The city of Montauban, located an hour north of Toulouse, is famous for many reasons and at the moment primarily for its two great artists, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and Emile Antoine Bourdelle born six years before the master’s death. Last December, it reopened its museum after three years of restoration and 13 million €, and visitors have come in large … Read More
Ronchamp, a chapel by Le Corbusier and now, Renzo Piano
The first mention of a church of Our Lady of the Heights, on the hill in Ronchamp, dates from 1092 and pilgrimages started in 1494. But it needed Le Corbusier’s reinterpretation in 1955, after the chapel was destroyed in the war, for it to be listed by UNESCO. I had wanted to visit this mythical place for a long time … Read More
Villa Ephrussi, a wedding place and a garden
Across the bay from Villa Kérylos, stands Villa Ephrussi in St Jean Cap Ferrat. Built by Béatrice de Rothschild and Maurice Ephrussi (an uncle of Fanny Thérèse Kann’s, married to Théodore Reinach), the Italian Renaissance house is not as interesting architecturally, but its gardens designed by Achille Duchêne and Harold Peto, are both refreshing and quite extraordinary for this part … Read More
The Riviera is still beautiful with Villa Kérylos
Villa Kérylos has been praised for a long time by Art historian Adrien Goetz, who not only wrote a novel about it but also an art book published by Editions du Patrimoine. For some reason, I never really knew where it was in the Nice area and it is only thanks to my cousin Anne Laure who drove me there, … Read More
In Calais, a surprise adventure with Jeanne Thil and much more on the way
Many of us drive through the north of France to reach Southern England through the Chunnel and why do we never stop on the way? Calais has two museums which are worth looking at. To reach this sadly famous city, in perfect temperatures, I drove around the Baie de Somme, admired its lovely pré salé lambs, raised on salted grass … Read More
Driving North into Flanders
After my successful tour of Brittany I decided to join a friend in Abbeville and explore the multiple museums of the north. Lille is well known for its Arts Museum and diverse peripheral curiosities like Robert Mallet Stevens’ Villa Cavrois, La Piscine in Roubaix and Villeneuve d’Ascq’s Museum of Modern Art. But I have a weakness for Cassel, a little … Read More
At MAD, an explosion of drawings
When Bénédicte Gady, head of graphic arts at MAD, announced two years ago that they were opening up the department of drawings to the public, a small group of collectors congratulated her politely just before Salon du Dessin. At the time, the Getty Foundation offered to pay for a full time researcher, Sarah Catala, to help her. Today, with the … Read More
At Louvre Lens, Black is the winning color
The Louvre Lens is a place I try to visit every year and their program of exhibitions is rich enough to justify the 2 hour and a half drive from Paris (1.30 on the train). Their new show is devoted to “Black Suns, from Egypt to Soulages” and its diversity is very exciting. I was almost alone at 10.30 and … Read More