The Musée du Jeu de Paume, located in the prestigious Jeu de Paume, on Place de la Concorde opened its doors to the MoMA. More precisely, to the Thomas Walther collection, acquired in 2001 and 2017 by the MoMA. It is a large body of works covering teh beginnings of photography in 1900 to the 1940’s. More than 230 pictures, small and big, are displayed in a large exhibit covering the two levels of Jeu de Paume. I arrived at the opening and could stroll freely, with a few other visitors on this Tuesday morning, between the works of Berenice Abbott, André Kertész, George Hoyningen-Huene and many others, lesser known. The prints are old, often small, and give a sense of uniqueness. We go through the inventive first years of photography, lots of experiments, beautiful portraits of famous artistes, like Henri Cartier-Bresson in his early years, to Jean Cocteau, photo-shy to Paul Citroen and Piet Mondrian. Germany in the 1930’s is always fascinating as well, when one knows what happened later. The roofs of Paris, the streets of Berlin are virtually unchanged despite the years. August Sandler is also present, with a portrait of an Art dealer, far from the romantic view one may have.
