| The Blue Bird | |
|---|---|
| French:L'Oiseau bleu | |
_oil_on_canvas%2c_230_x_196_cm%2c_Mus%25C3%25A9e_d%2527Art_Moderne_de_la_Ville_de_Paris..jpg) | |
| Artist | Jean Metzinger |
| Year | 1912–13 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 230 cm × 196 cm (90.5 in × 77.2 in) |
| Location | Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,Paris |
The Blue Bird (French:L'Oiseau bleu) is an oil painting created in 1912–1913 by the French artist and theoristJean Metzinger.L'Oiseau bleu, one of Metzinger's most recognizable and frequently referenced works, was first exhibited in Paris at theSalon des Indépendants in the spring of 1913 (cat. no. 2087),[1] several months after the publication of the first (and only) Cubist manifesto,Du "Cubisme", written by Jean Metzinger andAlbert Gleizes (1912). It was subsequently exhibited at the 1913Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon in Berlin (titledDer blaue Vogel, cat. no. 287).[2]
Apollinaire describedL'Oiseau bleu as a 'very brilliant painting' and 'his most important work to date'.L'Oiseau bleu, acquired by the City of Paris in 1937, forms part of the permanent collection at theMusée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.[3]
L'Oiseau bleu is an oil painting on canvas with dimensions 230 × 196 cm (90.5 by 77.2 in). The work represents three nude women in a scene that contains a wide variety of components.L'Oiseau bleu, writes Joann Moser, uses a wealth of anecdotal detail "which comprises a compendium of motifs found in earlier and later paintings by Metzinger: bathers, fan, mirror, ibis, necklace, a boat with water, foliage and an urban scene. It is a mélange of interior and exterior elements integrated into one of Metzinger's most intriguing and successful compositions."[4]
The central standing 'foreground' figure is shown affectionately holding in both hands ablue bird (thus the title of the painting). The reclining figure wearing a necklace shown in the lower center of the canvas is placed next to a pedestal fruit bowl and another bird with the unmistakable coloration of the rareScarlet ibis (L'Ibis rouge), a rich symbol for bothexoticism andfashion. Costume designers for Parisian cabarets such asLe Lido,Folies Bergère, theMoulin Rouge andhaute couture houses in Paris during the 1910s used the feathers of the scarlet Ibis in their shows and collections. The Ibis is a bird to which the ancient Egyptians paid religious worship and attributed to it a 'virgin purity'.[5][6] A mysterious pyramidal shape is seen as if through aporthole to the right of the reclining figure's head, though it remains a matter of speculation whether there exists any relation to the ibis or pyramids of ancient Egypt. In front of the pyramid appears a shape that resembles asundial, perhaps meant as the element of time, or 'duration', as the clock placed in the upper right hand corner of hisNu à la cheminée (Nude) of 1910.[7]
Two other birds, in addition to theblue bird andscarlet ibis can be seen in the composition, one of which resembles agreen heron. A large steamship can be seen bellowing gaseous vapor from its funnel in the distant sea or ocean, and a smaller boat (orcanot) is visible below.
On the left half of Metzinger'sL'Oiseau Bleu, holding in her right hand a yellow fan (éventail) is a sitting nude who in her left hand holds a mirror into which she gazes. In the rest of the scene, various items and divers elements are placed, including in the upper center (practically at the highest point of the painting) theSacré-Cœur Basilica, located at the summit of the butteMontmartre, the highest point of the city. This popular monument is just up the hill from where Metzinger lived and worked (Rue Lamarck) prior to his move toMeudon around 1912. It is also a short distance fromLe Bateau-Lavoir, widely known as the birthplace of Cubism.
