Le Meurice IN T H E FO OT S T EP S O F L EG EN DA RY A RT I S T S
Picasso
As the hotel of artists and thinkers, this is one of a series of walking tours with Le Meurice following in the footsteps of legendary artists in Paris. LE T T HE DIS C OV ERY BEGIN
Picasso’s Montmartre When Pablo Picasso hosted his wedding banquet in the Salon Pompadour at Le Meurice on July 12, 1918, it was the event of the season. By then, the legendary artist had had more than a taste of success and his guests – including groomsmen Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire – feasted on sumptuous food and drank vintage champagne. Picasso’s road to riches, however, was long and winding, for the young Spaniard had arrived in Paris a penniless 19-year-old in 1900. Restless and ambitious, he soon embarked on a journey that irrevocably changed the course of Modern art. The story of how Picasso became Picasso is one of the greatest ever told, and it begins in the heady, bohemian world of Montmartre in the Belle Époque. To celebrate our role in this story, we invite you to enjoy an exclusive opportunity to tour Picasso’s Montmartre with a knowledgeable guide. They’ll take you on a unique private tour to sites that lay off the beaten track, and share vivid tales that bring the characters back to multiPICASSO IN PLACE RAVIGNAN, MONTMARTRE, 1904
coloured life.
Musée National Picasso, Paris
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The charming cobblestone streets of Montmartre that so seduced Picasso had offered artists cheap accommodation and plenty of risqué distractions since before the days of the Impressionists. Somewhat miraculously, the hillside neighbourhood had escaped the attentions of Baron Haussmann and the ramshackle, rustic charm of the vast majority of the places in which Picasso lived, painted and partied during these years survives relatively unchanged to this day. Our story takes us from 1900 through to 1911 and a little beyond. You will encounter the sites, scenes and characters – friends, rivals, women and patrons – that inspired the young Spaniard and set him on the path to becoming the greatest artist of the 20th century.
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PABLO PICASSO, LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE Oil on canvas, 1900 – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Discover the tales of romantic intrigue that inspired the Blue and Rose Periods; find out who was brave enough to give Picasso his first exhibition, and see the Moulin de la Galette through Picasso’s eyes. Find out how he paid for his drinks at the Lapin Agile, why he was implicated in a theft at the Louvre, and why his masterpiece Les Demoiselles d’Avignon remained rolled up and neglected in his studio for years. Coax out the ghosts of the rambunctious cohort that lived and worked at the Bateau-Lavoir – so decrepit it creaked and rocked in the wind like the laundry boats that lined the Seine, hence its baptism: the Washing Boat. Invoke the scents and sounds of the feast they held there for Le Douanier Rousseau. Imagine the conversations that passed between Picasso and Gertrude Stein as she sat for her portrait, and the complicity he shared with Georges Braque as they worked side by side on Cubist paintings that neither signed. THE BATEAU-LAVOIR – CIRCA 1910
Armed with historic photographs of each location to transport you back in time, your guide will talk you through key paintings made at each of the sites, telling all these tales and more.
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Enjoy a private walking tour created exclusively for guests of Le Meurice. Your passionate, knowledgeable guide has over ten years of experience in the art world and can adapt the pace and content of the tour to you. For all levels of interest, from the mildly curious, seeking easy conversation and a stroll through the picturesque cobblestone streets of Montmartre, to Picasso aficionados wanting to quite literally follow in the footsteps of the legendary artist and find answers to their burning questions.
PICASSO IN THE STUDIO AT 11 BOULEVARD DE CLICHY, PARIS, DECEMBER 1910 Musée National Picasso, Paris
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Picasso’s Montmartre includes:
One-night stay in a room or suite for two people American breakfast, including Cédric Grolet pastries Two-hour expert guided tour
From €1,330 for two per night
For reservations or information, please contact Le Meurice: + 33 (0)1 87 16 44 59 reservations.LMP@dorchestercollection.com
Tours can be extended to a full day or split over two half-days on request. Reservations at Musée Picasso can also be arranged. Offer subject to availability and terms & conditions.
IM AG E CR EDI T S: Pablo Picasso in Place Ravignon, Montmartre, 1904. © Photo RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau. © Succession Picasso 2020 Pablo Picasso, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1900. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of Justin K. Thannhauser, 1978. © 2020 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation/Art Resource, NY/ Scala, Florence. © Succession Picasso 2020. Pablo Picasso in the studio at 11 Boulevard de Clichy, Paris, 1910. © Photo RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau. © Succession Picasso 2020.