Mona Bismarck American Center

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Mona Bismarck American Center
MonaBsimarckAmericanCenter 2.jpg
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Location of the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris
Established 1986
Location34 Avenue de New York 75116 Paris, France
Coordinates 48°51′47″N2°17′41″E / 48.863107°N 2.294819°E / 48.863107; 2.294819
President Karen Altuzarra, Président (US) et Anne-Hélène Monsellato (France)- See more at: http://www.monabismarck.org/about/gouvernance-2?lang=fr#sthash.k0zEP7ix.dpuf
Public transit access Iéna Metro-M.svg Paris metro line 9 symbol.svg
Alma-Marceau Metro-M.svg Paris metro line 9 symbol.svg
Website www.monabismarck.org

Through a multidisciplinary program of exhibitions, events, and educational outreach, the Mona Bismarck American Center's mission is to engage visitors in a dialogue with the depth and diversity of the current American cultural scene. [1]

Contents

The current Center was launched in 2011, based on the legacy of the Mona Bismarck Foundation, which became active in 1986 following the death of its founder and sole benefactor. The American philanthropist Countess Mona von Bismarck donated her Parisian townhouse and the majority of her estate to found the Mona Bismarck Foundation, as "her desire was to establish a Cultural Centre in Paris to enhance the cause of American/French friendship upon her death". [2]

Mona von Bismarck American socialite

Mona von Bismarck, also known as Mona Bismarck, was an American socialite, fashion icon and philanthropist. Her five husbands included Harrison Williams, among the richest men in America, and Count Albrecht Edzard von Bismarck-Schönhausen, a grandson of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. She was the first American to be named "The Best Dressed Woman in the World" by a panel of top couturiers, including Coco Chanel, and she was also named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

History

The Center

Located on the Seine, across from the Eiffel Tower, the hôtel particulier , or Parisian townhouse, was built at the end of the 19th century. It was reconfigured for Mona Bismarck in the late 1950s by French interior decorator Stéphane Boudin. The building was featured in a 1928 issue of Vogue. [3]

<i>Hôtel particulier</i> townhouse of a grand sort

An hôtel particulier is a townhouse of a grand sort, comparable to the British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary maison (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it would always be located entre cour et jardin: between the cour d'honneur and the garden behind. There are hôtels particuliers in many large cities in France.

Stéphane Boudin French interior designer

Stéphane Boudin was a French interior designer and a president of Maison Jansen, the influential Paris-based interior decorating firm.

Programming

Exhibitions

One exhibition of American art is presented each year in partnership with international institutions. Exhibitions focus on a single artist or theme and represent a range of artistic styles and movements.

"Under the Horse-Chestnut Tree", painting from 1896 - 1897 by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). Courtesy of Google Art Project Mary Cassatt - Under the Horse-Chestnut Tree - Google Art Project.jpg
"Under the Horse-Chestnut Tree", painting from 1896 - 1897 by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). Courtesy of Google Art Project

Past exhibitions

February 13 – May 19, 2013

Mary Cassatt American painter and printmaker

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

September 26, 2012 – January 20, 2013

November 10, 2011 – February 12, 2012

July 3 – September 22, 2013

October 16, 2013 – January 26, 2014

March, 12 – July 17, 2016

Current exhibition :

Coming soon

Publics Programs

The Mona Bismarck American Center invites the public to discover American culture through a program of concerts, performances and discussions .

Education

The program Look & Learn aim to broaden French students’ appreciation of American culture and art and while creating a friendly environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves in English.

Images of Center

Exhibition Samples

Related Research Articles

Edgar Degas French artist

Edgar Degas was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. Regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist. He was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his rendition of dancers, racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

Yousuf Karsh Armenian-Canadian photographer

Yousuf Karsh, was an Armenian-Canadian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century.

Harrison Charles Williams (1873–1953) was an American entrepreneur, investor and multi-millionaire.

Émilie Charmy French painter

Émilie Charmy was an artist in France's early avant-garde. She worked closely with Fauve artists like Henri Matisse, and was active in exhibiting her artworks in Paris, particularly with Berthe Weill.

Sarah Tyson Hallowell American art curator

Sarah Tyson Hallowell or Sara Tyson Hallowell (1846–1924) was an American art curator in the years between the Civil War and World War I. She curated a number of major exhibitions in Chicago, arranged the loan exhibition of French Art at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and worked with Bertha Palmer (1849–1918) to organize the murals for the women's pavilion for the fair. She then moved to Paris, where she served as agent for the Art Institute of Chicago. During World War I she and her niece Harriet Hallowell (1873–1943) volunteered at a small hospital. She lived in France until her death in 1924.

Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione Italian aristocrat who achieved notoriety as a mistress of Napoleon III

Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, better known as La Castiglione, was born to an aristocratic family from La Spezia. She was a 19th-century Italian aristocrat who achieved notoriety as a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France. She was also a significant figure in the early history of photography.

Nancy Mowll Mathews is a Czech-American art historian, curator, and author. She was the Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of 19th and 20th Century Art at the Williams College Museum of Art, from 1988 to 2010. She is currently an independent scholar, curator, professor, and host of the television show, "Art World with Nancy Mathews."

The Terra Foundation for American Art is a privately operated nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of American art exhibitions, projects, academic research, and publications worldwide. Its goal is to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the cultural and artistic heritage of the United States through the acquisition, study, and display of works of American art. The Foundation was established by Daniel J. Terra in 1978 along with the Terra Museum of American Art, which opened in 1980. Terra was a businessman and art collector who used his own collection of influential American art to realize the goals of the Foundation. The Foundation is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

<i>Little Girl in a Blue Armchair</i> painting by Mary Cassatt

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair is an 1878 oil painting by the American painter, printmaker, pastelist, and connoisseur Mary Cassatt. It is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Edgar Degas made some changes in the painting.

Mona Kuhn photographer

Mona Kuhn is a contemporary photographer best known for her large-scale photographs of the human form. Her approach is unusual in that she develops close relationships with her subjects, resulting in images of remarkable intimacy. Mona Kuhn recently expanded her interests from direct representation of the form to abstractions of the form. Her work often references classical themes, has been exhibited internationally, and is held in several collections including the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

<i>Lilacs in a Window</i> painting by Mary Cassatt

Lilacs in a Window is a painting by the American painter, printmaker, pastelist, and connoisseur Mary Cassatt which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

<i>Gardner (Cassatt) Held by His Mother</i> Print by Mary Cassatt

Gardner (Cassatt) Held by His Mother is a drypoint print dated circa 1889 by the American painter, printmaker, pastelist, and connoisseur Mary Cassatt. The example illustrated is in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and is a gift of Samuel Putnam Avery.

Lisa Anne Auerbach is an American textile artist, Zine writer, photographer, best known for her knitting works with humorous political commentary.

<i>Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge</i> painting by Mary Cassatt, 1879

Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge is an 1879 painting by American artist Mary Cassatt. The Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the painting in 1978 from the bequest of Charlotte Dorrance Wright. The style in which it was painted and the depiction of shifting light and color was influenced by Impressionism. This painting shows a view of the modern woman and is similar in style to Degas.

Mary Lee Bendolph is an American quilt maker of the Gee's Bend Collective from Gee's Bend (Boykin), Alabama. Her work has been influential on subsequent quilters and artists and her quilts have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the country. Mary Lee uses fabric from used clothing for quilting in appreciation of the "love and spirit" with old cloth. Mary has spent her life in Gee's Bend and has had work featured in the Philadelphia Museum of Art as well as the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minnesota.

Cecelia Tapplette Pedescleaux, also known as Cely, is an African-American quilter of traditional and art quilts, inspired by historians, other African-American quilters, and quilt designs used during the Underground Railroad to communicate messages to slaves seeking freedom. Her quilts have been shown in China, France, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and in other locations in the United States. A solo show of 75 of her quilts were shown at the Le Musée de Free People of Color in New Orleans (2013–2014).

<i>The Boating Party</i> painting by Mary Cassatt

The Boating Party is an 1893 oil painting by American artist Mary Cassatt. It has been in the collection of the National Gallery of Art since 1963.

<i>Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly</i> (Mary Cassatt) painting by Mary Cassatt

Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly is an oil on canvas painting by Mary Cassatt created in 1880. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

References

  1. BUSINESS, BFM. "La tendance philanthropique: Mona Bismarck American Center propose l'exposition Wasteland - 04/04". BFM BUSINESS (in French). Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  2. Rajakaruna, C. "Mona Bismarck Foundation: Its Background Information and the Role It Plays in the American Community Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine .." United States Embassy France. Retrieved 24 Apr. 2013.
  3. "MONA VON BISMARCK." Voguepedia. Vogue, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Mona_von_Bismarck>.

Further reading