Pompidou: Georges Roualt

We are not big fans of contemporary art, and we had just visited the Pompidou in 2019, but when we heard it was holding a special exhibition on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Georges Roualt's birth, we had to go. Roualt is special for us because of a self-portrait he did in his younger years, a poster of which has been in the family from before the time we were married in 1968. It is something Vicki acquired because it somehow reminded her of me, then. The Pompidou has most of the Roualts in the world, but every time we've visited in the past 20 years, the painting in question has been elsewhere or in storage. But this time, for the 150th anniversary exhibition, it was out, front and center. 

Standing in the first Sunday line

Thus

Notre Dame in repair; they hope to have it ready for visitors in
2024, if not completely finished

One view from the terrace of the Pompidou: the Bourse Commerce,
La Defense, Les Halles, Saint-Eustache...

Montmartre

It's a self-portrait that goes by several names,
Head of a Young Man, The Apprentice Worker

We knew little about Roualt before this exhibit...largely, his
style, which reminds some, with the heavy black lines, of stained
glass; in fact he worked in glass before becoming a painter; 
above, Exodux, April, 1945, one of several concerning refugees
following the world wars

He was a highly moralist artist, focusing on social injustice,
war, the status of women; these are a few of his Miserere series:
scores of engravings, accompanied by short narratives by the
artist, all depicting the sufferings incurred throughout society in
WWI

Passion, 1929-45; the Passion

The horrors of WWI drove Roualt to many anti-
war works; this is his sole response to WWII, the
quote from Hobbes, "man is a wolf to man" 

Girls and Factory, 1931

The Wounded Clown, 1932; a metaphor
for humanity

The Sainte Face, 1933

Pleased with our success, but moving right along...Frantisek
Kupka, Plans par Couleurs, 1910-1911; described as a
"post-Cubist fantasy," "a milestone on the road to abstraction," 
also something I really liked

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Art de la Table Kubus, 1938; these are glass
storage containers for the fridge; Vicki astutely notes the 17 piece
set lacked two lids, clearly the sign that they were done by a male
designer who had never consulted with anyone who had actually
used a refrigerator; anyhow, when you're next at the flea market or
Goodwill, be on the look-out for these, as they're valuable enough
to be in one of the world's great museums...

Obligatory Jack the Dripper; possibly upside-
down or side-ways; Number 26A, Black and
White, 1948

Vuja de: Yves Klein, IKB 3 Monochrome Bleu,
1960; last seen at the Tate Modern

Cy Twombley's immortal Thermopylae,
1992; at this, we left, having had well
enough of "modern" art; but grateful for
the opportunity to see our Roualt