Open Studio Tour of Belleville Artists
 

I thought I should share this with those on the Forum who have posted about being interested in either viewing and/or buying work by currently active artists while visiting Paris. Every May an organization of artists who have studios in Belleville open their studios to the public. We have been to three of these and have found it to be a fascinating way to spend at least part of a day. There is no organized tour, per se, but you wander on your own from studio to studio according to your interests.

Belleville, as you may know, was once a district in which many artizans had workshops (ateliers). When the industrial revolution and mass production came along many of these were converted to lodgings or other uses, but some were preserved as studios for artists. Some 115 of these, housing over 200 artists throw open their doors for four days this year beginning on 25 May. If you wander around Belleville, using the interactive map, on those days you will be able to get behind many of those usually closed and locked doors into some of the most charming little courtyards and hidden communities that most tourists will never have the opportunity to see. The venues range in variety from small commercial galleries to large spaces jointly used by many artists, to single artists in tiny garrets that remind one of the traditional "starving artists" of Parisian novels. Artists love to talk about their work, and many we met spoke English well enough for us to share their vision a bit.

You can also see some examples of their work at the AAB Gallery at 1 Rue Picaba before you begin the free tour. Each artist is supposed to submit a sample of their work on an 8'' x 8" canvas, which is on exhibit there. Those are for sale, BTW. If you get there early you can buy them for €50 each. We now have three on our walls, plus a couple of larger ones purchased from the artists themselves.

Anyway, the link to all this fun is: 2018 Open Studios | Porte Ouverte | Ateliers d'Artistes de Belleville Enjoy!

I am not sure the link to the studio tour copied correctly. I will try again. 2018 Open Studios | Porte Ouverte | Ateliers d'Artistes de Belleville

Great tip, nukesafe. Thank you!

I concur...

We have done this three times in the past dozen years or so on our visits to Paris. It's a real treat. Here is a good link to their site, in case the previous ones don't work (click on Open Studios on the left menu):

L?association des ateliers d?artistes de Belleville / AAB

Be sure to print out the map (which is a downloadable PDF) for planning your route...but all the studios have printed maps, too.

ssander

Ooops...it looks like the PDF map is not there...at least, I cannot find it. They usually have one, but maybe I emailed them for it in the past.
ssander

Aha! I found the link to the brochure that also has the map:

http://ateliers-artistes-belleville....018-PlanA4.pdf

ssander

And as long as you're up this way, you might be interested in the Willy Ronis photo exhibit at the Pavillon Carre de Baudouin at the corner of Menilmontant and Pyrenees.(at the #96 bus stop) The Palladio style building was recently restored and has a lovely quiet garden space. Willy Ronis photographed Belleville and Menilmontant then (1950s) contrasting with what you'll see on your visit now.