Edward F. Fry writes inCubism (1978): "Three female nudes are in various postures, and the blue bird is held by the uppermost figure; in other parts of the composition are numerous birds, grapes in a dish on a table, thestriped canopy of a Paris cafe, the dome of Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre, and a ship at sea."[8] (Bold added). Noticeably, the 'striped canopy' to which Fry refers has the same color pattern as the American flag. Recall thatL'Oiseau bleu was painted as the International Exhibition of Modern Art (theArmory Show) in New York was beginning to materialize; whenArthur B. Davies andWalt Kuhn came to Paris in the fall of 1912 to select works for the Armory Show, with the help ofWalter Pach.[9] The paintings of Metzinger, however, did not appear at the exhibition (to the surprise of many in his entourage); and this despite Picasso's 1912 recommendation. In a note to Kuhn, Picasso's handwritten list of artists recommended for the Armory Show include Gris, Metzinger, Gleizes, Léger, Duchamp, Delaunay, Le Fauconnier, Laurencin, La Fresnaye and Braque.[10] He did however exhibit at theExhibition of Cubist and Futurist Pictures, Boggs & Buhl Department Store, Pittsburgh, July 1913. HisPortrait of an American Smoking (Man with a Pipe), 1911–12 (Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin[11]) was reproduced on the front cover of the catalogue.[12] It is highly likely, since Walter Pach knew practically all the artists in the exhibition (a good friend of Metzinger and other members of theSection d'Or group; e.g., Gleizes, Picabia and the Duchamp brothers), that he had something to do with the organization of the show. Sponsored by theGimbel Brothers department store from May through the summer of 1913 the Cubist and Futurist show toured Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York.[13]
Metzinger had already been interviewed, circa 1908, byGelett Burgess for hisWild Men of Paris article, published inThe Architectural Record, May 1910 (New York).[14] In 1915 (8 March – 3 April) Metzinger exhibited at theThird Exhibition of Contemporary French Art—Carstairs (Carroll) Gallery, New York—with Pach, Gleizes, Picasso, de la Fresnaye, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Derain, Duchamp, Duchamp-Villon and Villon.[13][15]
Metzinger would soon exhibit six works in New York at the Montross Gallery, 550 Fifth Avenue (4–22 April 1916) with Gleizes, Picabia, Duchamp, andJean Crotti.[16][17][18] In 1917 Metzinger exhibited at thePeople's Art Guild (founded in 1915 to disseminate art to the masses) in New York, with Pach, Picabia, Picasso, Derain andJoseph Stella. In December 1917 Metzinger exhibited at theExhibition of Paintings by the Moderns, held atVassar College (located in the heart of the Hudson Valley in New York), with Pach, Derain,Edward Hopper,Diego Rivera andMax Weber.[13]
Duchamp, Picabia, Gleizes and his wife (via Hamilton Bermuda) would soon leave for New York where they would stay an extended period of time. Maurice Metzinger, Jean's brother, made several trips to the United States, in 1906, 1910 and would soon move there permanently in pursuit of his career as a Cellist.[19] In light of the turmoil surrounding his non-acceptance at the Armory show, his brother's experiences in New York, his soon to be exposition at theCubist Exhibition, Boggs & Buhl's, and the representation of a steamship in the upper right quadrant ofL'Oiseau bleu, it would not be out of the question that Metzinger made reference to the American flag (as opposed to a red and white stripped canopy of a Parisian café as suggested by Fry).
This would be remarkable in light of the growing trend of Nationalism surrounding modern art exhibitions in Paris, within which Metzinger was recognized as a French Cubist, and his work, in the French tradition: 'cubisme dans une tradition française'.[20] Painting an American flag might have been seen as provocative, especially so asRoger de La Fresnaye was painting French flags:Fourteenth of July, 1913–14 (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX), andThe Conquest of the Air, 1913 (Museum of Modern Art, New York),[21][22] two of his most original contributions to the diverse salons.[23]André Lhote appears to show both the flag of the United Kingdom and the stripes of the American flag in hisL'Escale, of 1913 (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris). The FuturistGino Severini, too, included the French flag in his 1913 paintingTrain of the Wounded.[24]
As in the works ofÉtienne-Jules Marey andEadweard Muybridge there is no smooth transition between the elements and sections of Metzinger's painting, but when sutured together (with the eye) in succession or simultaneously a dynamic ensemble emerges. The composition is divided, fragmented, splintered or faceted into series, not only of individual rectangles, squares or 'cubes' of color, but into individual planes or surfaces delineated by color and form. Just as other paintings by Metzinger of the pre-war period (such asEn Canot, 1913) there is some continuity that transits between the foreground and background, blending perspective of objects close and far, the notion ofdepth perception has not been abolished, i.e., the spatial attributes of the scene have not been flattened, yet there is no absoluteframe of reference.
