Hôtel des Académies et des Arts

The Hôtel des Académies et des Arts in Montparnasse draws its inspiration from art, recalling the heritage of this neighborhood once frequented by Picasso, Fujita and Modigliani. The hotel’s name reflects its location across the street from a venerable art school, the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where students still flock to study drawing and painting.

Charlotte and Laurent Inchauspé bought this 120-year old hotel in 2006 and spent a year on what must be the city’s most imaginative renovation. Enlisting the talents of two contemporary artists, Jérôme Mesnager and Sophie de Watrigant, the young couple created a remarkable establishment that’s as warm and welcoming as it is unique.

The unifying art motif is the “Corps Blanc”, Mesnager’s signature white-painted figure that first appeared as graffiti on the city’s walls in 1983 and has since traveled all over the world, including to the Great Wall of China. De Watrigant’s contribution is sculpture, and her tiny white figures appear in surprising places throughout the building: climbing ladders up the lobby walls and cavorting acrobatically in the dramatically lit stairwell.

The reception area is more living room than lobby, with its series of small rooms and welcoming fire. Above the fireplace, a crowd of Mesnager’s white figures painted on a wall of weathered boards recreates a bal populaire. Shelves of art books and objets d’art line the adjoining library, furnished with comfortable plush sofas, and beyond it are the “petit bistrot” breakfast room/bar and a video viewing room with red velvet banquettes. (One wonderful short video shows Mesnager at work during the renovation.)

The hotel’s twenty rooms are decorated in four different themes: the theatrically-inspired Comédienne, with high red velvet headboards; the handsome black-and-white Man Ray; the Art Deco-style Ruhlmann; and the sophisticated Parisienne, with crushed velvet fabrics and a cream-and-taupe color scheme. All rooms have Wi-Fi and Internet TV, and all bathrooms have windows. And, of course, each room also has its own White Figure, who might be climbing the wall, floating in space or swinging from a curtain rod.

Hôtel des Académies et des Arts: 15 rue de la Grande Chaumière, 6th, 01.43.26.66.44. website. From 189€

Originally published in the February 2008 issue of France Today

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