Museum exhibitions
Present and past exhibits that have historical value and lingering interest for a Paris visitor
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Vigée Le Brun Retrospective at Grand Palais
“Only in painting have I found happiness” ... Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. This is the first French retrospective for this portraitist. One hundred fifty-nine works are on view until January 11, 2016 at the Grand Palais. You will be mesmerized by the moist, glinting eyes that look at you. One of the best times to visit avoiding lines and crowds is Friday around 5:30 pm. In her portraits, I see an artist who painted impressionism, fashion, motherly tenderness and narrative art. Although not the first to paint teeth showing or expressive eyes, Madame Le Brun did have an expressive talent for naturalness. For her education....
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Global Chocolate at Paris Salon du Chocolat
On opening day, I entered the Salon du Chocolat while the afternoon sun was shining. The colorful packaging struck my eyes brightly! Entering the trade show on the second level, I was swept up globally and landed in Brazil. After doing a tasting I bought three squares of various Brazilian chocolates from Mendoá: café, ginger and 80% with cocoa feves with in my first ten minutes on site. I had to watch that my cravings did not get near my purse... My taste buds were set to seek out the unusual in this year's Salon du Chocolat. By the time I left this vast array of packaging three hours later,…
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Pierre Cardin’s Permanent Paris Museum
Pierre Cardin goes to his studio everyday, continues working with his stylists and leaves a notebook next to his bed to make notes and drawings.... In 2014 the fashion designer told his closest assistant and former apprentice, Renée Taponier, that just in case no one pays homage to his legacy of work after he passes on, he might as well do it himself. He opened a museum on rue Saint Merri. What a collection! This visit opened a new world for me about someone who I thought just designed men's suits and the Beatles collarless jackets. Ingenuity and a view to the future with no pang of nostalgia are alive…
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Paris Fashion Week Different Views
When you live in Paris, it seems that every couple of months they are speaking about "Fashion Week". The three reasons for this are: Haute Couture, Ready to Wear and Men’s Fashions. Two more reasons are Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter.Paris Fashion Week happens so often need to keep up with the schedule from Mode à Paris (Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode). Find out when and how ...The Mode à Paris calendar drops hints....
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Paris: The City that Napoleon Built
Napoléon and Paris: Dreams of a Capital until August 30 at Musée Carnavalet. In Paris, Napoleon, the Emperor/General/Adminstrator/Clarivoyant, is everywhere: Pont des Arts, the Vendôme column, the Stock Exchange, the Châtelet Fountain, La Madeleine; other bridges (Austerlitz and Cité), canals, fountains, markets, slaughterhouses (abattoirs) and cemeteries, or drinkable fresh water in Paris, think Napoleon.
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Jeanne Lanvin – First Paris Retrospective
Visit the Jeanne Lanvin exhibition at Palais Galliera in person (until August 23) or virtually (download the App). Lanvin is the oldest French fashion house still in business. This exhibit is displaying over one hundred examples of dresses, hats, belts, coats, drawings,
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Exhibit: Viollet-le-Duc, Visions of an Architect
Viollet-le-Duc renovated the crumbling walls and put his imprint on about one hundred French monuments, including Vézelay, Pierrefonds, Notre-Dame de Paris, Carcassonne, Saint-Sernin. At la Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine until March 9, 2015, all of the signage and labels are in French and English. An opportunity for the public to see for the first time a considerable quantity of newly acquired graphic drawings and writing and relate to the public the various facets of this temperamental artist. This retrospective exhibit celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of his birth.
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Garry Winogrand – Jeu de Paume – Retrospective
The Jeu de Paume is host to the first retrospective in twenty-five years of the American photographer, Garry Winogrand (1928-1984). Winogrand is considered in the same league as the American photographers: Walker Evans, Robert Frank and Lee Friedlander. Winogrand captured a moment in life similar to French photographers, Robert Doisneau, Marc Riboud and Willy Ronis. From the exhibit, I gathered that he admired most the works of Eugène Atget, Brassaï, Walker Evans and Diane Arbus.
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Animal, Insect Menageries and Blooms-Jardin des Plantes
It's time to celebrate the two hundred and twenty years of the Paris historical zoo at the National Museum of Natural History's (Muséum national d'histoire naturelle) in the Jardin des Plantes. An exhibit opened at the Cabinet d'Histoire for celebrated animals (Animaux célèbres de la Ménagerie) who lived in the historical menagerie from 1794 to today. The showcases are filled with mementos from those early days: postcards, illustrations, souvenir plates, books, illustrations, models, and other paraphernalia from the past. Many of the animals referred to are now found in the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution.
