MARIE-ANGE CIOLKOWSKA Par Hermione Waterfield treasure house . Née en 1898, elle épousa en 1924 le peintre et critique d’art Henri Ciolkoswka, qui chinait avec enthousiasme dans les magasins d’antiquités. Un jour, ce dernier rencontra par hasard un missionnaire des Pères Blancs par lequel il obtint des objets africains provenant des missions. Son amie et artiste de music-hall, Suzy Solidor avait ouvert en 1930 une boutique sur le quai Voltaire, A la Grande Mademoiselle. Après la mort d’Henri en 1933, elle proposa à Marie-Ange de la rejoindre. Cela s’avéra être un succès, et lui permit d'entretenir son fils Tony, le futur photographe de Paris Match , né en 1926. Elle rencontra d’autres artistes et écrivains, dont Picasso. Pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, elle entra dans la Résistance, ce qui lui apporta la Croix de Guerre, étoile de bronze. L’appartement de la rue Jacob fut tout au long de ces années une scène vivante, souvent animée par la danse, et la présence de collectionneurs et d’artistes tels que Tristan Tzara, André Breton, Madeleine Rousseau, - qui fut l’une de ses plus proches collaboratrices -, les Loeb ou encore les Vérité. Elle entretenait également des liens étroits avec les musées - elle aida par exemple avec la dispersion des « doublons » du musée d’Hambourg -. Elle envoya beaucoup d’objets outre-atlantique pour fournir J.J. Klejman. Paris Match en 1966. Les murs de l’appartement étaient recouverts en tapa de Samoa, et des objets merveilleux étaient à voir dans chaque recoin. Artistes, écrivains, danseurs et amis des quatre coins du monde se réunissaient autour d’une table, à côté de la cuisine, mais vers 1975, nous étions rarement plus de six personnes. MARIE-ANGE CIOLKOWSKA By Hermione Waterfield Marie Ange Saulnier-Ciolkowska was an inspiration to those who met her and her apartment on 26 rue Jacob a treasure house. Born in 1898 she married in 1924 the painter and art critic Henri Ciolkowska who was an enthusiastic browser of antique shops. By chance he met a missionary of the White Fathers and through them they acquired objects from missions in Africa. Her friend and music hall artist, Suzy Solidor had opened a shop on the quai Voltaire a La Grande Mademoiselle in 1930, and when Henri died in 1933 she invited Marie-Ange to join her. This was a success - and helped support her and her son Tony who was born in 1926, and who would later become a photographer for Paris Match. She met more artists and writers including Picasso. During World War II she was active in the Resistance which earned her the Croix de Guerre with bronze star. Over the years rue Jacob was a lively scene, often with dancing enjoyed by André Breton, Tristan Tzara, Madeleine Rousseau (with whom she worked closely), the Loebs, the Verités amongst others. She had good contacts in museums - for instance she helped disperse the “duplicates” from the museum in Hamburg after it was bombed. She sent much across the Atlantic to J.J.Klejman. After Tony died in 1968 in an airline accident, Herbert Rieser, a photographer who became a dealer, would accompany her on those trips in Dogon country. They would set out from Paris in her deux chevaux crossing Spain to drive all the way to Mali. It was Herbert Rieser who took me to dine with her one evening in 1975. Her bed was in an alcove which was flanked by masks from Gabon, some of which are in the iconic photograph that Tony took, of eight people around a table each wearing a mask. It was reproduced in Paris Match in 1966. The walls of a room were covered in Samoan tapa cloth, and there were magnificent objects everywhere. Artists, writers, dancers and friends from around the world gathered round a table next to the kitchen, but by 1975 we were seldom more than six. After her death in 1992 some objects from her collection appeared on the market, but much was bequeathed to the family who has now decided to sell some more. 1 ⁄2 in.)