Though not the first painting by Jean Metzinger to employ the concept ofmultiple perspective—three years had passed since he first propounded the idea inNote sur la peinture, published in 1910—L'Oiseau bleu arguably exemplifies the extreme, a maxima, asummum bonum of such pictorial processes, while still maintaining elements of recognizable form; the extreme activity of geometric faceting visible inL'Oiseau bleu is not frenzied to the point that any understandable link between physicality or naturalness is lost. Yet, what is achieved is, of course, fundamentally anti-naturalistic; at great distance from the appearance of the natural world.
Aimed at a large audience (the Salon des Indépendants, rather than a gallery setting),L'Oiseau bleu deliberately sets out to agitate and confront the standard expectation of art, in an attempt to implicated the viewer, to transfer beauty and elegance into a fresh cohesive dialogue that most accurately representsModernism—one that is in tune with the intricacies of modern life, one that describes Cubism, his Cubism, whose order was only a phase in a continuous process of change.
To achieve his goal, Metzinger raises the concept ofmobile perspective (as opposed to single-point perspective of the Renaissance) to a poetic principle: a form ofliterary art which uses theaesthetic qualities oficonography to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, theprosaic ostensiblemeaning.L'Oiseau bleu contains something that Metzinger spoke of as early as 1907; a "chromatic versification", as if for syllables. The rhythm of its pictorial phraseology translates the diverse emotions aroused by nature (in the words of Metzinger).[26]L'Oiseau bleu no longer represented nature as seen, but was a complete byproduct of the human 'sensation.' A departure from nature it was, and a departure from all that had been painted to date it was too.
Metzinger'sDivisionist technique had its parallel in literature. For him, there was an emblematic alliance between theSymbolist writers andNeo-Impressionism. Each brushstroke of color was equivalent to a word (or "syllable"). Together the pigments formed sentences (or "phrases") which translated the various emotions that nature would pass on to the artist. This is an important aspect of Metzinger's early work, and an important aspect of Metzinger's entire artistic output (as a painter, writer, poet, and theorist). Already then, Metzinger coupled Symbolist/Neo-Impressionist color theory withCézannian perspective, beyond not just the preoccupations ofPaul Signac andHenri-Edmond Cross, but beyond too the preoccupations of his avant-garde entourage.[27]
"I ask of divided brushwork not the objective rendering of light, but iridescences and certain aspects of color still foreign to painting. I make a kind of chromatic versification and for syllables I use strokes which, variable in quantity, cannot differ in dimension without modifying the rhythm of a pictorial phraseology destined to translate the diverse emotions aroused by nature." (Metzinger, 1907)
An interpretation of this statement was made by Robert L. Herbert: "What Metzinger meant is that each little tile of pigment has two lives: it exists as a plane where mere size and direction are fundamental to the rhythm of the painting and, secondly, it also has color which can vary independently of size and placement." (Herbert, 1968)[26][28]
During Metzinger's Divisionist period, each individual square of pigment associated with another of similar shape and color to form a group; each grouping of color juxtaposed with an adjacent collection of differing colors; just as syllables combine to form sentences, and sentences combine to form paragraphs, and so on. Now, the same concept formerly related to color has been adapted to form. Each individual facet associated with another adjacent shape form a group; each grouping juxtaposed with an adjacent collection of facets connect or become associated with a larger organization—just as the association of syllables combine to form sentences, and sentences combine to form paragraphs, and so on—forming what Metzinger described as the 'total image'.[27][29]
