Charles Le Brun always felt a little boring to me even in the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. This Royal painter, who worked for thirty years for Louis XIV, is rediscovered at Louvre museum in Lens, thanks to a brilliant staging by Atelier Maciy Fiszer and an easy historiography. The excursion two hours North of Paris is well worth the … Read More
Cornwall, old and new
I have been going to Cornwall for 25 years and every time my heart pounds with excitement as I drive from Exeter airport to Penzance and Land’s End. This year was full of surprises with a new sculpture garden in Gulval and more delicious trendy cafés, which took over from the Tate St Ives.
A great Alexander at Vaux le Vicomte
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.