You have probably never been to Cassel, on the border of France and Belgium where Marshall Foch had his headquarters during the First world war, and neither had I until last week when I was invited to see a new exhibition on Gaspar de Crayer, 1584-1669, a follower of Rubens and Van Dick, who was famous until the 19 th … Read More
Château d’Eu, a beautiful royal decor
I had been wanting to visit Eu, a little town in Northern Normandy, where the castle hosted the d’Orléans family and lately the Comtesse de Paris and Les Amis du Musée Condé in Chantilly easily convinced me to join them. Partly restored by Duc d’Aumale, the wonderful collector and owner of Chantilly, it belonged to the Brazilian branch of Orléans … Read More
Versailles is extending on Marie Antoinette’s territory
There is not a week without a new event at Versailles and the opening of the Queen’s hamlet, newly restored is major news. At the same time, a new prize for historical books is created and given to a biography of Camille and Lucile Desmoulins by Hervé Leuwers (Fayard). From Revolution to restorations, the old palace is constantly on the … Read More
Musée Jean-Jacques Henner rediscovered
There is a charm to the newly restored house of Jean-Jacques Henner, similar to that of Gustave Moreau on rue La Rochefoucauld. The artist is less well known and the museum serves as residence for young artists who just graduated from Les Beaux Arts. To enliven the place, the curator Claire Bessède, had the idea of inviting Eugénie Alméras to … Read More
Junya Ishigami, magic architecture at Fondation Cartier
The cherry trees at Fondation Cartier were in full bloom for Junya Ishigami‘s opening of twenty architecture designs and models. And discovering his work was a blessed moment. The laureate of the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2010, Ishigami represents at 43, the young generation who devotes an important place to landscape, poetry and conceptualism in architecture. … Read More
The Qajar dynasty in Iran, more than just warriors
The new exhibition at Louvre Lens, “The Rose Empire” is devoted to the Qajar dynasty, who reigned over Persia from 1786 to 1925, when Reza Khan Pahlavi took over. Four hundred pieces came from 35 French institutions and private collections and twelve countries to describe the world of this family, whose descendants now mostly live in Europe and the United … Read More
A very festive Suez Canal at Institut du Monde Arabe
Théodore Frère, Promenade de l’Impératrice Eugénie en chameau dans le désert, 1869 © Souvenir de Ferdinand de Lesseps et du Canal de Suez / Lebas Photographie Paris When you enter the first room of the exhibition “L’Epoque du Canal de Suez des pharaons au XXI ème siècle” at IMA, the red velvet curtain, the large screens with photographs commented by … Read More
Alvar Aalto so inspiring at Cité de l’architecture!
We all know Finnish designer and architect Alvar Aalto‘s emblematic Savoy vase and wooden stools but at Cité de l’architecture‘s retrospective, we learn more about him, his many churches and office buildings, and we discover his own house and offices. It is a beautiful show under the brick arcades of the museum at Trocadero. And since Aalto was mostly preoccupied … Read More