A very personal and subjective view of Paris life for all of you who are curious of what's going on in France

Chiaru Shiota’s installation at Templon, Asia Now,  was a big hit

FIAC is every year a moment of gathering for International art lovers in Paris and the new building of Grand Palais Ephémère on the Champs de Mars, proved again its excellence. It was added on with a large tent for young artists and the luxury of  smoking cigarettes or just getting some fresh air in the gardens facing the Eiffel Tower was a bonus. But galleries were very traditional in their choices and I found it quite disappointing. So I escaped to the Champs Elysées where Moderne Art Fair took place for the first time. There were a  few decorative art galleries and the tribute to Bénédicte Pesle moved me very much. But I really went for a French artist from the north, Sébastien Bayet, who creates canvases with patchworks. The fireworks of the week was the opening of the seventh edition of Asia Now, the Asian art fair which celebrated Iran this year. It was pouring rain, the dim sum chef was desperate and had to fold but the atmosphere was electrical and some of the artists exceptional. Read More

Berthe Morisot, By the lake, 1883, Musée Marmottan Monet

Julie Manet was Berthe Morisot’s daughter, Edouard Manet’s niece, Ernest Rouart’s wife and… Stéphane Mallarmé’s pupil and Auguste Renoir’s favorite child model. An exhibition,”Julie Manet, La Mémoire impressioniste” is devoted to her and her family circle at Musée Marmottan Monet until March 20. It magnificently sums up the career of a discreet and very religious woman, who grew up as the cherished child of the Impressionists and spent her life promoting her mother and her uncle’s works. As Erik Desmazières, director of the museum said at the opening,  “Her marriage was arranged but a happy one”. Read More

David Hockney, La Dorette winding its way, 17th June-2nd July 2021, eight iPad paintings on paper

The new David Hockney exhibition, ” A Year in Normandy” at l’Orangerie is a series of iPad paintings printed on paper pinned on the walls of the long corridor in the basement and it also includes three large paintings of waterlilies at the entrance of the Monet Rooms. It is so happy and playful that it’s worth stopping by… The British painter’s new life near Caen has generated a number of exhibitions in London and in Paris and his discretion and low key attitude have won him the love of all the locals. I particularly like his rendering of the rain which comes often! (Musée de l’Orangerie until February 14)Read More

Cup on foot, Dear grazing, Venitian recipe, Renaissance, Musée du Louvre, Campana collection

Going to Musée de la Renaissance in Ecouen is always an adventure but the prize at the end is precious. This time, it only took fifty minutes to drive through St Denis and Sarcelles and the most beautiful weather was expecting us in the forest surrounding the castle. Yellow parrots were flying over the roofs and the exhibition “Emailler le Verre à la Renaissance” (Enameled glass in the Renaissance) set in Cathrine de Medicis’ apartments gave an extra bonus to the visit of the permanent collections which include paintings, tapestries, decorative objects, fireplaces and furniture of the highest quality. Read More