Clamart is a suburb of Paris, famous for the peas it once produced; peas on the side were called "a la clamart". It is also home to the Arp Foundation: the atelier of Jean Arp and Sophie Tauber. These key characters in the Dada, Surrealist and later Abstraction-Création movements moved to Clamart in 1929 to a studio-home designed and built by Tauber (pictured above). Photos were not allowed on the property, but the guide was very generous with her time, providing me with an English book and outlining some important readings on the couple. The house is small but filled with sculptures, ephemera, textiles and original furnishings. I enjoyed seeing the organic forms in plaster, bronze, aluminum and wood in both a domestic setting and placed around the adjoining garden. You can see a slideshow of the house here.
The surrounding neighbourhood boasts a house (pictured below) designed by Theo van Doesburg, the founder of the De Stijl movement. It was a grey day in Clamart and as I walked around enjoying the unique architecture, the silence and isolation of a suburb reminded me why a busy city street can feel safer than a deserted cul-de-sac.
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