Maquette du 1er Bal Païen - Organisé au profit de la grande masse de l'école nationale des beaux-arts 1925
Regular price €3.500,00Gouache - Original model to create the poster
Show - Dance
The "masse" has always existed in the studios of the École des Beaux-Arts: first and foremost, it's the budget needed to keep the studio going. It is derived from student subscriptions (hence the expression "payer sa masse"). By extension, "la masse" refers to the board of directors present in each atelier, whose mission is to manage its interests and finances. It is represented by the "massier" or "massière", elected by the students and approved by the workshop manager (who may also be called "Patron" or "Master").
As early as the end of the 19th century, there is evidence of the existence of the Grande Masse. At the time, its main concern was to ensure liaison between the workshops for the organization of the famous "Bal des Quat'Z'Arts1". In 1892, when the latter was created, an organized body already existed. It's reasonable to think that in more distant times, we can find traces of free groups that first brought together architects, and were joined by students from other sections of the École des Beaux-Arts (painting, sculpture, engraving).
The mission and objective of this new Grande Masse is to:
"to create and maintain a bond of solidarity between all students and former students of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, to found and develop all organizations likely to improve the situation of its members. "
The return from the First World War and the difficulties of everyday life reinforced the corporate spirit. The idea of legally grouping all the students of the École became fixed in the minds of a few.
And so, on April 6 and 7, 1925, in the cellar of the "Rocher", then a famous café on the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, several comrades came together to designate the Grand Massiers of the four sections of the École (painting, sculpture, engraving, architecture) and the Grand Massier of the École.
Raymond Müller (1893-1982 / atelier officiel d'architecture Paulin puis Pierre André) is the first Grand Massier, founder and president of the association. The Grande Masse board includes: Louis Allix, Grand Massier des architectes (1894 - 1964 / atelier libre d'architecture Godefroy), Francis Harburger, Grand Massier des peintres (1905 - 1998 / atelier officiel de peinture Simon) and Paul Belmondo, Grand Massier des sculpteurs (1898 - 1982 / atelier officiel de sculpture Boucher).
On January 12, 1926, when the association's articles of association were filed, the group became a legal entity. Its head office was located at 51 rue de Seine in Paris (6th arrondissement).
The Grande Masse's only capital was four hundred francs, raised from the sale of a typewriter bequeathed by the former masse.
To round off this capital, the Grand Massier thought of organizing a ball: the Bal Païen. It took place in the Salle Bullier on January 29, 1926, under the patronage of the artistic journal COMŒDIA. It was such a success that the following day, the Grande Masse was in possession of an estimated twenty thousand francs. Moreover, thanks to tireless propaganda, the coffers filled up and memberships came in; the circle of indifference that had surrounded the Grande Masse in its early days faded away.
Folds, tears