The adventure started in 2010 when two clever Parisian school friends decided to buy the Duvelleroy fan brand which was asleep. They revived it so well and developed so methodically both couture accessories and ready to wear or paper fans, that they are now able to celebrate 190 years of Duvelleroy fan making.
Olga Klokhlova, Mrs Picasso
Olga Khokhlova met Pablo Picasso in Rome in 1917 when she was dancing for Serge de Diaghilev in the “Ballets Russes” and he had been asked by Jean Cocteau to paint the decors for « Parade » on Erik Satie’s music and Leonie Massine’s choreography. They were married a year later with Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire and Jean Cocteau as best men. … Read More
Troyes a city to (re)discover
The medieval city of Troyes, in Champagne, is conveniently located on the A5 motorway that takes you from Calais to Provence or from Belgium to Burgundy. It has therefore found a new touristic role in recent years under the impulse of its handsome mayor François Baroin. I have to admit I went there recently for the first time and was … Read More
Peter the Great at Versailles and more goodies
The Grand Trianon at Versailles was used by General de Gaulle for state visits and it was one of Emmanuel Macron’s great « coup » to invite Vladimir Putin there, for the inauguration of « Peter the Great, a tsar in France », an exhibition conceived with St Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum, to celebrate one of history’s greatest monarchs’ visit to France, 300 years … Read More
Harriet Clark gives us a big laugh
American artist Harriet Clark was raised in Switzerland and in Paris, lives in Mexico and travels to Great Britain and around the world. Her new project, Pigsinshorts is the funniest blog and travelling guide you can think of!
Paul Cézanne in 60 portraits at Orsay
Among the thousand works painted by the Impressionist Paul Cézanne before he died at 67, there are only 200 portraits, all devoted to his close relatives and many self portraits. So the exhibition on the fifth floor of Musée d’Orsay is interesting because it lets us into the initmacy of his private life.
Bruno Labouret and Joâo Manardu, a good dialogue
It is rare to discover new galleries near the Champs Elysées and since Larry Gagosian opened his on 4 rue de Ponthieu, nothing much has moved in the area. So I was happy to walk into the delightful BAO space opened by Philippe Ageon who represents among other artists Peter Klasen. The occasion was the double exhibition of Portuguese wood sculptor … Read More
Derain, Balthus, Giacometti at Museum of Modern Art
There seems to be a new trend in Paris of exhibiting painters of the same generation and making them be friends. This winter at Musée Marmottan, the beautiful Hodler, Munch and Monet show, recently at the Louvre, Vermeer and his contemporaries, and today at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Derain, Balthus, Giacometti. The paintings are fabulous but … Read More