Paris Diary by Laure

Velazquez, full of surprises

parisdia30 March 2015Art2 Comments

“Portrait of infant Baltasar Carlos with a dwarf” came from MFA, Boston

The Spanish flag ornates the Elysée Palace

There will be long queues outside the Grand Palais but you can skip them with a Sesame card.

From the Elysée Palace to the Grand Palais on the Champs Elysées, where the Velazquez exhibition was opening that morning, a myriad of Spanish and French flags were celebrating the official visit of King Felipe and his beautiful wife Letizia of Spain.
For the painter of King Philip IV, this was a strong « socialist » tribute ! but then the royal inauguration was cancelled because of the crash of Barcelona-Düsseldorf flight in the Alps and the King and Queen left.
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Miguel Bonnefoy a new Garcia Marquez?

parisdia30 March 2015BooksLeave a Comment

Dominique Bonna, Miguel Bonnefoy and Marie Eugènie de Pourtalès, ©Sophie Bassouls

The Prix Edmée de la Rochefoucauld is given every year to the author of a first novel, and I always try to attend the Prize giving ceremony at Cercle Interallié, for its president, Hélène de la Baume, is charming and the lunch time cocktail party always fun and glamorous.

But this year there was a special bonus ! the 27 year old Venezuealan born writer Miguel Bonnefoy, was so intense and passionate about literature that one could not resist buying and reading his book « Le voyage d’Octavio » instantly.

Coretta, what a good find!

parisdia30 March 2015Restaurants & HotelsLeave a Comment

The light wood decor was designed by Brune de la Guérande

My young golfing friends had told me a about Coretta a month ago but I was a bit defiant since the young have no culinary culture and I was expecting the worst. One of those trendy, tiny food plates with nothing to eat and too many flavors, and a horribly pretentious waiter. Well not at all ! The experience was charming and delicious. For exactly €70 per person. Ideal.Read More

Drawings, drawings everywhere

parisdia25 March 2015Art1 Comment

White man with red trousers by Marcel Miracle at galerie Magnin A

The show « Drawing now » has always been an easy way to find new artists. Over the years, when the contemporary drawing show was at the Louvre, I bought black and white drawings by Etienne Pressager and a burnt wood piece by South Corean artist Ji Eun Yoon. Now, it is taking place for the second time, at Carreau du Temple, a superbly restored former Victorian market located in the Marais, which houses music, fashion and arts events.Read More

Yann Delacour, observer of small things

parisdia23 March 2015Photography3 Comments

Yann Delacour observes small phenomenons. 15×20 cm print on Fine art paper,2004 © Yann Delacour.

A year ago, I was walking on the street below my flat and found a beautiful purple bellflower growing in the macadam. I could not believe this miracle of nature and figured, the rain had brought down the seeds from my balcony, five floors above. When you think of how hard it sometimes is to grow perfect flowers in perfect humus, this seemed magical.

Well, magic is exactly what photographer Yann Delacour is all about, when he observes a series of « insignificant » things and publishes them in « Le Monde d’Hermès ». The twice a year glossy publication always shows great images. This time, and under the influence of Sylviane de Decker, Hermès’ photography consultant, the most modest little weed enters the world of utter luxury and savoir faire.

From craftsmanship to art

parisdia23 March 2015ArtLeave a Comment

Le marteau siamois by Jacques Carelman

It was Palais de Tokyo again and its long waiting lines for the opening of « l’Usage des Formes », an exhibition curated by Gallien Déjean on similar themes as those of “le Prix de l’Intelligence de la Main” (Prize for Intelligence of the Hand) created 15 years ago by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation.

Young ladies dressed in black with big red lips had obviously seen the new add for Chanel’s lipstick Rouge Coco. The crowd was such that one wondered where Jean de Loisy, the director, had found so many guests… but the very original exhibition of tools and art, largely sponsored by l’Oréale’s heiress, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, was worth the wait in the cold.Read More

Very cosy, la Ferronerie

parisdia23 March 2015Restaurants & Hotels1 Comment

Salle-bar-et-ardoise-du-restaurant-La-Ferronnerie

La Ferronerie, a neighborhood restaurant in the 7th

It’s always been a discreet little restaurant hidden in the rue de la Chaise near the Lutétia but now it has become the hang out of many customers, who are disappointed by the new decor of Les Soufflés Récamier.

A Catalan shepherd is a painter in the Alps

parisdia23 March 2015Art4 Comments

Red skier and flowers, 1966 by Anselme Boix-Vives

Born near Morella in 1899 as Ancelmo Boix y Boix, Anselme Boix-Vives only started painting at the end of his life in 1962, after having emigrated at 18 to Moûtiers in the French Alps. From being a shepherd in Catalonia, he started a vegetable shop and became such a sound businessman that in 1956, he helped his son Laurent buy the ski company Rossignol, which would soon become one of the most successful in the world.Read More