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Though the primary role of Metzinger'ssyntax was played by the relations of its intricate parts within the whole, there was another key factor that emerged: the mobile underlying geometric armature organized as a dynamic composition of superimposed planes. Metzinger,Juan Gris and to some extentJacques Lipchitz, would develop this concept further during thewar; something Gleizes would notice when he returned to Paris from New York, and develop further still inPainting and its Laws (La Peinture et ses lois), written in 1922 and published in 1923. In that text Gleizes would attribute to this underlying armature 'objective notions of translation and rotation', words in which 'movement is implicit'.[30][31]
In this sense Metzinger'sL'Oiseau bleu was a precursor in its genre, more so perhaps than hisLe goûter (Tea Time) of 1911,La Femme au Cheval, 1911–12, orDancer in a café (Danseuse) of 1912.[32][33]
Now, the emergence of the 'total image' arises out of amultiplicity of relatively simple interacting planes or surfaces, loosely based on theGolden triangle andFibonacci spiral. Whereas before, each disconnected element would unite forming complex relationships as a collective, now (and progressively), the collective components would be organized into an abstract mathematical concept that is much more general; giving rise to a global topology. This underlying geometric armature would facilitate the union of a set (or sets) of complex structures on a given orientable surface.[citation needed]
InThe Introduction to Metaphysics (1903)Henri Bergson described in his theory of images how uniting a collection of disparate images acts on the consciousness and intuition, creating an alogical disposition. The Symbolist poetTancrède de Visan, who prior to 1904 and some time leading up to 1911 attended the lectures of Bergson at the College de France, met regularly with the Cubists at the poetPaul Fort's soirees at the fashionableLa Closerie des Lilas [fr]. He related Bergson's notion of 'accumulated successive images' to the writings ofMaurice Maeterlinck circa 1907, and in 1910 advocated the technique inVers et Prose.[34]
InNote sur la peinture of the same year Metzinger argues that Delaunay'sTour Eiffel combines several different views captured throughout the day in one image. 'Intuitive, Delaunay has defined intuition as the brusque deflagration of all the reasonings accumulated each day'.[34] The following year, inCubisme et Tradition (1911) Metzinger writes of the immobility of paintings of the past, and that now, artists permit themselves the liberty of 'moving around the object to give, under the control of intelligence, a concrete representation derived from several successive aspects.' He continues, 'The painting possesses space, and now it also reigns in the duration' ["voilà qu'il règne aussi dans la durée"].,[35][36] With motion and time, intuition and consciousness, Metzinger could now claim his art had moved closer to nature, closer to a true, yet subjective, reality.
Parallel to the theories of Bergson, embraced by Metzinger, Gleizes and other members of theSection d'Or, Maeterlinck's ideas became of interest. Bolstered by mathematics, Reimannian geometry, and new discoveries in science that revealed existence of unseen realms (such as X-rays), and attracted to the concept of extra dimension (in addition the three spatial dimensions: thefourth dimension), Metzinger likely responded positively to Maeterlinck's popular stage playThe Blue Bird (written in 1908), finding in it, perhaps, the analogy to the Cubist quest for higher realities.[37]
Maeterlinck's play,The Blue Bird, premiered in Moscow in 1908, New York 1910, and on 2 March 1911 the play premiered in Paris at the Théâtre Réjane (owned and run by the French actressRéjane from 1906 to 1918). The play subsequently was adapted to several films titledThe Blue Bird. The French composerAlbert Wolff wrote an opera (first performed at the N.Y. Metropolitan, 27 December 1919, in the presence of Maeterlinck) based on Maeterlinck's original 1908 play. Due to the early popularity of the play and Metzinger's various interests in science and Symbolism, and as his 1913 painting bears the same name as the play, it is relatively safe to assume that Metzinger was familiar with the work of Maeterlinck.
