27 RUE DE FLEURUS.

It is said that Gertrude Stein was the most conceptually elusive writer ever. Her work has been described as difficult if not impossible to get through. She was a cubist writer without intention, using words instead of brushstrokes to make repetitive patterns. Sentences swirled around in circles and turned back upon themselves, like a threaded needle stitching together great couture gowns. It was close to unintelligible, but some considered it as important as prayer. Her refusal to ever follow conventional patterns of speech in her writing, sentence structure and grammar and punctuation to be exact put her in the curious league of artists who would never experience commercial success of any kind. What Gertrude Stein did do for the art world, with out intention or awareness, was to inspire and influence the great artists and writers of the twentieth century. She could almost be personally held responsible for the careers of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Ernest Hemingway. An American who lived with her brother Leo in the now famous 27, Rue de Fleurus, they created a ‘salon’ of people who would drop by for words of wisdom and encouragement. While at the center of the avant-garde, it is strange to think how purely upper middle class they really were.  According to Stein scholar Professor Edward Burns, “In spite of the fact that she was in the center of what the French call “the heroic age of Cubism, they were, whether with her brother Leo until 1912, and afterwards, with Alice Toklas the love of her life, leading a very domestic existence. Don’t think for one minute they were out at the cafe’s at night, or worried about which was the latest nightclub. She almost never drank, maybe went to plays or concerts or friends homes for dinners, but that was it.”

If rooms tell stories, the atelier at the Rue de Fleurus was the prime example. The walls were constantly covered in a changing array of paintings reflective of who she was close to at the time. But from the way she dressed, to her big white poodle, Basket, everything was designed in Gertrude’s life with one purpose in mind, Alice designed Gertrude’s life from the time she moved in 1910. They designed their life with one purpose, to give Gertrude the time and comfort to write.

“Though no one could really understand exactly what she was doing, the French and everyone were very aware that whatever it was it was very important. I was just up at the Museum of Modern Art, and saw just three of her paintings; you are always aware what astute collectors they were, although they didn’t think they were at the time. From Matisse and Picasso etc. they would buy works from the artist they liked as a person, like Juan Gris and all the others.” That was it, if she liked you, you were in. The who’s who of Gertrude salon depended on personalities, not talent scouting. She also loved designer Pierre Balmain very much, and supported his career from the beginning.

“People would love to come over to see the pictures as they called them, Gertrude’s place was the only place you could see these types of pictures, certainly not in museums, so and they were pictures that were meant to be seen in homes. People who have done exhibitions on Matisse and Picasso recognize that Matisse saw paintings of Picasso’s and said ‘what’s this ‘kid’ doing?’ and Picasso saw what is now one of the greatest paintings of the 20th century, Matisse’s Joy of Life and said, ‘what’s he doing?’ and they got to see Cezanne they all got to ‘study’ each other.”