Hosted at the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin for the 10th anniversary of the venue’s public opening, the iconic Parisian photographer, Willy Ronis, has already drawn over 70.000 visitors in the heart of the neighborhood that inspired him. Its first big success, Belleville Ménilmontant (1954), was the result of strolls through the narrow streets of then largely working-class Eastern Paris.
It is no surprise that this old Paris, with its hills and faubourgs, is brilliantly illustrated in the exhibit which showcases 200 photographs taken between 1926 and 2002. It features several scenes which the artist, who passed a decade ago, engraved in the legend of Parisian street photography: the famed child running with a baguette, the stairs of Butte Bergeyre or Belleville.
© Ministère de la Culture – Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, dist. RMN-GP, donation Willy Ronis
The diversity of this retrospective its main quality: going beyond an idealized capital where lovers and gavroches bring the street to life, Willy Ronis par Willy Ronis highlights deeper dimensions of his work. First and foremost socially-focused, a significant contribution to the movement of humanist photography. Visitors can also expect a more intimate work, with scenes of family life, and an unexpected series of nude portraits.
Across the different rooms, viewers cross the limit of Paris to discover testimonies of a more bucolic – yet not always calmer – France, as the artist’s eye evokes more distant lands. His oneiric vision at Bruges’ beguinage, or the quays of Venice bathing in raw light, meet the sloping streets of Eastern Paris through Ronis’ precision: instants precede technique, poetry the rest.
Where?
Pavillon Carré de Baudouin
121, rue de Ménilmontant, 75020 Paris
01 58 53 55 40
www.mairie20.paris.fr
When?
Until January 2nd, 2019
Tuesday to Saturday : 11h-18h
Cost?
The exhibit is free!
Cover illustration : WILLY RONIS. Lovers of the Bastille
© Ministère de la Culture – Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, dist. RMN-GP, donation Willy Ronis
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