Anais Nin, Henry Miller, & the Villa Seurat

Improbable Walks, Season 5, Episode 5: In this episode, we stroll into a hidden gem behind the well-known streets of Montparnasse: the Villa Seurat. This is a small street described in the famous Diaries of Anais Nin. Villa Seurat also appears in the work of her lover, Henry Miller, although he disguises the identity of the street by calling it “Villa Borghese." Here are my photos of the street, along with photographs of Nin, and Miller. The beige stucco Art Deco apartment building at # 18 is where Miller lived--Anais found him an apartment at the top with access to the balcony. I've also added my favourite photo of Nin--with her journals--and a photo of friends Nin & Miller late in life, probably in California. To wrap up the images, you can find my photo of Chana Orloff's atelier today, a documentary portrait of Orloff at work,by Therese Bonney, and the interior of Orloff's atelier-museum today photographed by Stephane Rioland. If you're interested in the architectural work of André Lurçat, check out this website about the current restoration his brother's atelier, in the Villa Seurat. And finally, a photo from nearby rue des Artistes, because I like this blue house.