Edward Fry commented inCubism[38] that Metzinger'sL'Oiseau bleu has "no significant connection with Maeterlinck's 1910 play of the same name" may not be entirely justified.[37] Aside from the presence of theblue bird (The Blue Bird of Happiness in Maeterlinck's play) there is no iconographic evidence relating to the painting to the play, but at the very least a connection between Maeterlinck and Symbolism, with Bergson and Cubism, has been established through Tancrede de Visan.[37][39]
"The Cubists also found support in Maeterlinck for their ideas regarding successive images and simultaneity. Contemporary critics like Visan recognized the parallel between Bergson and Maeterlinck, claiming that Maeterlinck had anticipated Bergson's technique of successive images inSerres chaudes. While Bergson argued that the artist must induce an alogical state in the beholder by juxtaposing images as disparate as possible to enable the spectator to reconstruct his or her original intuition, Maeterlinck took the same approach inSerres chaudes, according to Visan. Furthermore, Maeterlinck used words and gestures in unusual ways and placed them in strange contexts with the same aim in mind. Maeterlinck's highly popularL'Oiseau bleu and other writings, includingLe temple enseveli, espoused a continuity of time previously suggested by Bergson. In addition, the faceted diamond ofL'Oiseau bleu not only gave the children "true sight" that closely mimicked the X-ray, but also allowed them to perceive distant times and places. Clearly responding the play, Metzinger, in his painting of the same name, breaks the objects into facets and reveals a simultaneous view of places separated by great distance. Just as Poincaré advocated that a combination of multiple perspectives could represent a higher-dimensional object, Metzinger must have seen a parallel with Maeterlinck's diamond—a faceted object that revealed higher reality". (Laura Kathleen Valeri, 2011)[37]
LIGHT: "We are in the Kingdom of the Future," said Light, a character in Meaterlinck's play, "in the midst of the children who are not yet born. As the diamond allows us to see clearly in this region which is hidden from men, we shall perhaps find the Blue Bird here..."[40]
THE FAIRY: (Pointing to the diamond) "When you hold it like this, do you see?... One little turn more and you behold the past.... Another little turn and you behold the future..."[40]
LIGHT: "We are in the Kingdom of the Future, in the midst of the children who are not yet born. As the diamond allows us to see clearly in this region which is hidden from men, we shall very probably find the Blue Bird here..."[40]
The enchanted diamond inThe Blue Bird, when turned, has the virtue of setting free the spirits temporarily, a diamond " which opens your eyes" and "makes people see", even "the inside of things".[40]
The same year that he paintedL'Oiseau bleu Metzinger wrote: 'We will not consider the forms as signs of an idea, but as living portions of the universe.' (1913)[41]
Guillaume Apollinaire, in a poem written in 1907 entitledLa Tzigane, writes of ablue bird: "Et l'oiseau bleu perdit ses plumes Et les mendiants leurs Avé".[42] He does so again in 1908 in another poem, entitledFiançailles: "Le printemps laisse errer les fiancés parjures, Et laisse feuilloler longtemps les plumes bleues, Que secoue le cyprès où niche l'oiseau bleu".[43] And yet again, this time in 1918, inUn oiseau chante: Moi seul l'oiseau bleu s'égosille, Oiseau bleu comme le coeur bleu, De mon amour au coeur céleste".[44]
The Blue Bird is also 1910 silent film, based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck and starring Pauline Gilmer as Mytyl and Olive Walter as Tytyl. It was filmed in England. The original Broadway production ofThe Blue Bird orL'Oiseau Bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck opened at the New Theatre in New York (followed by the Majestic Theater) on October 1, 1910, and closed on January 21, 1911. Revivals were produced in 1911 and 1924.[45][46]
L'Oiseau bleu et la Princesse Florine appear in aPas de deux, Act III ofThe Sleeping Beauty, aballet in three acts first performed in 1890. The music was byPyotr Tchaikovsky (hisOpus 66). The original scenario was conceived byIvan Vsevolozhsky, and is based onCharles Perrault'sLa Belle au bois dormant.Marius Petipa choreographed the original production. The premiere performance took place at theMariinsky Theatre inSt. Petersburg in 1890.
