Step Inside Impasse Ronsin, Marcel Duchamp and Yves Klein’s Favorite French Alleyway
In 1916, a relatively nondescript alleyway in Montparnasse saw a radical transformation when it became home to the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s studio – and host to frequent visits by some of the artist’s closest friends, like Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. More Dada and Surrealist names soon followed suit, and over the next few decades, up until the 60’s, everyone from Yves Klein and Max Ernst to Niki de Saint Phalle and William N. Copley moved their studios into Impasse Ronsin. While the alleyway’s since been subsumed by a massive hospital complex, New York’s Paul Kasmin Gallery has recreated its collaborative spirit with a show of works from the Impasse’s artists, culminating in a facsimile of Brancusi’s studio by Isamu Noguchi, up until January. Get a look back its glory days, here.
1
Sheet-metal mail boxes at the Impasse made by Brancusi.
2
Niki de Saint Phalle shooting one of her assemblages.
3
Duchamp, Brancusi, and Tristan Tzara in the studio, 1921.
4
Studio of Natalia Dumitescro, 1949.
5
Brancusi and his dog, Polaire, photographed by Man Ray.
6
The entrance to Brancusi’s studio.
7
Max Ernst in the Impasse, 1954.
8
Rotraut and Yves Klein in the studio, 1962.
9
Brancusi sawing a block of limestone for the chimney, 1932.
10
Brancusi’s studio, 1955.
11
Claude Lalanne and Jean Tinguely.
12
Natalia Dumitresco in her studio, 1956.
13
William N. Copley, ca. 1951.
14
“Princess X” by Brancusi, 1916.
15
Jean Tinguely and Yves Klein in the courtyard of the Impasse with their collaborative works Excavatrice de l’espace” and “La Vitesse total,” 1958.
16
Francois-Xavier Lalanne and his daughter Dorothee at the Impasse.
17
Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle at the Impasse, 1961.
