I had missed the opening of the exhibition and when I went to the Conciergerie on a Monday morning to visit “Outremonde, The Sleeping chapter“, I noticed two people who were obviously not tourists and stood still in a corner observing. So I went straight to them and started asking questions… The man answered very obligingly. “Yes the artist uses … Read More
At MAD, the 1980’s reign
Former minister of culture Jack Lang was visiting the exhibition with a following of admirers and I am glad I started the visit in reverse, escaping all the politics of the Mitterrand years which are the prologue to the show. Instead, I immediately ran into the heart of the subject, the craziness in design, fashion and advertising of the 1980’s … Read More
Bibliothèque Richelieu reopens with Palm trees
The main entrance of the Bibliothèque Nationale Richelieu (French public library) is now on rue Vivienne, facing Le Grand Colbert restaurant. And a large garden “Hortus Papyrifera” with palm trees and many “paper trees”, created by Gilles Clément, welcomes you instead of the more austere courtyard of rue de Richelieu. Once you walk inside, a modern staircase in aluminum and … Read More
The Day the Queen died, IKSEL decorative arts opened on rue Bonaparte
We all remember where we were on September 11 and we will forever remember where we were the evening Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8. She managed to complete her 70 year jubilee AND to meet the new prime minister Liz Truss at Balmoral, two days before leaving us. What a determination and courage she had! When we learned … Read More
The Pantheon has become the “it” place!
Like most Parisians, I never go to the Pantheon, but Ann Veronica Janssens‘s project (until October 30) enticed me to return at a time, in mid August, when Paris’ museums are folding all their exhibitions. And it was a great experience. Three thousand visitors enter the Pantheon every day in the summer and to see children running around, young couples … Read More
Germany in the Twenties, and August Sander at Centre Pompidou
The exhibition at Centre Pompidou of “Germany 1920’s, New Objectivity, August Sander” is so wide that one could have split it in two to make it more digestible with its 900 pictures. It presents overlapping narratives of post WWI years and has fantastic art and photographs. It is worth going, with a lot time at hand and a calm mood… … Read More
Lausanne is worth a visit this summer…
I have not yet been to Lausanne to discover the new Museum quarter designed by the Portuguese firm Aires Mateus, Plateforme 10, near the train station, but from my visit last year, I know what an attractive group of buildings it is. Tatyana Franck, who used to run Photo Elysée, the superb photography museum, is gone to New York where … Read More
Victor Prouvé, the father of… in Issy-les-Moulineaux
Most of us know Jean Prouvé‘s work as a furniture designer and an architect who revolutionized low income housing in France between the wars. This new exhibition at Musée de la Carte à Jouer (the museum of playing cards) in Issy-les-Moulineaux is about his father’s work, Victor Prouvé, 1858-1943, who started as Emile Gallé‘s accomplice in designing vases and became … Read More