Russian composerIgor Stravinsky, working forSergei Diaghilev and theBallets Russes, achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes:The Firebird (L'Oiseau de feu) (1910),Petrushka (1911) andThe Rite of Spring (1913). The rhythmic structure of these compositions were largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design.
Stravinsky's admiration for Tchaikovsky is well documented. Stravinsky's music has often been compared with Cubism. His path often crossed with the Cubists,[48] notably Picasso and Gleizes, and throughRicciotto Canudo contributed to and became closely associated with the pro-Cubist publicationMontjoie.,[49][50] Gleizes published an article in Canudo's Montjoie entitledCubisme et la tradition, 10 February 1913.[51] It was through the intermediary of Ricciotto Canudo that Gleizes would meet the artistJuliette Roche (soon to become Juliette Roche-Gleizes); a childhood friend ofJean Cocteau. Stravinsky would later collaborate with both Picasso (Pulcinella, 1920), and Cocteau (Oedipus Rex, 1927).
Albert Gleizes painted thePortrait of Igor Stravinsky in 1914.[52]
The connection between Tchaikovsky'sL'Oiseau Bleu and Metzinger'sL'Oiseau Bleu is not entirely far fetched in light of the close association between Stravinsky and both circles: that of theRussian Ballets and that of the Cubists. At the opening night of the Ballets Russes in Paris, May 1909,Vaslav Nijinsky's performed withTamara Karsavina in theBluebird pas de deux.[53][54]
The titleL'Oiseau bleu (The Blue Bird) can be traced back to a French literary fairy tale byMadame d'Aulnoy (1650/1651 – 4 January 1705), published in 1697. When d'Aulnoy termed her workscontes de fées (fairy tales), she originated the term that is now generally used for the genre.[55] Prince Charming, in the story, is transformed by the fairy godmother into a blue bird. Aside from the subject of the title of Madame d'Aulnoy's story, there is further iconographic evidence in Metzinger's painting that suggests a link between the two. The first relates to the woman gazing into a mirror on the left side of Metzinger's painting.
In the Madame d'Aulnoy 1697 story it is written:
'The entire valley was a mirror. Around the valley there were more than sixty thousand women who gazed at themselves with extreme pleasure... Each saw herself as she wanted to be: the redhead seemed blonde, the brunette had black hair, the old thought she was young, the young didn't become old; finally, all defects were so well hidden that the people came from all over the world'.[56]
With reference to the fruit visible in Metzinger's work, a link could be established as articulated in d'Aulnoy's tale: 'As soon as the day broke, the [blue] bird flew deep into the tree where fruits served as food.'[56]
And with reference to the necklace worn by Metzinger's reclining figure, a comparison could be made with d'Aulnoy's story:
'No day passed without [the Blue Bird – King Charming] bringing a present [présent] to Florine: sometimes a perl necklace, or the brightest and well-made rings, fastened with diamonds, an official marking [des poinçons], with bouquets of precious cut gems, that mimic the colors of flowers, pleasant books, medals, finally, she had a collection of wonderful treasures'.[56]
It is difficult to ascertain to what extent Metzinger was influenced, moved, provoked or inspired by the works of Maeterlinck, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky or d'Aulnoy. What does emerge is the closer iconographic detail visible in Metzinger's painting with the original version ofL'Oiseau bleu (the first version, that also happens to be French, of 1697) by Madame d'Aulnoy. In fact, it is the only version ofL'Oiseau bleu that appears to be mirrored iconographically in Metzinger's painting.
