Rue Campagne Première, so close to our hotel in Montparnasse
Our team will introduce you to the Campagne Première street, which symbolizes the artistic effervescence of the Montparnasse district.
May we draw your attention to therue Campagne Première, a true symbol of the artistic effervescence which buzzed through Montparnasse in the Années Folles, 1920-1930 and is but a few steps away from the Raspail Montparnasse Hotel.
The street was named after the first military campaign conducted during the French Revolution, in Wissembourg in 1793 by General Taponier who then owned the surrounding land.
The most famous building is located at numbers 31 and 31 bis of the street. Built in 1911 by architect André Arfvidson(1870-1935) and won a prize the same year in the facade competition, it harmoniously combines some elements of Art Nouveau and the early stage of Art Déco. This building owes its unique charm to its facade punctuated with garlands and cabochons in flamed sandstone of the famous ceramist Alexandre Bigot, with its large picture windows, its apartments in duplex. Very much sought after by wealthy artists, the 20 workshops met the ideals of modernity, comfort and innovation of the time, while being very close to the famous theaters, cabarets and restaurants of Montparnasse.
It is in one of the cafes of Montparnasse that Man Ray met Kiki de Montparnasse, muse of the Tout-Paris during the Roaring Twenties. He was awed by the perfect oval of her face, her beauty that he found faultless from head to toe and offered to take pictures of her. In 1921, she became her companion, her muse and her model. In 1922, they settled in the workshop to the left of the entrance of n°31. In 1924, he immortalized Kiki in the now famous portrait »Le Violon d’Ingres » a tribute to the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres who was passionate about the instrument. By adding the violin esses in ink after printing, Man Ray highlights Kiki’s perfect curves and identifies his own “Violon d’Ingres”…
Our hotel in Montparnasse is in the heart of this district, which inspired so many artists and intellectuals. Among them, Eugène Atget, Louis Aragon & Elsa Triolet, Moïse Kisling, Yves Klein, Amedeo Modigliani, François Pompon, Rainer Maria Rilke, Érik Satie, Chaïm Soutine, Nicolas de Staël lived on Campagne Première street.
