Matisse & Rodin
Musée Rodin, Paris, until 28 February 2010
Of the grand 18th-century mansions with spectacular gardens that once lined the rue de Varenne in Paris, only two have escaped the developers. The Hôtel Matignon at number 57 survives intact as the residence of the French Prime Minister, but the Hôtel Biron at number 79 owes its escape to an artists’ colony. In the 19th century, the Maréchal de Biron’s former home became a convent school for young ladies; when the nuns moved out in 1905, the artists moved in. Isadora Duncan opened a dance school in the upstairs gallery, Matisse took over the classrooms across the garden, and in 1908, following a tip-off from another tenant, Rilke, the 67-year-old Rodin moved his studio to a suite of reception rooms on the ground floor.
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