Imperial silks for Versailles at the Grand Trianon

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Jean-François Bony and Bissardon, Cousin & Bony, fabric for the resting cabinet of the Empress’ little apartments, 1811-1812, Mobilier National

This morning at Versailles, I discovered that we owe one important historical moment to the Brits: in sending Napoleon to Elba in April 1814, they prevented Versailles from being turned into a Napoleonic castle with a new façade and new apartments for all his family and military aides. All the plans for the elevation and the decors were recently acquired and the 80 kms of silk manufactured in Lyon for this project, were for most part kept at Mobilier National which is better known for its precious furniture and Gobelins tapestries. The new exhibition “Imperial silks for Versailles” takes place at the Grand Trianon and is the result of a successful collaboration between Muriel Barbier, formerly at Mobilier National and now director of the collections of Château de Fontainebleau (another Napoleonic castle) and Noémie Wansart, scientific advisor at Château de Versailles. With the daffodils in bloom outside and the glittering silks inside, our spirits were at their highest during the visit. Read More

Henry Cros is surprising at MAD and the gala was so cheerful!

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Vase with pastoral topic, cir 1895-1900, pâte de verre, Musée du Louvre

It is a small show on sculptor and drawer Henry Cros that MAD has organized in its second floor galleries, but it is worth seeing especially since curator Jean- Luc Olivié, in charge of glass at the museum, has studied this artist’s work since he was a student.  If you have not been to “Fashion and Sport” (until April 7) in the Grande Nef or to the exceptional show devoted to Iris Van Herpern, this makes it even more mandatory. Admired by Rodin and Bourdelle, Cros belonged to a talented family: the poet and inventor Charles Cros and doctor Antoine Cros were his brothers. In the salon rue Chaptal of Nina de Vilars de Callias, Charles’s lover, who was painted by Manet, they met Paul Verlaine and publisher André Gill as well as actors of the literary world of the 1860-1870. What I particularly liked is the mix of techniques that he uses. Glazed earthenware, polychrome terracotta, “pâte de verre” (glass paste) as well as bronze and marble are all documented by watercolor projects from his personal diaries, which entered the collections of Musée des Arts Décoratifs,  in 1993.Read More

The Al Thani collection is (again) amazing at Hôtel de la Marine!

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Arundel Ziodac, Italy cir 1540, cornaline, enamel gold, diamonds, ruby designed on a model by Raphaël

For its second exhibition curated with Emma Edwards from the V&A museum in London, Amin Jaffer, curator of the Al Thani collection, has again created a “Wunderkammer” of treasures, as the Germans called their precious rooms in the Renaissance, 1400-1600. They jointly unveiled numerous jewels, crystal cups, paintings and royal presents which glitter in the dark rooms of Hotel de la Marine. You first enter the corridor where seven pendants from Prague, Germany and Italy, made of cornaline, enamel, ruby and diamonds, appear in full light. Each piece is a miniature sculpture which illustrates the extraordinary creativity of Renaissance goldsmiths. The precious stones were brought back by the first maritime expeditions from Asia and America. Read More

In Senlis, Papua New Guinea artists are beautiful at Fondation Frances

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Robin Chiphowka KOWSPI, Hop-Marek-imaginary, 2007, Acrylic on paper, 1 000 €

Estelle and Hervé Frances are true adventurers of the art. They have established a fantastic collection over the years in Clichy and in Senlis where they have the most exquisite little house with a view of the cathedral. In 2018, they travelled with their family to Papua new Guinea and in the Haut Sepik region, they encountered by chance tree artists from the same family, the father Raymond Kowspi Marek, and his sons Agatoak Ronny Kowspi and Robin Chiphowka Koswpi. They are in France until the 4 th of April and their works are visible until March 24.Read More

At Musée Picasso, Léonce Rosenberg’s apartment and a new (successful) hanging of the collection.

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Jean Metzinger, “The Sphinx”, 1928, collection Oscar Ghez, Petit Palais, Geneva

It is an interesting historical exercise, that Juliette Pozzo and Giovanni Casini (who wrote his dissertation on Rosenberg) have produced at Musée Picasso. They recreated Léonce Rosenberg‘s 360 squ. m decors for his apartment (in 1928 and 1929), at 75 rue de Longchmap. Commissioned especially from 12 artists, the paintings made by Giorgio de Chirico, Francis Picabia, Fernand Léger, Max Ernest… for this famous art dealer, are extremely surprising. Sadly, after the financial crisis, he had to sell everything and the works were dispersed. The two young curators found them in their new homes and hung them together again. Upstairs, the permanent collection is now hanging in a very clear way, with a variety of chefs d’oeuvre from all of Picasso’s lives. It is the director Cécile Debray‘s decision and it is very successful!Read More

Charles VII reigns over Musée de Cluny

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Jean Fouquet, Portrait of Charles VII, cir 1450-1455, Paris, Musée du Louvre © RMN-Grand Palais, Tony Querrec

I have to admit, I did not remember anything about Charles VII before listening to Mathieu Deldicque and Maxence Hermant, at Musée de Cluny, telling us the story of this French king, 1422-1461. He is the 18 year old dauphin, whom Joan of Arc led to be crowned, remember? He inherited a messy kingdom from his father Charles VI, Le Fou, who reigned or forty years with periods of craziness  and focused on military conquests and reestablishing a strong army. He retrieved Orléans, Paris, Normandy, Guyenne and ended the 100 year’s war. Artistically influenced by both the Flanders and Italy, his entourage of courtiers commissioned illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, stained glass windows and tapestries, planting the seeds of an extraordinary artistic revival which led to the renaissance. He enlarged the kingdom which started with the Berry, around Bourges. It was squeezed then, between the Duke of Burgundy and England. By the time he died, it included Picardie, Normandy, Guyenne and Languedoc. Read More

Three girls and one show, at Saint-Germain-des-Prés on March 22!

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Juliette Filippi, Corps à Corps 3, drawing, felt pen, 2023

The new show at Hotel de l’Industrie, on place Saint Germain des Prés, from 22 to 24 March, will not be competing with Salon du Dessin or Drawing Now. It is   the story of three talented girlfriends, Sophie de Ségur, Sandrine de Nicolay and her daughter Juliette Filippi, who have always painted or drawn and want to show 150 of their works to the world. They use mostly pastel and ink, and photography for Sandrine. And they are good. The three days promise to be a celebration of chic, very Parisian and great fun. Read More

Théodore Rousseau, a XIX th century environmentalist, at Petit Palais

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Avenue of chestnut trees, 1837-1841, refused at the 1841 Salon, Paris, Musée du Louvre

La Mairie de Paris who runs the Petit Palais should invite all their employees to see the new exhibition of Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867)’s paintings and drawings, ” The Voice of the Forest”. Especially the mayor Anne Hidalgo and her deputy Dan Lert, who recently replaced trees with wooden pots (see the picture below) on place Saint Augustin… The painter asked the very powerful Minister of Interior of the time, Duc de Morny (the illegitimate half brother of Napoléon III), to sacralize part of the Fontainebleau forest for the painters of Barbizon. With a ban on cutting the older oaks whom Rousseau actually named each individually. The exhibition is full of beautiful sceneries, extravagant landscapes and each tree is treated as a character. Three of his panoramic landscapes were included in the “True to Nature” exhibition at Fondation Custodia, two years ago, where Ger Luijten  exhibited rocks as stars… And, like the Louvre, the V&A and the Mesdag collection in the Hague…, they have lent some drawings for this show, where nature is treated as a friend.Read More