La Ruche

La Ruche (French: The Beehive ) is an artists' colony in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

History

La Ruche was founded in 1902 by French sculptor Alfred Boucher. The three-storey circular building was originally built by Gustave Eiffel for the Paris World Exposition in 1900. The settlement was in the early 20th century residential and site of action of numerous French and foreign artists, like Bateau Lavoir and Les Fusains in Montmartre. It was inhabited or frequented, among others Guillaume Apollinaire, Alexander Archipenko, Ossip Zadkine, Moise Kisling, Marc Chagall, Max Pechstein, Nina Hamnett, Fernand Léger, Jacques Lipchitz, Pinchus Krémègne, Max Jacob, Blaise Cendrars, Chaim Soutine, Robert Delaunay, Otto Friedrich Weber, Amedeo Modigliani, Constantin Brancusi, Diego Rivera, Marevna, Michel and Pierre Sima Nocca.

During the German occupation in World War II, La Ruche was dilapidated. During the economic boom in 1968, there were plans for demolition, which was, however, with the support of figures such as Jean -Paul Sartre, Alexander Calder, Jean Renoir and René Char prevented. In the 1970s, renovation work has been done and set up some workshops.

The interior is not accessible to the public, but the exterior alone is worth a visit. La Ruche is located on the Passage Dantzig, near the Parc Georges Brassens.