Art Paris Art Fair 2018

Last Wednesday was a bit like today...drizzly…its easy to stay inside and draw. But ART PARIS was opening.

Grand Palais is always a treat no matter how stay-at-home you feel.

Such a fantastic, airy space. Everybody was there. Long, long lines waiting to get. Plenty of pkids!

So much color. Always uplifting.

More color.

A plastic bottle montage.

Wall of eyes + round objects.

A gallery of Corbusier watercolor drawings.

What Parisians are wearing is half of the show.

Champagne chariots stratigically placed.

A 'thank you' note from Swiss kinetic artist Jean Tinguely painted on corrugated cardboard to a Brazilian client.

Loose, casual drawings, look like they were drawn with a branch. I felt like I paint with a pin.

Armin's tubes of yellow ochre encased in plexiglass.

More color - bold, splashy paintings from a Frankfurt gallery, Die Galerie.

On the way home seen in the metro station - Marimeko's bold, splashy prints at Uniglo. I got the one the dotty one on the left. The ISLE OF DOGS poster could have been in the show. 

Next year I won't hesitate to go to ART PARIS.

Objets Precieux Art Deco, l'Ecole des Arts Joailliers, Van Cleef Arpels

Another fabulous exhibit at l'ECOLE DES JOAILLIERS on 31, rue Danielle Casanova 75001

Run, don't walk to see OBJECTS PRECIOUS ART DECO on until the 25th of April, an incredible display of small masterpieces of inventiveness, creativity, fantasy, skills and technical prowess. 

50 Art Deco boxes from a collection of over 100 collected by the Prince Saddrudin Aga Kahn for his wife, Princesse Catherine.

Compacts, cigarette cases, vanity cases (necessaire), many encrusted with diamonds and other rare gems.

Covered in fine translucent enamel, mother-of-pearl, lacquer from Paris' best ateliers of great jewelers of the 1920s and 1930s.

'Chaque instant est bonheur a qui est capable de la voir comme tel"

'Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such" Henry Miller

After WWI women gained their independence. They drove cars, smoked in public, wore shorter skirts, cut their hair, drank cocktails and worked.

Elegant upper class women were now allowed to wear makeup. Smoking was no longer the exclusive preserve of men.

As a result beauty cases and cigarette holders made their appearance.

Their flat surfaces offered the ideal support for art deco-style decoration.

This style, which flourished during the interwar period was characterised by stylization and abstraction of motifs ...plus a taste for geometric motifs. Reproduced maquettes of the gouache designs line the exhibit walls.

Other sources of inspiration included French 18th century techniques, Russian Fabergé styles, Japonism, Italian Renaissance and Persian motifs.

A simply divine exhibit with an equally divine colored catalog. Don't miss it if you're in Paris through April 25th

We had jewel-like gouté to revive us after so much eye candy :)

Well it seems we still have to kick up our heels for independence and equal pay girls doesn't it... Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast. If you enjoyed this post, forward to a friend. You can receive a monthly Paris letter or map in your mailbox and French souvenirs at ETSY.

xxxCarolg et Bear 🐻

Gone Fishing @Kaviari

On Thursday I was invited to an 'adult' Easter egg hunt at KAVIARI.

We were given little burlap egg bags and told to look for the hidden fish

Among the many not-so-'hidden' chocolate mini eggs

No problem. The chocolate eggs were everywhere in view.

But the main objective was to find this chocolate 'sardine'. Then you could win a divine 30g tin of Caviar Baeri! Not easy to find. I was looking high and low, asking if I was chaud o froid (warm or cold). Everyone giggled and said the sardines were bien caché (well-hidden). Just when i was about to give up i found one. My picture was taken holding the prized tiny sardine.

My delicious winnings at home...

I bought one of Kaviari's handsome mugs and some other goodies at their boutique and prepared to paint them.

But yesterday I decided a hyacinth (on sale) + my bunny night light might make a better still life.

What better way to spend Easter Sunday then painting bunnies and Spring flowers.

On Friday, the day after the egg roll, I went hunting for fish, also known as fritures for the little ones.

Paris patisseries love to make chocolate fish for Pacques (Easter). Especially since the 1st of Avril, also known as poisson d'Avril

Falls on Easter Sunday. These stunning chocolate tablette/fish from MAISON DU CHOCOLAT were cleaned out of stock by Good Friday! Can you get away with eating chocolate fish instead of fish n' chips on Friday?

CYRIL LIGNAC still had plenty of fish on hand.

As did HUGO VICTOR. Big flounders with fancy bows readily available for munching.

I meant to go back and get a matcha tea chocolate fish from SADAHARU AOKI, but was exhausted from covering Paris' waterfront.

The king fish of chocolate eggs was at GERARD MULOT, with his school of fish entwining an enormous egg. I bet someone bought it and it is being devoured this very minute. The French take their Easter chocolate seriously. Easter chocolates will be in the stores for another week at least. Speaking of which THANK YOU PBers for shopping at my Etsy Spring sale! Most kind. And thank you for reading Parisbreakfast. If you enjoyed this post, forward to a friend. You can receive a Paris letter or map in your mailbox + souvenirs at ETSY.

Bonne Pacques/Passover xxxCarolg and Bear.