Impasse Ronsin Murder, Love, and Art in the Heart of Paris

From around 1864 until 1971 the Impasse Ronsin in Paris was home to a warren of studios used by wide variety of artists. This curious cul-de-sac hidden away in Montparnasse served as home and atelier to some 220 artists, from academic sculptor Alfred Boucher to Argentine performance artist Marta Minujin. If Constantin Brancusi was its most famous resident, its most infamous was Madame Steinheil, mistress and maybe murderer of the French President whose artist-husband also met a brutal end, turning the Impasse Ronsin into one of the most notorious crime scenes of the early 20th century.