There are a few iconic images of Paris and most seem to be captured by Robert Doisneau, Henri Cartier-Bresson, or Willy Ronis. Those crisp silver-toned black-and-white images still stand the test of time and are etched in our memories for generations. Les Amoureux de la Bastille might be more iconic than Le Baiser de l'Hôtel de Ville
French photographer Robert Doisneau may be best known for his photo Le baiser de l’hôtel de ville of a young couple in an embrace in central Paris. However, his work as a photojournalist spans decades.
Beginning in 1931 as an assistant and advertising photographer before he was enlisted in the war. Following the war, he worked with Vogue but the perfectly crafted photo shoots were not what he had in mind. He preferred to shoot the streets of Paris, real people going about their day-to-day lives.
With his camera in hand, he would stroll the streets of Paris where music seemed to be on every corner. Capturing images of the everyday moments in the most beautiful clear photos where the emotion jumps off from the paper in black and white. During his years with Le Point, he would take candid photos of artists in the studio, everyone from Maria Callas to Yves Montand who painted a picture of relaxed unguarded moments.
On June 13, 1950, Life magazine published what would become one of the most iconic photos of Paris. Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville, by Robert Doisneau.
I love this photo, but more for what is around the couple than the couple themselves. The essence of Paris comes so clearly across in this piece. Taken in front of the Hôtel de Ville in the 4th, the people walking by without even a glance toward the couple in a close embrace is what is so very Parisian. It is not uncommon to see this exact scene on one of the many picturesque bridges, in front of the Eiffel Tower, or on a sidewalk terrace, it is as common to see as a Frenchman walking down the street with a baguette.
It is the romance of Paris that oozes out of everything that is so easy to be whisked away into, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. But back to this photo and where I will squash your romantic dreams of what looks like such a candid moment. By 1950 Robert Doiseneu had been documenting the streets of Paris for a few years after working for Vogue as a fashion photographer. He found his inspiration in the everyday life of Parisians and it was on one of these days he saw a couple kissing. For more than 40 years it was a great mystery who the young couple were, but in 1992 they were revealed. Jacques Carteaud and Françoise Bornet were dating and walking through Paris kissing away when Doisneau caught a glimpse of them. In 2005 Françoise said, "He told us we were charming, and asked if we could kiss again for the camera. We didn't mind. We were used to kissing. We were doing it all the time then, it was delicious. Monsieur Doisneau was adorable, very low key, very relaxed."
So he took them to a few famous spots in Paris to recreate their kiss, but it was in front of the Hôtel de Ville that they struck gold and the iconic photo was created. When you are in Paris, go to this same spot and at the café across the square stand across from the "C" and kiss away and you can make your own version. I can promise you it is not hard to be swept away in the romance of Paris and you too can find out exactly why they call them French Kisses
Doisneau took photos up until his final days, still on the streets of Paris and its suburbs. When he died in 1994 at 81 he left behind more than 500,000 negatives, more than enough for the man and his amazing art to live on forever. “I don’t photograph life as it is, but life as I would like it to be”.
The father of Willy Ronis was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and fled to Paris where he set up a photography studio. Willy had other ideas of being a composer but when his father got sick he took over the business. Willy liked the streets of Paris much better than sitting in a studio capturing portraits. One day in 1957 he decided to climb the July Column of the Place de la Bastille. While up there snapping a few pictures he saw a young couple on the edge looking down the Rue Saint Antoine. You can see Notre Dame de Paris, Eglise Saint Paul Saint Louis, and other landmarks immortalized in black and white.
Willy took one photo, walked back down, and went on with his day. The image was later reproduced in magazines and postcards and spread across the world. However, Ronis never knew who the young lovers were until 31 years later. At a Valentine’s Day exhibition at the Comptoir de la Photographie in the Marais where his famous photo was on display a young man walked up with a book for him to autograph.
Talking with Ronis he told him that he knew the young lovebirds that stood so high over Paris. Willy couldn’t believe it, and it got better. “They own a restaurant just around the corner at 10 rue Saint Antoine, I can take you there.”
Riton and Marinette came to Paris just from Alsace and on that day they climbed to the top this one and only time. Three years later they were married and had opened a restaurant and later had a poster of the photo framed in their bistro in the shadows of the statue of Beaumarchais; the couple had remained for 29 years since that photo.
As they stood up there that day in 1957, they would be immortalized forever, but they had no idea that the restaurant they would own for the rest of their life was also immortal. Just down the street and in the photo it can be seen in the corner of the photo.
When you talk about sculptures and love, two artists reign supreme over all others, Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel.