The fact that the difficulty even exists attests to the diversity of Metzinger's interest in widely disparate subjects, widely faceted interests and sensitivities, ranging from women to fashion, from literature to science, in passing through mathematics, geometry, physics, metaphysics, philosophy, nature, classical music, opera, dance, theater, cafés, travel and poetry. He was open to all the idioms that he considered genuinely popular.[57]
"Jean Metzinger, then" wrote art historianDaniel Robbins, "was at the center of Cubism, not only because of his role as intermediary among the orthodox Montmartre group and right bank or Passy Cubists, not only because of his great identification with the movement when it was recognized, but above all because of his artistic personality. His concerns were balanced; he was deliberately at the intersection of high intellectuality and the passing spectacle."[57]
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The Salon des Indépendants was held 19 March through 18 May, the Cubist works were shown in room 46. Metzinger exhibited three works:Paysage, Nature Morte, and his largeL'Oiseau bleu, number 2087 of the catalogue[1] —Albert Gleizes exhibited three works:Paysage,Le port marchand, 1912, Art Gallery of Ontario, andLes Joueurs de football (Football Players) 1912–13, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. m. 1293 of the catalogue[58] —Robert Delaunay,L'équipe du Cardiff F.C., 1912–13, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, n. 787 of the catalogue[59] —Fernand Léger,Le modèle nu dans l'atelier (Nude Model In The Studio) 1912–13, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York —Juan Gris,L'Homme dans le Café (Man in Café) 1912, Philadelphia Museum of Art.[60]
In room 45 hung the works ofRobert Delaunay,Sonia Delaunay,František Kupka,Morgan Russell andMacdonald-Wright. This was the first exhibition whereOrphism andSynchromism were emphatically present. Apollinaire inL'Intransigeant mentioned la Salle hollandaise (room 43), which included Jacoba van Heemskerck,Piet Mondrian, Otto van Rees,Jan Sluyters enLeo Gestel and Lodewijk Schelfhout.
20 September — 1 November 1913: Metzinger exhibitedL'Oiseau bleu (Der Blaue Vogel), catalogue number 287, at Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon in Berlin, an exhibition organized byHerwarth Walden (GalerieDer Sturm). Artists includeHenri Rousseau, the Delaunays, Gleizes, Léger, Marcoussis, Archipenko, Picabia, Kandinsky, Severini, Chagal, Klee, Jawlensky, Russolo, Mondrian and others.[2]
Following the Salon d'Automne of 1913 in Paris this show took place at Potsdamer Strasse 75, Berlin. 75 artists from 12 countries exhibited 366 works. This exhibition was supported financially by the manufacturer and art collectorBernhardt Köhler.[61]
Apollinaire described the Herbst salon of 1913 as the firstOrphist Salon. There were many works by Robert and Sonia Delaunay, in addition to abstract works by Picabia and Cubist works by Metzinger, Gleizes, Léger and a large number ofFuturist paintings. This exhibition was a turning-point in Apollinaire's artistic strategy for Orphism. After becoming entangled through some remarks in an argument between Delaunay andUmberto Boccioni about the ambiguousness of the term 'simultaneity' he did not use the term Orphism again in his art related articles. The artists labeled Orphists also brushed off the term and developed stylistic trends of their own.[62]
TheExposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life, was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937, in Paris.L'Oiseau Bleu (n. 11) was exhibited in a show entitledLes Maitres de I'Art Indépendant 1895-1937, held at thePetit Palais, in Paris.L'Oiseau Bleu was purchased byla Ville de Paris (the City of Paris) the same year.[63] The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, within thePalais de Tokyo, which would soon houseL'Oiseau Bleu, was designed for the International Art and Technical Exhibition of 1937. This exhibition provided the opportunity for some remarkable acquisitions including:The Dance (La Danse) byHenri Matisse,Nude in the bath andThe Garden byPierre Bonnard,The Cardiff Team (L'équipe de Cardiff ) byRobert Delaunay,The River byAndré Derain,Discs (Les Disques) byFernand Léger,The Stopover (l'Escale) byAndré Lhote,L'Oiseau Bleu (The Blue Bird) by Jean Metzinger,Les Baigneuses (The Bathers) byAlbert Gleizes, four Artists' Portraits byÉdouard Vuillard, which still number among the museum's masterpieces, not forgetting the large murals by Robert andSonia Delaunay,Albert Gleizes andJacques Villon, acquired during the exhibition (donated by theSalon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1939).[64][65]
