Montmartre: The Birthplace of Modern Art

An entirely fresh study of how, at the end of the nineteenth century, the neighborhood of Montmartre in Paris inspired a vital, innovative and unique community of artists who revolutionized Western art. After the 1871 Paris Commune, Montmartre played a significant political, social, and artistic role; its revolutionary spirit attracted independent artists, writers, and musicians. Its cabarets, cafés, circus, dancehalls, and theaters made Montmartre a popular cultural center. Drawing on important artworks from the Weisman Collection and the Musée de Montmarte, Paris, as well as a wealth of archival photography, maps, and prints to illustrate its narrative text, this volume presents up to 180 stunning color illustrations, including paintings by Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Kees van Dongen, Otto Freundlich, Amedeo Modigliani, Suzanne Valadon, André Derain, Maurice Vlaminck, Henri Matisse, Juan Gris, and Frantisek Kupka, amongst many others at the center of Montmartre's artistic and cultural life during this period. A map of Montmartre showing the locations of studio spaces, residences and cabarets, and a selected bibliography provide important sources of new information for scholars. AUTHORS: Phillip Dennis Cate is director emeritus of the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University and an independent scholar. He is the editor and co-author of Toulouse- Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: Paris 1880-1910 (2013), and The Spirit of Montmartre: Cabarets, Humor and the Avant Garde, 1875-1905 (1999). He was the co-curator, with Saskia Ooms, of Collection Weisman & Michel, Fin de siècle ? Belle époque (1880-1916), Musée de Montmartre, (2019-2020). Saskia Ooms is curator of the David E. Weisman and Jacqueline E. Michel Collection and former head of collections at the Musée de Montmartre. SELLING POINTS: . A vital addition to the publications about fin-de-siecle Paris. . Map of cafes, studios and entertainment venues will appeal to all those with an interest in Parisian culture. . Inclusive text makes this a must-have book for students and historians, as well as all those with a love of French art. 187 colour illustrations