Villa Flora, Enchanted Times, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Bonnard, Vuillard, Valloton, Matisse… Masterworks from the Arthur and Hedy Hahnloser collection, from September 10th 2015 to February 7th 2016, Marmottan Museum, 2, rue Louis- Boilly, 75016 Paris, Metro La Muette. RER Boulainvilliers – Line C. Bus 32,63, 22, 52, PC. Phone 01 44 96 50 33. Open from Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 6pm, at night on Thursdays up to 9pm. Closed on Mondays, May 1st, December 25th and January 1st.
For all impressionism lovers in Paris, the Marmottan Museum is THE place to be. For a couple more weeks now, the museum hosts one of the most original private impressionist and post impressionist collections from Switzerland. Rarely seen and exposed works of art including drawings and sculptures. This collection can be seen for the first time in France.
Henri Manguin: “La Fora, Winterthur – 1912. Oil on canvas, 76 cm x 96. Hahnloser / Jaeggli Stiftung, Winthertur. Photo Reto Pedrini, Zurich. Adagp, Paris 2015.
The Villa Flora background:
The Hahnlosers, Arthur and Hedy, were a couple of art amateurs as well as friends of many artists of their time. He was an eye doctor with a strong taste for art, and she studied painting in Munich. Between 1905 and 1936, the couple accumulated a considerable amount of works from artists like Vallotton, Bonnard, Vuillard, Redon but also Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh. The story of the collection is tied to the story of a house which became an important place of encounter for artists of the time, a bright-light sober place situated in Winterthur near Zurich: the Villa Flora (painting above). It was only turned into a museum of art in 1995. The villa, a neat, luminous place, came into the family estate by inheritance. The Hahnlosers were lovers and collectors of swiss art, starting with Giacometti, but also of artists such as Ferdinand Hodler. Fervent patrons of art, they also kept an eye on what is happening in Paris,travelling regularly abroad and organizing events at the Villa Flora, where artists will be able to meet, expose and discuss ideas. The couple lived in the Villa for quite some time, Arthur from 1870 to 1936, and Hedy from 1873 to 1952. It is said that the villa was so full of paintings at the time that parents did not want their children to wander around it, because of all of the nudity exposed in the paintings.
Félix Vallotton : La Blanche et la Noire, 1913. Oil on canvas, 114 cm x 147. Hahnloser /Jaeggli Stiftung. Winterthur. Photo Reto Pedrini, Zurich.
The collection of Arthur and Hedy was made accessible to the public thanks to their grand children. It is now comprised of 75 artworks of the most outstanding beauty and quality showing, in addition to previously quoted artists, works of Manet, Renoir and Matisse and more. A must see!
D.A