Paris as an art capital

​Paris has always been a gathering place for artists. During the first half of the 20th century it was the art capital of the world.

​Artists, architects, writers, and performers connected in the cafes of the Left Bank of the Seine river, especially in the neighborhood Montparnasse.

Paris welcomed artists from all over the world. It was a refuge for those who were persecuted in their countries, stigmatized for their skin colors, or simply in search of creative freedom.

​A French term that has been adopted into the English language. The "avant guard" originally referred to the part of an army that marched in front- the advance guard. So someone or some thing who is "avant-guard" is ahead of its time (but in an experimental or controversial way)

Many Parisian movement of the 1920's were considered "avant-guard."

​A large African-American community also came to France in search of inspiration and freedom. Not everything was rosy, but everything was easier than in the United States. There were no judgments in Paris which, at the end of the First World War, wanted to forget the pain.

Was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress.

The first African-American graduate of the Boston School of Fine Arts. In 1937, she went to study painting at the Julian Academy in Paris. There she found a freedom of expression inaccessible in the United States,

FAUVISM is considered an an Avant-guard painting movement.

Fauvism comes from the French word "les fauves," meaning " wild beasts." They were a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized strong colour.

​Born in France

​Cubism: another "avant-guard" movement, emphasize the use of angular lines and shapes.

​Born in Malaga, Spain. Traveled between Paris and Spain to work.

​Chagall and Modigliani were Jewish painters and among the most famous of the very modern Paris School of this period.

​Post-impressionism

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Born in Holland he moved to Paris in 1886.

Self portrait "Starry Night"