Let's continue with our tour around the Jean Walter & Paul Guillaume Collection, exhibited at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and which exposes, as most art collections do, certain aspects of the personality of the collector.

Guillaume, who began this one, was an art connoisseur and loved Classic culture, although he was opened to the new talents cruising Paris in the early years of the 20th Century, such as Modigliani. He accepted the innovations in well-stablished artist, as Cezanne, and dared to include a woman, as Marie Laurencin.

Danseuses espagnoles, by Marie Laurencin (1920-1921)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Femmes au chien, by Marie Laurencin (1924-1925)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Known as the “muse of the cubists” and romantically envolved with poet Apollinaire, Marie Laurencin (France, 1883-1956) shifts from a colorful and intense palette to a mostly grey and pink one in 1910.  By then she also discovers Goya and in 1920 she starts painting women, thin and sheer, rejecting classicism for newer ways of representation.

As Laurencin, Amedeo Modigliani shared her same artistic interests and both took part of the Primitivism Art Movement. Modigliani (1884-1920) had a short life, so he developed his work, always aesthetically coherent, throughout 12 years. Paul Guillaume was his mentor and who pushed him to prefer painting over sculpture. He produced hundreds of artworks and all of them were dedicated to the human figure.

Le Jeune apprenti, by Amedeo Modigliani (1918-1919)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Paul Guillaume, Novo Pilota, by Amedeo Modigliani (1915)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

The relationship between Paul Guillaume and Henri Matisse (France, 1869-1954) was always distant, however, over 25 years, he bought many of his paintings. Domenica, Guillaume's wife, only kept 10 of them.

Femme á la mandoline, by Henri Matisse (1921-1922)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Odalisca á la culotte rouge, by Henri Matisse (1924-1925)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Finally, we reach Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), “the father of us all”, as Picasso used to say. He was the father of Modern Art and venerated by the younger artists. The originality of his approach, his sense of volume and the importance given to geometry make any collection with works by Cézanne valuable. Guillaume added him to his because of his talent and sense of innovation.

Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, by Paul Cézanne (1876-1877)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Portrait de Madame Cézanne, by Paul Cézanne (1890)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

La Rocher rouge, by Paul Cézanne (1895)

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée de L'Orangerie - Paris

Definitely this is a must-see museum in Paris. Only one issue: due to its small capacity, there's always a half-hour waiting line outside.