Damien Hirst « Cerisiers en Fleurs» Cartier Fondation

 A quick escape Wednesday from letters/💌 to visit the newly opened Damien Hurst exhibit at Cartier Fondation. If you’re in Paris before it closes Jan 2, 2022, you should visit too. 

An altogether uplifting pink experience. And who couldn’t use a little more pink 🌸in their lives right now? Along with bee 🐝 yellow of course.

On view are 30 large paintings on 2 floors. 

Selected from 107 painted during the pandemic sans assistants, painted all on his own in a huge unheated hangar. 

The 360 degree view of Hurst studio video is fascinating.

Its been a very long time since Hurst took to paint and canvas, but the results are rewarding, especially if you’re not so mad for skulls, floating sharks or cows in formaldehyde.

There are friendly bi-lingual staff to answer your all questions and daily guided tours.

One gallery aide was kind enough to hold up my April cherry blossom letter for a photo. Hurst was commissioned to do the show 3 years ago so he got to cherry blossoms first ☺️

Interesting that there are no labels/etiquettes by the paintings, so visitors can immerse themselves in the paintings. Its my observation the French are fond of reading lengthy labels before actually looking at the art. Sometimes it seems like they prefer it. Maybe that’s why many Paris museum curators like to place labels at ankle or toe-level? There is a Monet water lily feel to the paintings.

The Fondation Cartier offers evenings of interesting dance and music groups: Les Soirees Nomades. That’s how I found on youtube The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. I wished I’d seen that.

Leaving the museum,  it’s set in jungly surroundings. You can bring a snack and eat outside in the back. 

Outside I was surprised to see wild, hot pink Hollyhocks/roses trémières growing by the side of the road. I couldn't not try painting them. 

🙏Please stay cool western PBers🙏

                            🎨🌸Bon Dimanche🌸🎨

Boutique du Conseil Constitutionnel, Palais-Royal, Luxembourg Chair

 

Monday morning I went back to Palais-Royal again.

An opening of a new pocket boutique, 

du Conseil Constitutionnel 

Situated in the Palais-Royal courtyard at 24 galerie du Chartres. 

Anyone can bring back touristic mini Eiffel Towers or Mona Lisa socks.

But this is a new specially designed collection of witty, sophisticated gifts that will definitely impress your French friends back home or for yourself. 

Message socks/chaussettes saying, “You are free to come and go”. Isabelle, who has an online luxury journal, tried to explained to me how the Conseil works. An individual citizen can approach and request an injustice be addressed but don’t quote me. French government and the 5th republic is way outside my limited areas of expertise (mainly art and pastry).

Anyway the tricolor 🇫🇷 collection of socks, notebooks, and umbrella are stunning and have playful puns based on words of the law.

We met the designer, Pascale Brun d'Arre, who specializes in museum products and has worked with the National Assembly and Louvre museum. The National Assembly has a fabulous boutique for anything tricolor 🇫🇷.

If constitutional message socks (7,50€) are not your thing, you could go all out on a handsome LIP watch (245€) the French government gave this to Churchill in 1948.

I went all out on these embroidered red pencils (20€) from Macon and Lesquoy I could not resist. I passed on the embroidered pigeon. Why didn’t I get a green Apilco cup😟

I put it on immediately of course. My pin collection is growing. *Chanel staff treat me nicely when they see the Karl pin.

I believe they said they will have classy message baseball caps in the Fall, though I could be wrong…

The boutique had the mini version of the Luxembourg chair we are all so crazy about. I was crazy enough to buy it (they gave us a nice discount). 

I found out today from Fermob you can not buy that shade of Luxembourg green 🎨. It is proprietary. You can own it, if you buy one of my watercolors on etsy lucky PBers. 

On the way out of the park I passed the classic Paris Cafe Nemours but envelopes were calling. Later in the day the Guarde Republicain passed down my street in full regalia. Were they practicing for Bastille Day or going off to meet the President of Italy? There’s always something exciting happening in Paris. Come back soon svp ☺️🐻🇫🇷🤸🏾‍♀️

Bee yellow, tarte au citron map

 I decided I was not going to do a tarte au citron 🍋 map 🗺 It entailed too much citron tarte eating.

Then I found this old pastry doodle. I love drawing ✏️ round shapes.

Salon du Dessin and How to frame your Eiffel Tower

 

You come up from Metro line 3 at Place de la Bourse, et voila! Palais Brongniart, an auspicious neoclassical Roman style building approved by Napoleon 1 for the Paris stock exchange in 1808. You can still the annual Salon du Dessin through Sunday if you’re in Paris.

