Bohemian Paris: Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, and the Birth of Modern Art

Part fiction, part art history, Bohemian Paris is a fascinating read. How can it be otherwise when the pages are inhabited by such colorful figures as Picasso. Modigliani, Jean Cocteau, Henri Matisse, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein? Franck, the author of 15 books, escorts readers on a wide-screen tour of magical Paris during a period of 30 years, 1900 - 1930. That was a time of new birth in the world of artistic creation when painters, sculptors, writers, and versifiers struggled to covey revolutionary ideas and images. Some of these creators were feted at opulent, devil-may care galas while others worked in the direst poverty. Learned and repressed poet Guillaume Apollinaire hovered on the periphery of this circle; Jean Cocteau might trip a friend to advance himself but how brilliant he was! Amedeo Modigliani gave to others when he had naught for himself; Gertrude Stein presided over her unparalleled salons. And from these minds and from that time sprang cubism, Fauvism, dadaism and surrealism. Paris, both public and private, sizzled with creativity. With Bohemian Paris author Franck has painted vivid word pictures of that significant era and collected numerous vignettes about the private lives of those who dramatically influenced art as we now know it. - Gail Cooke