Inspirantes Inspiratrices. Marthe, Gala, Dora et les autres.
Amongst the roles women have played in Art, there are alternatively those of the inspirator and the creator. For many artists, women have been a source of inspiration, they have nourished their art. Can we imagine Bonnard without Marthe (we have counted 146 paintings and some 717 drawings which feature Marthe as the model), Dali without Gala, Picasso without Fernande, Dora, Jacqueline, Monet without Blanche, Renoir without Gabrielle, Maurice Denis without Marthe, Maillol without Dina Vierny, Vuillard without Misja, or Giacometti without Annette?
Thus from Monet, Renoir to Picasso, through Bonnard or Dali, the aim will be to highlight the power of the women who have not just shared these artists’ lives, and to show how much they have been a driving force, in the shadows or daylight, to the point that artworks bear their marks. Their role goes way beyond the simple representation of a model. For example, didn’t Marthe Bonnard comfort Bonnard to the idea of working far from Paris, or constantly moving ? Her approach to painting is unquestionably marked by her presence, as much as by her absence.
