French Art World Seeks Funding to Preserve Studio Where School of Paris Movement Began

A fundraising campaign has been launched to save a 150-year-old studio with art historical significance in the Cité Falguière in Paris, the Guardian reported.

The studio, known as Atelier 11, has been home to Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, French painter Chaïm Soutine, Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, and French painter Paul Gauguin, and was also where the School of Paris movement began.

The Cité Falguière, a cul-de-sac in Montparnasse, was constructed by sculptor Jules-Ernest Bouillot in 1861. Just south of the French capital city, Bouillot constructed 30 rudimentary spaces for struggling artists, which eventually led to the formation of a commune for those who were out priced in Montmartre.

Gauguin began working in the commune in 1877, and was followed not long after by Modigliani, who met his Russian mistress, poet Anna Akhmatova, there. Brancusi and Japanese-French painter Tsuguharu Foujita also joined the commune. Soutine, who painted the building’s facade, shared Atelier 11 with Modigliani.

In the 1960s and ’70s, many of the historic studio spaces were destroyed. With the exception of Atelier 11, the few that remained were converted into private homes.

Until 2021, when it began hosting an international residency program, Serbo-Russian artist Mira Maodus lived and worked at Atelier 11 for 40 years.

Despite 60 years of unsuccessful attempts to save the structure, campaigners are trying to have the studio classified as a historic building. They are trying to keep the studio as a work and living space for artists.

Atelier 11’s current owners signed an agreement with the nonprofit associations L’Air Arts and Cité Falguière for the studio to continue as a work and living space.

The national organization Mission Patrimoine donated €105,000 (roughly $111,500), but an additional €150,000 (about $159,300) is needed to complete the renovation of Atelier 11’s facade. The organizers of the fundraising campaign believe another €1 million (approximately $1.1 million) will be necessary to restore the three-story interior.

The Fondation du Patrimoine is overseeing the appeal for donations.