Poster for Volker Schlöndorff’s film after Günter Grass’s novel “The Tin Drum”, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1979
The Bibliothèque Nationale, the French Public Library, has a rich fund of books, drawings, photographs and etchings and the celebration of Roland Topor’s art is a perfect example of what they know to do best : a profound exploration of one’s art through 300 of his drawings, film and illustrations.
His father Jabala Matar in 1971
When I first heard Hisham Matar speak at the American library in Paris last December, it was obvious that he was not just a writer telling a tragic story. His intensity, his severity for mediocre questions, his pause before answering, were all impressive. I immediately sensed a very special mind. He had come to talk about his latest book, « The Return » which was just translated into French by Gallimard (La Terre qui les sépare) and, this week, he was just awarded the Pulitzer prize for biography.Read More
John Stewart a few years ago in Provence, ©Anne Clergue Galerie
I met John Stewart twenty five years ago at a summer luncheon in Saignon, in Lubéron. After five minutes, he started talking about his latest trip to Ladakh where he had met a common friend, Hugues de Montalembert. This coincidence was unusual enough to make us instant and long lasting friends ! Such was John’s curiosity and interest for others! His impeccable French was tinted with a slight « International » accent which his studies at Janson de Sailly had not completely erased. His mother tongue was English. He died on March 10 th in Paris at 97 and still had photo projects for next summer in Provence.
Pablo Picasso, Saltimbanque aux bras croisés, 1923, Ishibashi foundation
Only a brilliant mind (Japanese in this case) could have thought of turning his own name of Ishibashi into Bridgestone, the exact English translation, and turn it into one of the greatest tyre companies in the world. Shojiro Ishibashi started collecting Japanese and Western art in the 30’s and built a fabulous collection which was added on by his son Kan’ichiro and grandson Hiroshi. The Ishibashi foundation now owns 2 600 treasures of which more than seventy are shown at l’Orangerie in “Tokyo Paris”.Read More
Gyrotope, nomade work with light and sound by Pablo Valbuena, in Fort d’Issy-Vanves © SGP Christophe Morin
It is not a new concept to turn train stations into artworks and Gare de Lyon or Grand Central Station in New York are proof of it. But to create 68 new stations in the greater Paris for 200 kms of automatic subway lines might be a true revolution and the project to be completed in 2030 is called « Le Grand Paris Express ». It will be located between the Périphérique, official border between central Paris and the suburbs, and the 80 kms long A86, a motorway that surrounds the greater Paris. Read More
Isabelle Adjani and agent Thibault de Montalembert dressed in Paul Smith in Season 2
Those of you who live in France might remember laughing endlessly last year when “10%”, the tv series about a talent agency became a huge hit. Well the good news is that the next 6 episodes will be aired on France 2, starting April 19 th. At a time when French politics are becoming more and more nauseous, this hilarious series is more than welcome.Read More
One of the locks near Hotel duNor
Only an excentric American friend could have thought of taking twenty Parisians and a few Americans on a cruise to the unknown ! When I received Micky Wolfson’s invitation to embark at 8.45 at the Bastille, and to sail on to Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac in Pantin, I could not stop smiling for a week.Read More
Each collage is a tribute to art history and is a superposition of precious papers, postcards, glue and gouache
It took almost fifty years for Marc Boisseuil to show his paintings, thanks to Marie Victoire Poliakoff who convinced him to exhibit in her delightful Galerie PIXI on rue de Seine and it was worth the wait ! His collages and gouache little paintings are completely charming. It is his own tribute to art history.Read More