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
Plates are flying around the “pool” of mirrors
French lingerie designer Chantal Thomass was surrounded by « a million » Italian fashion journalists at the opening of Piero Fornasetti’s retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Barbara Baumel, who was for many years Guy Bourdin’s assistant and nannie, was laughing as always, with a group of very handsome men. And the atmosphere was electrical, as everyone was enjoying themselves in the midst of this bonified flea market filled by the designer’s lifelong creations.
The Musée de l’Elysée, a small house with a big aura.
The Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne is turning thirty, and so has its brand new director, Tatyana Franck, who took over last week from Sam Stourdzé, now the director of the Rencontres Internationales de photographie d’Arles.
Famous around the world for its touring photo exhibitions, the Musée de L’Elysée is located in a beautiful 18 th century house overlooking Lake Léman. It is a must visit, as much as the Fondation de l’Hermitage on top of the hill.
A salmon festival at Flora Danica
One used to go to Caviar Kaspia or Maison du Caviar on the Champs Elysées for a late supper after a play or a concert. But caviar being what it is, no more. I recently found a similar elegant atmosphere at Maison du Danemark at the top of the Champs Elysées, while having a light dinner at their brasserie Flora Danica.
The music room at Musée Jacquemart-André
What a privilege to go on a Sunday night to Musée Jacquemart André and listen to one of the greatest French pianists, Philippe Entremont, who played Mozart and Schubert. The private museum, one of the most visited in Paris thanks to Culturespace which manages it, is the former Hôtel particulier of sculptor Nélie Jacquemart and her rich husband Edouard André. It is magnificently furnished and decorated in 18 th century style and the paintings on the wall are world class. So it made me smile when I heard an elegant old lady say « on se sent chez soi ici » (one feels at home here) a little snobbish right ?…
Anne Wiazemsky seems to have always been discovered and chosen by fabulous men. First the film director, Robert Bresson cast her in « Au Hasard Balthazar ». Then Jean Luc Godard, soon to be her husband, shot « La Chinoise » for her. And Pasolini asked her to play in “Theorem”. And then followed at least seven other movies while she was in her early twenties.
I was looking forward to this evening at the new Philharmonie de Paris for a long time. Theatre and opera director, Côme de Bellescize, 34, whom I have been following for four years now, was directing Arthur Honegger’s « Jeanne au Bûcher » which he created for Seiji Ozawa in Japan in 2013. The libretto written by Paul Claudel is an ode to the 19 year old martyr, burnt by the English in May 1431, in Rouen.
When I walked into the new exhibition of Lanvin dresses at Palais Galliera this morning, Anna Wintour was being taken around by Alber Elbaz, the current Lanvin designer and co- curator of the show, with Olivier Saillard, who runs the Museum of Fashion. It was clever of course to open this retrospective of 90 dresses by the Grande dame de la mode of the 1920’s on the first day of fashion week.
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