Author(s): Sue Roe

Art history

In In Montmartre, Sue Roe vividly brings to life the bohemian world of art in Paris between 1900-1910. When young Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris in October 1900 he made his way up the hillside of Montmartre...The real revolution in the arts first took place not, as is commonly supposed, in the 1920s to the accompaniment of the Charleston, black jazz and mint juleps but more quietly and intimately, in the shadow of the windmills - artificial and real - and in the cafes and cabarets of Montmartre during the first decade of the century. The cross-fertilization of painting, writing, music and dance produced a panorama of activity characterized by the early works of Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and Modigliani, the appearance of the Ballet Russe and the salons of Gertrude Stein. Sue Roe is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestselling collective biography The Private Lives of the Impressionists, and Gwen John: A Life. She lives in Brighton.