I had no intention of going to see Le Corbusier exhibition at the Beaubourg. His political ties during the war to Vichy, not to mention his Anti-Semetic leanings have always put me off his work. Even his buildings, which goodness knows, made him famous all over the world, have never really made me enthusiastic about him as an architect. I saw a lot with my Mother in the South of France. So when a friend who I see during our courses at the Louvre and this time on Brueghel, said she had been amazed by his paintings... I picked up my ears! There my ignorance really showed up. I didn’t know he had done any painting. So snarling to myself, I set off.
He was born in Switzerland and was or became a visionary architect (1887-1965). Also he changed his nationality and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and America.
Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities, quite a few of his buildings are to be seen in Marseille and even Paris. It was his art work which threw me off balance. I wasn’t expecting it.
It’s obvious that he was influenced by the cubists. He worked alongside Amédéé Ozenfant (1866-1966) and during that period they published a book called « After Cubism » the manifesto for the Purist movement that they created together.
 |
| Amédée Ozenfant, Sisteron rempart 1918/19 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - La Rochelle Port - 1919 |
 |
| Amédée Ozenfant - Andernos Church, 1918 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - Chimney, 1918 |
There is a little of Magritte there for me
 |
| Le Corbusier, The red Bowl - 1919 |
 |
| Amédée Ozenfant- Glass, Pipe and Book - 1919 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - Guitar standing up - 1920 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - Still life - pile of plates -1920 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - Still life - 1922 |
|
|
 |
| Le Corbusier, Bottle of orange wine, 1922 |
 |
| Le Corbusier, Pure still life with siphon, 1923 |
 |
| Le Corbusier - 1922 |
Of course, Fernand Leger seemed to be there too....
 |
| Le Corbusier - Still Life with many objects - 1923 |
Even a huge mural painting which had a strange relation to Picasso. At one point I felt that I had changed exhibitions. Nothing as good as Picasso but certainly reminiscent.
 |
| Le Corbusier, Mural Painting for the rue de Sèvres atelier, 1948 |
|
|
|
|
The woman though come from a very different period and don't seem to be related to his architectual forms any longer. I gather it was his wife who became his "single" model.On the other hand, many paintings seem to have been "déjà vu".
 |
| Le Corbusier, 4 bathers on a beach in front of a rock - 1935 |
 |
| 1939 |
 |
| Two seated women - 1929 |
 |
| Mural painting for Jean Badovici house in Vezelay: 1935-36 |
Although there were many different periods - after all this exhibition of 300 woks spanned his complete life from Switzerland to when he died in France - I guess that what really pulled me over to him as an artists was his interpretation of the human body which he relates to different fields of architecture and design. Even sculpture when he worked alongside other artists. The Modular for instance when he began thinking about a system of measurement on the scale of the average man. Just think, 183cm or with th arm raised, the man reaches 226c.
 |
| The Modular, 1950 |
 |
| The Modular - 1954 |
 |
| The Modular - 1954 - study for size |
 |
| Le Corbusier & Joseph Savina - Woman, 1953 |
 |
| Le Corbusier & Joseph Savina, The Little man, 1944 |
There was another period which really surprised me too. The Acoustic period in the 40’s when the character of « Ubu » appears. That was a wild, bizarre and comic play, significant for the way it overturns cultural rules, norms, and conventions. By Alfred Jarry. The play opened and closed on the same night, the 10th December, 1896. Le Corbusier painted « Ubu » resembling giant ears. Like that he stressed the importance of sight, hearing and touch in a spatial experience. I guess it was another way of seeing « Ubu » and my goodness that « King » has turned up in some pretty odd places. Then there was the other character « Ozon » whom I know nothing about. After losing some on time on Internet, I still don’t. Forgive me for that.
 |
| Le Corbusier & Joseph Savina - Ozon, 1947 |
 |
| Le Corbusier & Joseph Savina - Ozon, 1947 |
|
 |
| Le Grand Ubu - 1944 |
 |
| Le Grand Ubu - 1949 |
 |
| 1952 |
 |
| Le Corbusier & Joseph Savina- Ubu, 1947 |
A few which seemed quite unique
 |
| Totem, 1944 |
 |
| Butcher' Bone |
 |
| Persan Motifs, 1909 |
This exhibition changed my way of thinking about his art work. As far as the man is concerned, my views will never change.
On the same floor there was a very big exhibition on Mona Haltom’s York. 100 or so works were presented in different media, videos, photography, installations, sculpture and works on paper. She was born in Beirut in 1952 to Palestine parents. During a short visit to London in 1975 the Lebanese civil war broke out so she stayed on in London and is now British by nationality.
There was a fascination for maps (which also intrigue me). One on the floor for instance called MAP is made up of crystal clear marbles which are not fixed to the floor making the map vulnerable and unstable as the vibration from our movements can shift parts of the "world" and destroy it. I guess that is what the world is all about today.
 |
| Map (Clear) 2015 |
There is another one called "Hot Spot which is a red neon outlining the angles of the earth. It seemed to buzz (but did it really?). Could it be related to a global warming?
 |
| Hot Spot -2013 |
 |
| Hot Spot -2013 |
Her strange road maps in Europe......
 |
| Roads, 2003 |
 |
| Roads, 2003 |
This installation which she calls Cellules. What are they? Cells locked up?
 |
| Cells, 2012-2013 |
Her work left me feeling uneasy. I didn't feel that there was too much hope in what represented for me......for others perhaps. Not for me.
Commentaires