Don’t miss looking up at the massive neoclassical painted ceiling. 

Yet the ground floor is a rabbit’s warren of small international galleries displaying smaller works of beautifully framed drawings, watercolors and some scribbles.

In such intimate spaces you can commune with the artworks at eye-level. Its a treasure chest of delights. 

These multi-gallery shows are a great place for framing 🖼 inspo. 

Just because a drawing is small, even tiny is no reason to shy away from using a big impressive frame.

Posh galleries prefer mats in shades of offbeat green and ecru for old master drawings, but you can use them too, to add a ton of class to your collection. Forget trying to match the upholstery…ahem. And notice how a wall of unmatched frames, all different sizes with different colored mats can look fine together.

Here’s the basic rule of thumb for all art works on paper. They need AIR. Space between the glass for the artwork to BREATHE. Good art paper responds and expands depending on the weather. Humidity, moisture effect not just the paper but the paint surface, which, if its watercolor is water-soluble. 

Is your artwork tacked up in the kitchen with no frame or protection near the stovetop or over the sink? By the way, oil and acrylic paintings 🎨 are not soluble. Still I wouldn't hang them in the kitchen.

A little sketch of Eugene Boudin’s. The wide goldie frame and even wider dark green mat accent and contrast the drawing beautifully.

Where can you find these old traditional frames without breaking the bank? Flea markets or house auctions, or stuff left in the street of course. For the matting you may have to go to the framer, but it will cost a lot less hopefully.

A wonderful unfinished preparatory sketch that says more as is, than perhaps if it was completed.

This doodle is immediately recognizable as a Toulouse Lautrec.

Here’s a mixup of stunning small sketches placed within one frame instead of framing separately. Each one is a jewel no?

Someone sent me this picture of their wall of framed Paris letters. I wish I could remember who it was. Was it you? ☺️

While looking at the border of the Paris Parks letter, I found an old multi-doodle of the Luxembourg chairs everyone seems to love and made it into a watercolor. I’d love to see how you frame it 🖼 The lush floral bouquets at Salon du Dessin are worth the price of admission. Stay tuned for tomorrow: the 🍋 citron tarte map! 🗺 Please stay cool West Coast and Canadian readers🙏 Bon Dimanche PBers 💋🐝🐻☺️

8h45 Inauguration de la librairie des expositions, niveau 6 / Centre Pompidou

 I got a press release from the Louvre gift shop with a witty video. A series of new cool products they’ve creating repurposing well-known classics like Ingre’s Grande Odalisque, La Jaconde, La Venus de Milo, La Victoire de Samothrace etc. I wrote back these would be great at Paris Plage. In response I got an invite to the 8:45 aminauguration of the renovated exhibit bookstore in Centre Pompidou.

Some people will go to the ‘opening of a paperbag.

Me:I will, I will 🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️

Anthony Lebossé, a designer from Studio 5-5  described as furniture surgeons explained all to us.

When you come back to Paris some things will feel different. All the department stores like BHV, Monoprix, Galeries Lafayette feel like ‘the wide open spaces’ because of Covid. Same thing in the Pompidou bookshop. 

                                    Before and after
The design team came up with mobile furniture made with repurposed materials. Bookcases can be moved around or removed altogether for special events. I wish my furniture was mobile.

The repurposed shapes, forms and 4 colors exactly reflect the famous exterior of the building.

Is it a well-kept secret you’ll find the most unique gifts 🎁

 to take home in museum gift shops?

A photo-booth downstairs unlike any other Paris photo booth.

The poster for current show on at Pompidou -an international exhibit of women abstract artists, including Georgia O’Keeffe.

The big news: September 8th a huge Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit opens at Pompidou. You’ll want to be here for that PBers!👏👏 

When the new Pompidou opened in 1977, it was such a shock. Le Figaro declared, 

“Paris now has its own monster, just like the one in Loch Ness” Now its a much-loved integral part of Paris with easily accessed great views over the city.

Talking about repurposing, I went baby-rattle hunting the other day for a new bracelet at a toy store near rue Mouffetard. I ended up with a string of giant beads to make into a new summer necklace.

More repurposing of past Eiffel Towers. You can add to your collection on Etsy. Now I’m going to repurpose myself somehow or other ☺️ and go off to the Salon du Dessin preview. So happy to be out and about between working on your (very) late June letter 💌 and map🗺. Bon Wednesday PBers.🍒🐻🎨💋It is Wednesday right?