Saturday, November 21, 2009

coffee and other forms of art

Le Select, Paris (click to enlarge)
(pic from the google)

Reading about this particular cafe
(now bistro), there have been many famous
people connected to its history. Francesco Illy,
who invented the espresso machine is the first
that comes to mind.

Predating him though, it is said that Lenin
and Trotsky were served here. Famous
socialist filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein used
it as a source of inspiration. Hemingway began
to write The Sun Also Rises here. Eric Satie and
Claude Debussy sat and discussed music here.

Last but not least, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo
Picasso, Leonid Massine, Jean Cocteau and
George Balanchine sat with coffee and
collaborated on Russian ballets here also.

Been reading more about outsider art,
and if you have time, there is Part 2
with Nellie Mae Rowe, 1900 -1982,
who was the daughter of a former
slave, born on the 4th of July
in rural Georgia.

Part 2 is here and you'll
see more of her art.




14 comments:

Harnett-Hargrove said...

It so fun to know who's 'seat' you may be sitting in! Thanks for the heads-up on NM Rowe, I'm a big fan of outsider art and the perimeter... -Jayne

Tess Kincaid said...

Wouldn't you love to travel back in time and hang out at this cafe, just waiting for one of the greats to share a table?

Wow, I love your crazy new header!

Ténèbres à la lumière... said...

Bonjour! C.M. and Willow...
C.M. a couple of nice things going on here...
Nice "new" header...
Nice information
about...Le Select, Paris
Hemingway, springtime, and Paris.
What interesting videos about
Nellie Mae Rowe and
Nice sounds!
Merci de partager!
DeeDee ;-D

Tom said...

would love to sip coffee in Paris..ah, someday...and Thursday picture was, well, nuts!

ArtSparker said...

I hope you know Howard Finster's work. He was quite a fascinating character.

Coffee Messiah said...

h-h: So much history. So many people who have been creative, yet not fitting the mold of supposed what creative should be. Anyway, she looked and sounded very happy!

willow: Time travel, to more creative times would be interesting what with everyone doing it all themselves ; )

dd: Thanks for taking a look.

tom: Europe, despite their problems, always sounds like a trip worth taking.

artS: Yes, I ran across him. There are/were so many. All worth looking into. We saw a Darger exhibit in Seattle a few years back, and his work was captivating, especially seeing it all up close.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

love your new header. thought of you yesterday when i visited the postal museum in d.c. - there was one wonderful, albeit small, exhibit on mail art.

regarding time travel, I am currently reading kingsolver's new book - it's a great read and a wonderful bit of time travel back to the days of frida and diego.

layers said...

Sometimes I think outsider artists are the ones with the freedom and the guts...

Coffee Messiah said...

kimy: Small or large, it's out there, in places you'd never imagine.Glad you had a chance to see some.

layers: That's true and I think because their belief system is simple and they go with the flow, rather than "expectations" from others.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

okay i should really read comments before I post a comment to avoid such faux pas. sorry for the delete. guess I need to catch up on my sleep!!

Coffee Messiah said...

kimy: No biggie ; )

ArtPropelled said...

I must have seen photos of Le Select many times before because whenever I dream of being in Paris I picture myself having coffee on the sidewalk at that bistro. Plenty of interesting snippets on your blog, thanks for the browse.

Coffee Messiah said...

artP: Thanks for stopping by. I'm with you, although what a great time it must have been back in the day when all these creative types hung out there!

Wastedpapiers said...

Enjoying these "outsider art" videos you keep putting up. Thanks for the links!