Visiting the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte in a golf cart at 9 am, when no one is around but a few gardeners, is probably the most privileged thing I have done for a long time. Alexandre de Vogüé, the second son of Patrice and his Italian wife Cristina, the present owners, is in charge of marketing and fundraising for the most … Read More
In Pont Aven, Gauguin and more
Ecole de Pont Aven is one of those names, that one knows and does not really concretize. I had been wanting to visit this small sea side village of French Cornwall in Southern Brittany for a long time and the reopening of its museum engineered by its young general curator, Estelle Guille des Buttes-Fresneau, was the occasion.
Versailles so exciting and… so frustrating
Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfall is prodigious Going to Versailles is always very exciting and very frustrating. This time was no exception and I am going to give you a tip so you don’t have the same misadventures I had. There are three reasons to go this summer : first Olafur Eliasson’s water projects, second the exhibition “Versailles and the American Independence” … Read More
Fondation Cartier sings with the birds
Once again, Fondation Cartier is showing a summer exhibition which is playful and gracious, contemporary and for all publics. It is devoted to animals and music and primarily to birds. « Le grand orchestre des animaux » exhibits artists from France, Africa, Japan, Brazil, Detroit and California. And ten films from the Cornell Lab of ornithology are extraordianry moments of … Read More
The Louvre takes a new direction
After being vice president of Amis du Louvre for twenty years, Louis Antoine Prat, an art historian and drawings collector, has replaced Marc Fumaroli as President. He now reigns over 60 000 members of this active association, which raises 3 to 4 million euros every year for the collections. He has curated many exhibitions of Chassériau, Ingres and Poussin, and is … Read More
Musée Guimet is full of surprises
Visiting Musée Guimet is like traveling to Cambodia, China, Japan and India the same morning. It is a fabulous adventure of the mind and of the senses. And it is a five minute walk from place de l’Alma.
Annabelle d’Huart, a persistent and eclectic artist
When she was 18 she could be seen at auctions, buying hyperrealist artists with her sister Lorraine. The vision of the two beautiful sisters, one dark and one blond, was striking, and this is the image I always kept of Annabelle d’Huart. After being an arts photographer in New York and a collaborator of architect Ricardo Bofill in the 1980’s, … Read More
Christo reproduces Christ’s miracle on Lake Iseo
One needed all the energy of Laure Martin, a long time friend of Christo’s and an art consultant, to get a little group of Toulouse art lovers into the Iseo project this past week. We are in Northern Italy, 90 minutes north of Milano, and not too far from lake Cuomo. The countryside is already mountainous and the lovely little … Read More