Anna Politkovskaya remembered at Le 104

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The decor of the play is inspired by this photo by Stanley Greene

Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006) became famous for her reporting on the Chechnyan war and she died for it. As a Russian journalist, she was constantly intimidated and threatened by the regime, arrested on suspicion of spying, and was finally assassinated in the elevator of her building. A beautiful text, “Donna non rieducabile memorandum teatrale” was written in 2007 by Italian playwright Stefano Massini. It is now translated into French and the play was produced with music at Le 104, a cultural center in the 19 th arrondissement of Paris. The director of the play, Thomas Bellorini is the twin of well known director Jean Bellorini, who after running Théâtre Gérard Philippe in Saint Denis, is now the director of the TNP Villeurbanne in Lyon where Chéreau, Planchon and Lavaudant set their marks.Read More

Paulin, Paulin, Paulin at Sotheby’s

parisdiaArchitecture, Furniture, Movies2 Comments

Alice et Benjamin Paulin in Bordeaux with Pierre Paulin furniture ©Marco Cappelletti

There is an exhibition which will only last a week at Sotheby’s Paris, from 31 January to February 6, which you should absolutely see and very exceptionally, I am telling you about it before it actually opens: “Paulin, Paulin, Paulin”, is devoted to designer Pierre Paulin‘s work.  His furniture, edited since he died in 2009, by his widow Maïa and by Benjamin his son is being produced again. With his wife Alice, who was raised in the famous Rem Koolhaas house in Bordeaux, this unique couple creates new worlds with Paulin’s designs. The auction house has chosen to exhibit the furniture produced for the Elysée Palace under the Pompidou and many other pieces, some of which were at Beaubourg three years ago.Read More

Celebrate Valentine with Barbara Hepworth at Musée Rodin!

parisdiaArt, Photography4 Comments

Pelagos, 1946,  (sea in Greek) ©Bowness, ©Tate

If you have once been to St Ives in Cornwall, you know how important sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) is for 20 th century art history. Her Trewyn studio is ideally located by the Tate gallery near the beach of this dreamlike fishing village and she spent much of her life living there, with husband painter Ben Nicholson with whom she had triplets.  She is the object of a small but pretty retrospective at Musée Rodin, which organizes a Valentine evening on February 14. Now is the time to book because last year some of you were too late and missed the event.Read More

Wandering in the Marais on a sunny afternoon

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James Casebere at Templon, rue Beaubourg

Once a month, I try to walk around the Marais to keep in touch with the contemporary art scene and discover new little shops and now that the strikes seem to be over, it might even be easier. Visiting Daniel Templon‘s two exhibitions on rue Beaubourg and rue du Grenier Saint Lazare was extremely cheerful. And so was the marvelous vision of Dan Flavin’s neons at David Zwirner‘s new space on rue Vieille du Temple.
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Marie Antoinette at the Conciergerie, last chance…

parisdiaArt, History1 Comment

Alexandre Kucharski, Marie Antoinette, 1793, Musée National de Versailles

There is something positive about the transports strike in Paris, everyone is out walking and the streets are it is incredibly lively and fun to watch. I recently went to see the Marie Antoinette exhibition at the Conciergerie “Metamorphoses of an image” (until January 26), and walked on to have lunch at one of my favorite restaurants Le Hangar, across the Seine on rue Beaubourg. You get a chance to watch the works on Notre Dame on the way and taste their delicious pumpkin ravioles and fresh sardines. Read More

Carlos Ghosn, the new James Bond of 2020

parisdiaHappy moments7 Comments

Carlos Ghosn’s house in Beyrouth, photo Claire Shea

When I woke up on December 31, feeling slightly dizzy at the thought of celebrating New Years that evening, I read an alert from the New York Times which announced that Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi who was arrested in Tokyo on November 2018, had fled Japan (maybe hidden in a trunk) and landed in Beyrouth via Istanbul on a private jet. This cheered me up immensely and I felt that James Bond was still alive!Read More

The Musée Fabre in Montpellier and great food!

parisdiaArchitecture, Art, Restaurants & Hotels3 Comments

Kees van Dongen, Spanish dancer, ca 1912

Musée Fabre in Montpellier became a true star in the summer of 2012, when it organized with FRAME (French American Museum exchange) the fabulous Caravaggio exhibition, which subsequently traveled around the US. It was founded by French artist François-Xavier Fabre (1766-1837),  in 1825 and is located in the old Montpellier, the capital of Languedoc, which was a Protestant stronghold until the 17 th century. Louis XIV th decided to turn it into a prosperous city after the tragic Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which forced protestants to flee. The beautiful architecture around Esplanade du Peyrou and the Arch of Triumph date from this time. Its population expanded after France left Algeria in 1962 and many “pieds noirs” came to develop the vineyards. It has become a modern industrial city with, unfortunately, a serious security problem, but its different museums are definitely worth a full day and in the summer the music festival (10-30 July 2020) is a must.

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Sète, city of the arts and Marcel Gromaire

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A general view of Sète from the Cemetery. On the lower right, the quai Aspirant Herber, where successful artists like Jean Denant and Jean Michel Othoniel live near the Contemporary art center, CRAC

I had been wanting to visit the city of Sète on the Mediterranean for a long time, and this firs week in January suddenly seemed perfect for travelling. The sun was awaiting us on the oyster fields and a marvelous artist, Jean Denant whom we met though his galeriste Anne de Villepoix, took the time to tour us around town. Paul Valéry’s famous “Cimetière marin” (cemetery on the sea) and museum, Pierre Soulages‘s mysterious house which was burglarized while he was inaugurating his exhibition at the Louvre with President Macron, the Marcel Gromaire exhibition and Chez François, the place to eat fabulous “clams en persillade”, all seduced me immensely. Not to mention the Venice like canals which make this little town quite magical. Read More