Musée intercommunal de Nogent-sur-Marne : Willy Ronis: The Eastern Suburbs under the Eye of the Master

The Musée intercommunal de Nogent-sur-Marne presents the exhibition Willy Ronis : La Banlieue Est sous l’oeil du Maître.(Eastern Suburb under the eye of the Master)

Willy Ronis went to the banks of the river Marne for the first time in 1938. There he photographed the launching of a boat. This photo was included in the family album. He then went there regularly and responded to an assignment from Le Figaro in 1947: a reportage on the guinguettes (open air dance halls) and the atmosphere of Sundays by the water. A photograph from this reportage became famous: Chez Maxe, Joinville where a dancer makes two young women dance at the same time on the terrace of a guinguette. Other photos of the banks of the Marne were taken on the occasion of the release of a book on the “Iles de Paris”: Willy Ronis photographs the islands of the Marne in Créteil, Champigny, Saint-Maur, Nogent, Le Perreux…

Willy Ronis was also interested in film studios: that of Ladislas Starewitch, pioneer of animated puppet film, in Fontenay-sous Bois. the magazine Point de vue sent him to capture the atmosphere of the studios of Joinville and Saint-Maurice.

From 1988 to 1991, he spent his weekends in Nogent with his wife, the painter Marie-Anne Lansiaux, who had joined the Maison de retraite des Artistes. He ritually walked with her and photographed Bry, Chennevières, Joinville and the Polangis district where their favorite bistro was located.

Willy Ronis : La Banlieue Est sous l’oeil du Maître
Until July 31, 2025
Musée intercommunal de Nogent-sur-Marne
36 bd Gallieni
94130 Nogent-sur-Marne
01 48 75 51 25
www.museenogentsurmarne.net