Archives - Chaplin-Picasso-Giacometti
One of my favorite archive photos. It evokes so many things for me.
We see here, on the left, my mother, Paule Maeght, she is wearing a gold bracelet made by Alexander Calder and a brooch made by Georges Braque. She talks with geniuses of the 20th century.
Charlie Chaplin, "Charlot", Jacques Prévert, his cigarette butt still in his mouth, and Georges Braque.
They dine at the Colombe d’or.
Prévert, it was he who gave me my first name, Yoyo, Georges Braque, my mother's wedding witness, whom I called Monsieur Braque, represented the figure of grandfather for me, I loved going to his house , near Parc Montsouris, in Paris, I remember every detail of the kitchen, of the pantry where, on a table we made modeling clay, and of the smell, a mixture of oil paint of wood stove.
Baptized in Saint-Paul, my parents chose Francis Roux as their godfather, so I can say that my first visit to the Colombe d'Or, its famous inn, dates back to my first months of existence.
My grandfather Aimé Maeght in one of the rooms of his Foundation, installing “The Nose” by Alberto Giacometti. This is the original plaster since donated to the Center Pompidou by my family and which is considered one of the major pieces of the national collection.
Pablo Picasso with Françoise Gilot and their children, Claude and Paloma, 1953. It's crazy, Claude hasn't changed! As for Françoise Gilot who, on November 21, 2022, will celebrate her 101st birthday, she is still as sparkling as ever. I met her once in New York at an exhibition of her paintings. An exceptional woman. She survived Picasso, and that's a feat, no doubt because she was always free and independent, Picasso loved her as much for her beauty as for her intelligence.
Wonderful moment of creation between Giacometti and Annette.
"One day while we are having lunch together, Grandpa asks me if I want to accompany him to the Center Pompidou. The work is finished, but the building is not yet open to the public. He wants to offer a sculpture by Giacometti, “Seated Woman” It is high, seventy-eight centimeters, and it is edition 4/6 An important work in the artist's career. We load it into the car with its driver. let's drive to Beaubourg. Pontus Hultén receives us in the almost empty offices. I am excited by this visit, despite my eighteen years, I am very virulent against the future Center Pompidou, which takes the place of a district of Paris that I loved so much. Grandpa wants this masterpiece of 20th century sculpture to join the national collections. Seated woman will be exhibited for the opening to the public."