Exhibition Jacques Shapiro in Kiev

[Кирилл Сызранский]

In the 1960s the "Beehive" re-entered the life of Jacques Shapiro.
In 1951 and then again in 1967, the French press reported about the possible demolition of all the studios of artists colony "Beehive", located in the passage of Danzig, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

The first time passions subsided under pressure on the part of tenants, but after fifteen years, citing dilapidated buildings, despite compelling evidence of the active work of the artist, the government officially announced the demolition of the colony "Beehive." Notice of each tenant receives written, and this bombshell.

Shapiro, one of the first to this decision. With Marc Chagall and Raymond Konya, he organized the Committee, which was to promote the conservation areas and to fight for the abolition of the demolition.

Committee supported by many famous artists - Orchestra Gisela Halimi, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, Robert Merle, Claude Roy and many others. All wondered - Is Historic, created in 1902 by Alfred Boucher, to help artists, 70 years later disappear without a trace? The Committee will meet all 43 tenants, advising them to return to their shops, and assured them that the fate of the "Beehive" will be resolved in a positive way.

With the head of the Committee of the Creative Union of Artists Bernard Antonis gos.chinovnika got from Andre Malraux, who according to information was also an adventurer, a decision to cancel the demolition permit and block new construction.
In addition, thanks to the work of the Committee, the people "Beehive" received financial support from Renee and Genevieve Seydoux, and the "Beehive" klassifizirovan and was entered in the register of historical monuments.
It remains to add that in 1973, after a fire in 1970, 23 studios were renovated and even water-supply system (!), And in 2009, the Foundation "Heritage" included "Beehive" in the plan of the capital reconstruction City of Paris. As written press, "Beehive" is waiting for the second youth to delight new generations of artists.