Nordic Writers ANd Artists iN pAris BeFore, duriNG ANd AFter World WAr i

Frank claustrat

paris: capital of the Arts hundreds of Nordic artists manifested from a very early stage their openness to the outside world, and to all forms of modernism, par- ticularly in paris, which from 1889 – the year of the universal exhi- bition – until World War ii, was considered to be the centre of all the arts.0 Among the numerous foreign art colonies in paris, the Nor- dic one included a number of celebrities who, thanks to their French connection, also played a decisive role in their own countries.1 in the 1920s, rolf de Maré (1888-1964) and his circle strengthened the Nor- dic avant-garde tradition with the creation of les Ballets suédois, a transgressive dance company, based at théâtre des champs-elysée but undertaking international tours in europe and even in America (de Mare (ed.) 1931). the freedom of expression and the struggle against academicism that these artists found in the French capital led to both an individual and collective sense of fulfilment. Associ- ated with the ideas of cosmopolitanism and universalism, paris be- nefited in return – like never before – from an unexpected explosion of inventive force (cassou 1960-1961). From the Belle Epoque until the end of World War i, a Nordic colony established itself in paris, most tangibly in the district of Montparnasse.2 here, private spaces privileged inter-Nordic contacts. Artists’ studios, such as that of the Franco-swedish/Norwegian cou- ple ida (1853-1927) and William (1862-1936) ericson-Molard on 6 rue Vercingetorix, were important in this respect. More elitist was the “swedish/Norwegian circle” artists’ club, located at 58 rue de la 130 Frank Claustrat chaussée d’Antin. restaurants such as chez rosalie or la closerie des lilas and cafés like la régence, le Napolitain, le Versailles, le dôme, and la rotonde and other such public spaces, on the other hand, provided Nordic artists with good opportunities to forge deci- sive connections with the central figures of the parisian avant-garde.3 the Nordic artists followed the modernist tradition of training in ‘académies libres’ (independent academies) where they were intro- duced to a wide range of pedagogical and aesthetic approaches to their craft. in addition to the well-established Académie Marie Vas- silieff and Académie henri Matisse, instruction was offered by christian Krohg (1852-1925) at Académie colarossi, Kees van don- gen (1877-1968) at Académie Vitti, Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) at Académie de la Grande chaumière, Maurice denis (1870-1943) at Académie paul ranson, henri le Fauconnier (1881-1946) and Jean Metzinger (1883-1956) at Académie la palette and André lhote (1885-1965) at Académie Montparnasse. the most talented Nordic artists exhibited in the non-official sa- lons. At the salon des Artistes indépendants (founded in 1884) we find some of the youngest artists,4 while work by more famous Nor- dic artists already established in the French capital appeared in the salon de la société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (founded in 1890).5 the salon d’Automne (founded in 1903) attracted expressionists or individualists.6 in 1910, the swede Axel petersson, also known as döderhultarn (1868-1925), exhibited caricatural wooden sculptures at the salon des humoristes (founded in 1907), while Norwegians Walther halvorsen (1887-1972) and thorvald hellesen (1888-1937) exhibited at the exclusive salon d’Antin, organised during the war, in 1916. prior to this, the work of these artists had found recognition in the extensive network of parisian newspapers and journals.7 Marie Vassilieff’s canteen and the salle huygens (headquarters of the Association lyre et palette) came to play notable social roles – both professional and humanitarian – for the parisian avant-garde during World War i; in particular for a group of Nordic artists which included the swedes Arvid Fougstedt (1888-1949) and Viking egge- ling (1880-1925), and the Norwegian per Krohg.throughout the inter-war period, which included the era known as ‘les Années folles’ (‘the roaring twenties’), the Nordic presence in the Montparnasse area intensified – that is, in one of the ‘ecole de paris’ (school of paris) hot-beds of artistic experimentation.8 the Nordic artistic co-