impressionists. Once again, this was a group of very poor artists who were hanging around Montmartre (in many of the same cafes as the impressionists), trying to find their way in art.
The focus of this book is Picasso and Matisse, and their on-off rivalry, but it ends up encompassing the entire Montmartre scene, basically until the windmills are taken down and the scene moves down to Montparnasse (and I see she has a sequel of sorts here as well: "In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali").
Regardless, once again I found the book excellent, enlightening, and I found myself having to look up many of the paintings mentioned by the author, as well as places I plan on visiting the next time I'm in Paris.
The focus of this book is Picasso and Matisse, and their on-off rivalry, but it ends up encompassing the entire Montmartre scene, basically until the windmills are taken down and the scene moves down to Montparnasse (and I see she has a sequel of sorts here as well: "In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali").
Regardless, once again I found the book excellent, enlightening, and I found myself having to look up many of the paintings mentioned by the author, as well as places I plan on visiting the next time I'm in Paris.
August 8, 2014
Book of the Week - August 04
Author Sue Roe account, abridged by Katrin Williams, describes how Pablo Picasso and other artists found this Paris quarter irresistible when arriving in the early 1900's.
Reader Stella Gonet
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Author Sue Roe account, abridged by Katrin Williams, describes how Pablo Picasso and other artists found this Paris quarter irresistible when arriving in the early 1900's.
Reader Stella Gonet
Producer Duncan Minshull.
December 18, 2015
I was fortunate to receive an ARC for this book. In 1900 a teenaged Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris. Already there or soon to arrive were Derain, Vlaminck, Rousseau, Leo and Gertrude Stein, Paul Poiret, Diaghilev and of course Henri Matisse. The first decade of the 20th century changed the world for art, cinema, dance and fashion. The author keeps the focus tightly on culture - there isn't much mention of political or scientific events. I learned a great deal about this remarkable decade and the development of Fauvism, Cubism and Modernism. She makes a persuasive argument that the development of cinema had an important effect on artists of the period. It is well written and interesting.
June 15, 2023
This book was so dry it took me 8 months of on and off reading to finally finish. Only sheer persistence got me to the end. It would have been nice if more of the artworks discussed were featured in the photo pages. There were only a few, so I was constantly having to Google the rest to see what they looked like. That being said, the book is clearly very well researched. I just found the delivery of information a drag.
August 20, 2024
Very decent overview of the world of Picasso and Matisse in Paris, although lightly sketched (!) at times. Best outcome was being encouraged continually to scurry to some marvellous works of art from the likes of Derain, Vlaminck and Rousseau...
August 19, 2023
A fascinating and lively group biography of artistic life in Montmartre at the turn of the 20th century. Roe situates Picasso, a Catalan artist, within the eclectic culture of bohemian Paris. His rises and falls, the causes and consequences of his artistic epochs, his influences, muses and rivals, are expertly detailed in a thorough and captivating narrative. Roe strikes a good balance between discussing art, personal lives and broader social contexts (although the last few chapters could have been a bit more succint - they felt too Gertrude Stein-heavy).
Nowadays, Picasso is placed on a pedestal as the most unique, inventive and celebrated post-Impressionist. Yet, here we see him in constant change and uncertainty - an artist whose works were ridiculed, and whose visual language was fluid, reflecting interactions with his contemporaries.
Reading Picasso's life through his works is like reading a survey of the History of Art, influenced by Baroque masters such as El Greco, his Impressionist predeccesors Cezanne and Gaugin, contemporary Fauvists Derain, Vlaminck and Matisse, his Cubist counterpart, Braque, as well as non-Western sculpture and design.
The book advertises itself as an insight into both Picasso and Matisse. Whilst Roe dicsusses Matisse's life, from his early studies under Gustave Moreau to the exhibition of his 'La Danse' and 'La Musique' in 1910, it was heavily skewed towards Picasso. Indeed, the 'two-man race' that developed between the two seems to have favoured Picasso's 'supriority' from the start. Given that Picasso and Matisse are both in the book's subtitle, it would greatly benefit from a more balanced perspective.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. I wish (if only briefly) to go back in time to the Bateau-Lavoir, the Lapin Agile. Even better, to be a fly on the wall in the Steins' dinner parties and the Salons of the early 1900s, where new artworks and ideas were shocking audiences worldwide, and changing the meaning of art and the purpose it would serve in the century to come.