Le Baiser by August Rodin was made for his huge bronze "gates of hell". In 1883 Rodin was commissioned to make by the Decorative Arts Museum. It’s hard to think that something that exudes such love and passion was a part of something called the Gates of Hell.
It took Rodin 37 years, until his death, to come close to finishing the gates that are based on Dante's Inferno. Le Baiser depicts the story of Francesca da Rimini and PaoloMalatesta. Star-crossed lovers in Rimini Italy in the Emilia-Romagna region. Francesca born in 1255 was married off by her father to Gianciotto) Malatesta but quickly fell in love with his brother Paolo.
When Gianciotto discovered the two locked in an embrace and kiss while reading Lancelot and Guinevere he stabbed and killed them in 1285.
Paolo had met Dante in 1282 in Florence and when he heard their fate he included it in his Divine Comedy published in 1472. Dante spent more than 12 years writing the narrative poem and finished it in 1320 less than a year before he died. Recanting the three levels of the afterlife, Inferno (hell), Purgatory, and Paradise (heaven) he follows the characters as they navigate their destined ending.
It's amazing up close and has the tiniest bit of sparkle within the marble, just like love should sparkle. My grandparents visited in 1982 and my grandpa and his trusty camera captured the Kiss in all its sepia-toned goodness at the Rodin Museum. I love walking in their footsteps in a place that through love has been handed down to me. The project for the Decorative Arts Museum never came together and you can see a finished version at the Rodin and the original plaster version at the Musée d’Orsay.
When it was first displayed in America in 1893 it was too shocking in its erotic nature and shoved in a corner. A few years later in the UK, it was hidden in the stables of Edward Warren so as not to turn on the soldiers stationed there in WWI. When the French first saw it at the 1898 Salon they fell in love with it and the wealthy wanted their copy. Today you can find four marble and bronze copies all over the world. Only 12 copies can be made from the original Rodin mold to be considered official.
The bronze version now in front of the Musée de l’Orangerie with a view of the sunset behind the Eiffel Tower is the closest thing to the definition of love.
The relationship between Camille Claudel and Rodin was one of inspiration, love, and eventually anger. When she was 19, Rodin had brought on some young eager students to help him with commissions including the Gates of Hell. In 1883 they began an affair that would last over ten years. The student and the teacher would be inseparable and he would do all he could to help her through the elite of the Paris art world.
Camille’s sexual nature of her works did not go over well, especially when created by a woman. Her family didn’t approve of her work or her relationship with Rodin, creating an even wider divide between her mother and siblings. At the same time, she focused on the tiny details of the human body Rodin’s work also took on a more erotic and sensual nature. If you look at the pieces he created after the two became involved you can see more of two bodies entwined than a single figure.
The saddest part is that Rodin was just as much her muse as she was his and their love affair comes through in their many pieces: Rodin’s Eternal Idol, Fugit l’Amour (Fleeting Love), The Kiss, and Eternal Springs. Up against Camille’s Sakountala, l’Abandon and Vertumne et Pomone.
As his muse and lover, Camille wanted to marry the famous artist but he was still with his longtime partner Rose. In 1892 she ended the relationship but her feelings for Rodin were still there. In 1895 the French government commissioned Camille to create a sculpture for the State. Her striking, beautiful, and heartbreaking sculpture L’Age Mur was her answer.
It depicts an older woman leading an older man away while his arm reaches back to a young woman on her knees pleading with him to stay. Believing that the older woman was Rose leading Rodin away Camille reaches out while on her knees. Many including Roden thought this was a message to their relationship and were outraged. The French government canceled the commission when they saw the subject and how it offended Rodin. Camille would still complete it and it would be exhibited in 1899, much to the chagrin of Rodin. Up until this point Rodin supported her financially but that ended with L’Age Mur and her final break from the sculptor. He would later do all he could to help save her from the fate her brother put her in, but sadly it wouldn’t work.
Even more amazing is her "La Valse" (the waltz), this piece is so beautiful and shares so much emotion and love out of a chunk of bronze. You can feel the love and movement when you take a moment to stop and take it all in. When you have the opportunity to see these pieces up close, get as close as possible look at every detail, and walk all the way around.
A room in the Musée Rodin is dedicated to Camille and her many sculptures showing her importance in Rodin’s work. For even more Camille she has her own museum outside of Paris in Nogent-sur-Seine. I will take you there soon!
I could never get tired of seeing her beautiful pieces in the Musée d'Orsay or the Musee Rodin. For more Camille make sure to listen to episode 51 we did in October 2020.