For this same massive exhibition Metzinger was commissioned to paint a large mural,Mystique of Travel, which he executed for theSalle de Cinema in the railway pavilion.[66]
Paris 1937, l'art indépendant: MAM, Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris. From 12 June to 30 August 1987L'Oiseau bleu (n. 254) was exhibited at the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris in a show entitledParis 1937, l'art indépendant, held for the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Paris International Exposition of 1937. At the 1987 memorial exhibition, consisting of 122 artists exhibiting 354 works, there were displayed considerably less works than the 1,557 presented in 1937.[67]
Le cubisme, 17 October 2018 to 25 February 2019,Centre Pompidou, the first large-scale exhibition devoted to Cubism in France since 1973, with over 300 works on display. The 1973 exhibition,Les Cubistes, included over 180 works and was held at theMusée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris andGalerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.[68] The motivation for the Pompidou exhibition resides in broadening the scope of Cubism, usually focused on Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, to include the major contributions of the Salon Cubists, theSection d'Or, and others who participated in the over-all movement. The exhibition is held atKunstmuseum Basel, from March 31 to August 5, 2019.[69]
For the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Cubist manifestoDu "Cubisme", 1912–2012, a French postage stamp was printed with the image of Metzinger'sL'Oiseau bleu.[70] A postage stamp representingLe Chant de guerre, portrait de Florent Schmitt (1915) by Albert Gleizes was also printed,[71] in a series that includes stamps representing the works of other Cubists such asRoger de La Fresnaye,Georges Braque,Fernand Léger,Pablo Picasso and others.[72] For the same occasion in 2012 the Musée national dela Poste (France) (the logo of which is a blue bird)[73] mounted an exhibition entitledGleizes-Metzinger. Du Cubisme et après dedicated to Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes, in which appeared the works of other members of theSection d'Or group.[74]
Niels Bohr presents hisquantum model of the atom.[75][76][77] —Robert Millikan measures thefundamental unit of electric charge —Georges Sagnac demonstrates theSagnac effect, showing that light propagates at a speed independent of the speed of its source.[78][79][80] —William Henry Bragg andWilliam Lawrence Bragg work out the Bragg condition for strong X-ray reflection — Publication of the 3rd volume ofPrincipia Mathematica byAlfred North Whitehead andBertrand Russell, one of the most important and seminal works in mathematical logic and philosophy — February 17 - TheArmory Show opens in New York City. It displays works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century —Marcel Proust,Swann's Way —D. H. Lawrence,Sons and Lovers —Franz Kafka,The Judgement —Blaise Cendrars,La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France — Guillaume Apollinaire,Alcools: Poemes 1898-1913, edited byTristan Tzara[81] —Blaise Cendrars,La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France, a collaborativeartists' book with near abstractpochoir print bySonia Delaunay-Terk —Francis Jammes,Feuilles dans le vent[82] — 29 May -Igor Stravinsky'sballet scoreThe Rite of Spring is premiered inParis — 12 December -Vincenzo Perugia tries to sellMona Lisa in Florence and is arrested. Apollinaire had been a suspect in Paris for its theft — 30 December -Italy returnsMona Lisa to France — 23 September - AviatorRoland Garros flies over theMediterranean
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