Nowadays, Picasso is placed on a pedestal as the most unique, inventive and celebrated post-Impressionist. Yet, here we see him in constant change and uncertainty - an artist whose works were ridiculed, and whose visual language was fluid, reflecting interactions with his contemporaries.
Reading Picasso's life through his works is like reading a survey of the History of Art, influenced by Baroque masters such as El Greco, his Impressionist predeccesors Cezanne and Gaugin, contemporary Fauvists Derain, Vlaminck and Matisse, his Cubist counterpart, Braque, as well as non-Western sculpture and design.
The book advertises itself as an insight into both Picasso and Matisse. Whilst Roe dicsusses Matisse's life, from his early studies under Gustave Moreau to the exhibition of his 'La Danse' and 'La Musique' in 1910, it was heavily skewed towards Picasso. Indeed, the 'two-man race' that developed between the two seems to have favoured Picasso's 'supriority' from the start. Given that Picasso and Matisse are both in the book's subtitle, it would greatly benefit from a more balanced perspective.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. I wish (if only briefly) to go back in time to the Bateau-Lavoir, the Lapin Agile. Even better, to be a fly on the wall in the Steins' dinner parties and the Salons of the early 1900s, where new artworks and ideas were shocking audiences worldwide, and changing the meaning of art and the purpose it would serve in the century to come.
April 16, 2020
This book makes you realise how tumultous were the early decades of the 20th century and yet it was the same time that shaped the modern life. The period had the fortune to witness the emergence of some of the greatest minds of all time who not only brought new perspectives but even moved beyond their limitations. Picasso wasn't just a painter. Art was no more restricted to paintings. Matisse wasn't trying to make himself understood. Derain had his own opinions on what being an artist meant. It is a story of some unconventional geniuses gathered together in the streets of Montmartre.
There was never a dull moment in the story spanning over a decade and a half. If you are into modern art and art history, then this is a must read for you. However, familiarising yourself with the works of Matisse and Cubism would help you savour the story better. A brief reading of the Art section of the book 'Modernism' by Peter Gay would set you right for the iridescent journey through time.
There was never a dull moment in the story spanning over a decade and a half. If you are into modern art and art history, then this is a must read for you. However, familiarising yourself with the works of Matisse and Cubism would help you savour the story better. A brief reading of the Art section of the book 'Modernism' by Peter Gay would set you right for the iridescent journey through time.
May 8, 2018
Roe must have been conscious of the fact that the image of a theatre troupe ‘parade’, which she applies metaphorically to fin de siècle Montmartre, also describes the multivalent rollicking of the prose she uses in writing about it; which, despite its scope and energy—like the cubist weltanschauung she herself calls into question—depends a bit too heavily on suggestive juxtapositions and ambiguous lacunae. Roe is often less than fully in control of this party, making her plethoric narrative less a true opening up of her subjects than a convincing mystification.
April 9, 2019
A brilliant and thorough account of the lives and workings of not only the artists of Montmartre, but also the art dealers, collectors and other players of the art scene. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the interplay between the early modernist painters of Paris, but especially to art teachers looking to distill the history of the era for their students.
March 15, 2022
I found it a bit hard at times to follow while jumping from artist to artist and places description, but it was nevertheless interesting to read about a short time in the lives of these interesting people, to know how the world influenced them, how they influenced each other and how passionate they were about finding their own voice in this world that was opened up to them.
June 29, 2025
Not all that captivating but yet another art history book that will make me sound better than everyone at museums so that rules. I liked her book on the impressionists better but also just like that period more.
October 22, 2020
Very good descriptions of artists lives, struggles and peeves at the turn of the century.
Picasso's bio was very interesting and will lead me to another of his biographies.
Picasso's bio was very interesting and will lead me to another of his biographies.
May 1, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Roe follows the lives of Picasso and Matisse along with other artists, art dealers, collectors, and writers living in Paris just after the turn of the century. They are, needless to say, a colorful group. Roe explores their lives, their loves, their work, and also their environment as she brings the Montmartre of the era to life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews