The ideal-type of artistic scene: fin-de-siècle Montmartre, France

Charles Ambrosino () and Dominique Sagot-Duvauroux ()
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Charles Ambrosino: PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes

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Abstract: The transformation of Montmartre into an artistic district spanned a period of nearly half a century, stretching from the Commune (1870‑71) to the years preceding the outbreak of the Great War—with 1910 marking a "symbolic" date, that of Picasso's departure, heralding, more broadly, the shift of artists to Montparnasse. This process was marked by a dual movement: two generations of artists successively colonized Montmartre, each spreading out into two areas that were contiguous but had very different profiles. While the first generation migrated to lower Montmartre (the "Boulevards") throughout the 1870s and 1880s, a scandalous and rebellious hotbed strategically located near the central areas of the capital, a second generation of artists retreated to upper Montmartre (the "Butte") between 1890 and 1910 not only to live, but also to work there. While these two areas together structured and organized the creative ecosystem of Montmartre, they remained distinct in terms of their atmospheres (village vs. metropolis), their functions (creation vs. market), but also—and perhaps above all—by the urban experience they offered artists, namely two contrasting ways of "living" in the big city and just as many opportunities to rub shoulders with highly diverse communities.

Keywords: bohemian; ecosystem of innovation; cubism; artistic scene; artistic quarter; Montmartre Paris (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05-29
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Published in Charles Ambrosino; Basile Michel; Dominique Sagot-Duvauroux. Artistic scenes and the city. Volume 2: International case studies and perspectives, PUG, pp.17-22, 2026, 978‑2‑7061‑5860-5

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