Paris Silhouettes

The black and white cut out silhouette has been around for a long time in French culture.
 

Even newspapers used cutouts to spread the news as well as theatres.
 

The French waiter is a walking silhouette with his classic apron and black bowtie.
 

The little black dress, another icon we can thank Chanel and the French for.
 

Could the constantly rainy weather in Paris be a factor in the profusion of silhouettes I keep seeing?
 

The parapluie/umbrella makes the loveliest of shapes that's for sure.
 

When ever hip store Merci did an homage to NYC MOMA's museum gift shop they featured these umbrellas, even if you CAN leave the house in New York without one...unlike Paris.
 

French children book characters Ernest and Celestine make perfect silhouettes plus they're waving umbrellas. Only in France.
 

I was pleased to see Conforma, an appliance store full of fanciful silhouettes for Christmas.
 

Do deer need headphones?
 

Evidently.
 

Dancing on the tabletop in silhouette.
 

A silhouette can be 'read' across the street.
 

Or on your breakfast coffee bowl.
 

See! Right and left you'll run into silhouettes in Paris. Just get up and go to your balcony.
 

Impressionism and Fashion

Wednesday January 9, 2013

Time to rush see the musee d'Orsay's Impressionism and Fashion before it closes January 20th. It is coming to the New York Met in the Spring but these shows are never the same in my opinion.

Stripes were big back then pre-Sonia days in the 1800s. Who knew? I brought along a sketch pad in case I couldn't take pictures but...



And polkadots! Loved this purple dotty and striped number worn by Prosperie de Fleury in 1881



Loads of daguerretypes on display to document the trends of the time...



Bows, bows, bows! I saw a wrist bow bracelet on one of the sales going on today. Bows are forever in France.



And perfume of course. Always perfume.



Black was big I suppose thanks to Queen Victoria, as in this opera spectator by mary Cassatt.



The almighty parapluie/umbrella makes a fashion statement in this Caillebotte painting set in an Hausmannian street. G. says the French will open an umbrella whether it's raining or not. They do look swell...



And make such wonderful silhohuettes...



The darling Dog of the Day in a familial setting with Vichy checks in the background.

 

What better accompaniment to eat after the d'Orsay exhibit than a frou frou marron eclair from patisserie Gosselin just at the corner of rue de Belle Chasse...

Did you miss out buying your ticket at the news kiosk on the corner? And instead wait and wait on line to get into the d'Orsay? I hope not. *Hold onto your ticket stubs by the way and gain free entry to the extraordinary Gustave Moreau musee in the 9th + the Opera Garnier tour.

Oh and don't forget your brollies!



 

Bag-a-holic?

artwork after Germaine Bouret

 Are you a bag-a-holic?
 

 Would it be sac-a-holic in French?

 This is my all time favorite quelle ordinaire boulangerie sac/bag. I will leave this to the Smithsonian Institute if they're lucky.

 I bet you've seen this tres common baguette bag. But did you save it? For a few years?

 If you did, welcome to the club.

 The French are mad for silhouettes along with lolly pops/Sucré . I've said it many times.

Here's another charming example, if not a boulangerie sac. I picked up this scrap in Montmorillon. It looks related to the baguette bag does it not?

A small digression to wrapping paper svp/please. But isn't this darling?

I may have picked this up in Nancy and a meat pie/tourte Lorrain may have been wrapped up in it. I forget. But isn't this auspicious and impressive? No idea what it says...
Mystery solved.
This is from a boulangerie after all, referring to the 6 laws of Antoine Augustin (born in 1737) for making bread:
Les bles/wheat, le sel/salt, la levure/the yeast, l'hydration/water, la fermentation/fermentation, and le petrissage/kneading.

I know this wrapping paper held a bit of fromage from the Paris by Mouth tour of Montmartre. So many souvenirs...

Back to boulangerie bags. What an interesting nature morte/still life. Croissants and brioche plus your mandolin. But of course!

Guess what lurks within this little sac? More tomorrow.

So spill the beans.

Do you have a collection of boulangerie paper bags hanging about?

Picasso and Francoise Gilot

 Silhouettes were following me yesterday.

I fell into the Picasso and Francoise Gilot:Paris - Vallauris, 1943-1953 exhibit at Gagosian Gallery 980 Madison Ave.

 A big collection of gorgeous old photos, paintings, drawings, prints by both Picasso and Gilot.

 Gilot was just 21 when she met Picasso

 What a beauty as well as an accomplished artist.
Gilot on Charlie Rose.

 It's easy to see how she captivated Picasso.

 Her balanced, classic features are perfection.

 Perfect to distort as well.

 Many, many multiple portraits of Gilot in the show.

 Two big floors of artwork.

 Some of the photos of Gilot by Edwin Quinn are so arresting. Quinn lived and worked as a photographer from the 1950s, on the Côte d'Azur, during the "golden fifties" the playground of the celebrities from the world of show biz, art and business.

 Don't you love to see artists at work? Read Gillot's Life with Picasso for her view of it all.

 I was on the upper East Side to see a preview of Elsworth Kelly early plant drawings at the Met. These are like silhouettes as well - positive/negative beautiful shapes.

 It's easy to see how these early 60's drawings led to his later more abstract shapes.

 Kelly is a master shape-maker.

If you love drawings don't miss this. It opens today.

 Back to the Picasso-Gilot exhibit. Many of the paintings-drawings are of children, my current obsession probably thanks to Bringing Up Bebe, I am now painting up les bebes.

I loved this drawing Francoise Gilot's made of her son, Claude sleeping curled up on a table. I felt bold enough to show you my drawing of Lillie.

I’m Carol Gillott, an artist living in Paris. Every month I send out beautifully illustrated letters that capture the true Parisian experience. Sign up to receive these whimsical treasures in the mail.

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