Let’s Go To The Museum: Apollinaire and His Friends Kay Castaneda, June 6, 2025July 17, 2025 Marie Laurencin, 1909, Réunion à la campagne (Apollinaire et ses amis), oil on canvas, 130 x 194 cm, Musée Picasso, Paris. Reproduced in The Cubist Painters, Aesthetic Meditations (1913) APOLLINAIRE AND HIS FRIENDS, MARIE LAURENCIN This month’s visit to the museum features a painting by French artist Marie Laurencin. Sorry that I haven’t been able to post any art writing challenges for awhile. I had an evil virus with pneumonia and it wore me out! I am very thankful to feel stronger. Challenge: Write a poem or story using the painting as inspiration. Post it on your blog and link to my post. Or you can post your work in the comments below. At the Bateau Lavoir, located in the Montmartre neighborhood, residence and collective of artists from the Belle Epoque, a group of friends have gathered to pay tribute to Apollinaire. The French poet, playwright and art critic is at the centre of the group; from left to right we identify Gertrude Stein, Fernande Olivier, Picasso’s Muse Crowned with Fruit; next to Apollinaire, Picasso and two poet friends- Marguerite Gillot and Maurice Cremnitz. Marie Laurencin portrays herself playing the piano, while in the background we contemplate a bridge suggesting the Seine and the city. Apollinaire introduced Marie to the Cubist world and encouraged her first style, less ethereal, more solid and constructive than she would follow afterwards. Of her he said: “Marie Laurencin has been able to explain, in the art of painting, an entirely female aesthetic.” From his first paintings, drawings, strongholds, although they point out natural simplicity, one could guess that the artist, in whom he would soon reveal himself, would one day express the grace and charm of the world. “As an artist, one can place Marie Laurencin between Picasso and Douanier Rousseau.” Portrait de l’artiste, 1927 Laurencin’s works include paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints. She is best known for a style she called “nymphism”, referring to mythological nymphs, paintings that are usually melancholic, with pale colors, with preference for pink, blue and white. She is known as one of the few female Cubist painters, with Sonia Delaunay, Marie Vorobieff, and Franciska Clausen, although she later distanced herself from it, stating in an interview in 1923: “Cubism has poisoned three years of my life, preventing me from doing any work. […] As long as I was influenced by the great men surrounding me, I could do nothing.” “As long as I was influenced by the great men surrounding me, I could do nothing.” Marie Laurencin While her work shows the influence of Cubist painters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who was her close friend, she developed a unique approach to abstraction which often centered on the representation of groups of women and animals. Her work lies outside the bounds of Cubist norms in her pursuit of a specifically feminine aesthetic by her use of pastel colors and curvilinear forms. Marie Laurencin, artist About the artist Marie Laurencin Born: October 31, 1883, Paris, France Died: June 8, 1956 (age 72 years), Paris, France Period: Cubism Partner: Otto von Wätjen Spouse: Otto von Wätjen (m. 1914–1921) Parents: Alfred Toulet, Pauline Laurencin Trois Femmes Jouant Avec Un Chien, year unknown https://edition-originale.com/en/works/arts/first-and-precious-books /marchesseau-marie-laurencin-1883-1956-catalogue-1986-48880 https://www.theartstory.org/artist/laurencin-marie/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Laurencin Deux Jeunes Filles et Une Cavalière 1950 I found Marie Laurencin to be a fascinating woman and talented artist. I plan to study more about her and her work. If you would like to learn more about her or see her other paintings, I included some links. Thanks for visiting the museum with me. Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons 500 Kay Castaneda, Author AUTHOR Kay Castaneda, Author 1 week ago The Beauty LessonKay Castaneda, September 17, 2025I still fume when I remember a boy in my 5th-grade science class. That was a very long time ago. I was shy and silent at that age and everything bothered me. My mom had moved my sisters and I away from Indianapolis to Detroit after she and my dad got a divorce. It made me sad and angry to leave my dad and other relatives here.A mean boy told me one day that my hair was dirty. At the time, I didn’t care about hair or clothes because I was too young and depressed. When he told me that, I went home and scrubbed my hair VERY hard and soaked in the tub in steaming hot water for an hour. I poured some of my mom’s perfume, Evening in Paris, in my wet hair and went to bed. The next morning, I brushed it 100 times because I’d read that in Good Housekeeping magazine. It was so shiny! He sat next to me. I wanted to sit somewhere else, but the teacher wouldn’t let the students change seats. The boy sneered at me and didn’t complement me, but he did tell me I should use curlers. My hair was stringy, according to his opinion. What did I do that night? Of course, I curled my hair! I borrowed Mom’s brush curlers and fastened them to my head. I slept in them and tossed and turned all night because the pain in my scalp was so bad. I took them out slowly because that was the advice from Redbook magazine. I combed gently and applied tons of hairspray. The next day, that boy didn’t compliment my curly hair.He insulted me even more when he told me I had fat lips. I used to have full lips, a lot fuller than I have as an adult, especially now as an older women. If I showed you my school picture from that year, you would see what I mean. Anyway, the boy laughed at me, and even pointed at me to the other kids. That night I practiced ways to make my lips smaller; keeping them closed and not talking to anyone, covering them with several layers of Mom’s foundation and keeping my head turned away from him.He insulted me in many ways. According to him, I didn’t have any breasts. I was a bit confused about that one because I was obviously a girl. I went home and asked Mom to buy me a bra but she didn’t have the money. I put one of hers on and stuffed it with socks and toilet paper to make them “big”. No compliments from him, of course. I endured suffering from him about my body until Mom decided to move back home at Christmas. I never had to sit by him again.“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” Coco ChanelI thought about him the other day, and I don’t know why. Maybe it was when I washed my hair and used the curling iron. Hurt lasts a long, long time. Those people who were abused when they were younger make me feel sympathy with them. I secretly rejoice when the bad guys get outed. But those celebrities and so-called important people escape to sex-addiction clinics with equine therapy, yoga, gourmet meals, and other luxuries at the $30,000 six week stay. Six weeks to ride horses and have aromatherapy massages? Baloney! Caca in Spanish.Now many people are coming out of the woods to bring the evil to light, and it is evil when somebody assaults a person sexually, emotionally and physically. Words can hurt. I wish I would have said something to my Mom or a teacher about that boy.And I wish I could have told someone about abuse at my jobs as an adult. That is another story… … See MoreSee Less View on Facebook · Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email View Comments likes 1 Shares: 0 Comments: 0 Kay Castaneda, Author 2 months ago You can read my latest post on my blog. … See MoreSee Less Short Sweet Life – BOOKPLACESbookplaces.blogBOOKPLACES Short Sweet Life View on Facebook · Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email View Comments likes 2 Shares: 0 Comments: 0 Kay Castaneda, Author 2 months ago bookplaces.blog/i-am-your-guardian-angel-stephen/ … See MoreSee Less I Am Your Guardian Angel Stephen – BOOKPLACESbookplaces.blogBOOKPLACES I Am Your Guardian Angel Stephen View on Facebook · Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email View Comments likes 2 Shares: 1 Comments: 0 Load more 2 responses to “Let’s Go To The Museum: Apollinaire and His Friends” robbiesinspiration June 20, 2025 An interesting painting and commentary. Loading… Reply Kay Castaneda July 15, 2025 Thank you Robbie! Loading… Reply Hello! I would love for you to leave a reply!Cancel reply Share this: Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Like this:Like Loading... Related Writing About Art Female ArtistsFrench ArtistsLet's Go To The MuseumPaintingWriting About Art