On April 6 th to 19 th 2020, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris will be wrapped by Christo with silver blue recyclable polypropylène fabric and red rope. This was decided by the French President Emmanuel Macron with Philippe Bélaval, head of the Centre des Monuments nationaux (which includes Arc de Triomphe) and Serge Lasvignes, President of Centre Pompidou, who … Read More
Galeries Lafayette move to Champs Elysées
Galeries Lafayette probably chose the most dramatic times to open their new flagship store on the Champs Elysées but Minister Bruno Le Maire insisted, in his inauguration speech, on the Renaissance of the avenue with this magistral cathedral of design. A department store conceived like a museum, this is not new in Hong Kong or in Japan or even in … Read More
Château de Chantilly is in full swing !
Château de Chantilly is going through fascinating times and the official inauguration of the Petits appartements was a true family event with very prestigious good fairies. First, the new director of the Foundation, Fériel Fodil, is a beautiful young woman who worked on the Louvre Abu Dhabi for eight years and she conducted the ceremony with authority and great charm. … Read More
“Hauteville House”, Victor Hugo’s magical retreat in Guernsey
Victor Hugo was the greatest French writer, dramaturge and poet of the 19 th century, he was a talented drawer and apparently a dedicated decorator. At least in the only house that he ever owned, Hauteville House on the British island of Guernsey, where he wrote “Les Misérables”, and many more plays and novels, between 1856 and 1870 when he … Read More
New York Splendor behind closed doors
Have you ever walked on Park Avenue or by the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and wondered what the interiors of these prestigious buildings looked like? Well if you have, you will get the answer in Wendy Moonan’s beautiful book, “New York Splendor“. Her book signing party last week in Paris at Jean Marie Rossi’s “Aveline” antiques store, … Read More
Leonardo da Vinci, five hundred years later in the Loire valley
1519 is the year when Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, at château du Clos Lucé near Amboise. He had been called to the court of France at 65 and had brought paintings, writings, drawings and projects for new inventions. It is the year when Château de Chambord was built and the year Catherine de Medicis was born in … Read More
Jean-Jacques Lequeu, a doomed XVIII th century architect
Petit Palais has accustomed us to big surprises but this new show of drawings by Jean-Jacques Lequeu is so astonishing that it almost eclipses the main show of Khnopff on the first floor. 150 drawings chosen among the 800 that he bequeathed to the Bibliothèque Royale just before his death in 1826, are exhibited here with a variety of themes. … Read More
Opéra Garnier revisited inch by inch
5 January 1875, marks the inaugural Gala for the Paris Opera created by Charles Garnier. Napoléon III has been deposed. The show on stage is very “pale”, all eyes are directed on King Alfonso XII of Spain, the Lord Mayor of London and the President of the French Republic, Patrice de Mac Mahon. The building was the real hero of … Read More