It was the opening of the Venice biennale for architecture and the canals were swarming with architects dressed in black, who had come from all over the world, so Lin Utzon’s vernissage was attended by guests from ten different nationalities. Friends had travelled from Copenhagen where she was born, Sydney where she grew up and Mallorca where she lives. All … Read More
At the Gobelins, Jean Lurçat tapestries and more
It is thanks to Guillaume Janneau, who used to run Le Mobilier National and its tapestry workshops, that Jean Lurçat (1892-1966) moved from being a successful painter to literally saving the art of French tapestry, in the 1940’s. « Four seasons » one of his masterpieces, was started with the war in 1939 and was made throughout until 1946.
Daniel Templon turns 50
To celebrate his fifty years as an art dealer, French galerist Daniel Templon, commissioned a book on his professional life by Sorbonne Professor Julie Verlaine. It is a history of the last fifty years of contemporary art and a page turner about a little man from the suburbs, who became very big through his passion for art and his love of … Read More
Arab gardens are full of teachings
There is a double attraction in visiting Institut du Monde arabe’s garden exhibition, « Jardins d’Orient, de l’Alhambra au Taj Mahal ». Since Jack Lang was named President a few years ago, it seems that this institution, created in 1987 by François Mitterrand, has taken on a new modernity. And what is happening in the arab world today, is drawing more … Read More
Charles Gleyre, a Swiss painter who taught Renoir and Sisley
With 120 paintings and many drawings, the exhibition at Musée d’Orsay, on Charles Gleyre, « The reformed Romantic », puts into light the work of a great adventurer who followed American Philanthropist John Lowell Jr, all the way to Khartoum after having studied watercolor with Bonington. He ran for 25 years, an atelier in Paris, where Renoir, Monet and Sisley studied as … Read More
Sotogrande, a (very private) golf course
I had heard so much about the course from my golfing friends that entering the world of Sotogrande, in southern Spain, was like seeing the Eiffel tower for the first time for an American child. Not only was I not disppointed, I fell under the charm immediately.
Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac turns 10
When it was inaugurated ten years ago, Musée du quai Branly was quite controversial. Its collections of African and Latin American art were primarily taken from Musée de l’Homme at the Trocadéro, many pieces of art were bought from or by Jacques Kerchache, a dealer close to Jacques Chirac and Jean Nouvel‘s architecture was not unanymously loved. Today, the Museum, … Read More
“Ceramix” in Sèvres and at La Maison rouge
It is a very original project that Antonie de Galbert founder of La Maison Rouge conceived with the Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres and the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht. To exhibit modern and contemporary ceramic sculptures made by famous artists. Ceramics or china as people call it everyday, is mostly used for plates and tea pots. But in 300 … Read More