galavanting gal about town
Newsletter 11.13.2022
Me at a crèperie near the Musée d’Orsay, seat selected for the poster backdrop!
Bienvenue and welcome back to Musée Musings, your idiosyncratic guide to Paris and art. I started to feel better and Peter and I did get to the American Library in Paris Book Award. Like the last time I went, it was held at the George C. Marshall Center, right off the Place de la Concorde. It is a much modified but very beautiful 18th century hotel particulier, first owned by Count Saint-Florentin (thus the name of the street on which it sits). After him, Talleyrand owned it and the Baron de Rothschild. During the Second World War, the Vichy government took it and then the Nazis did. Finally, in 1947, it was first rented and then purchased by the American government.
This year, like the last time this event was held ‘live’ and not on ‘zoom’ which was in 2019, the bar was set up in front of a grand and glorious 18th century bed.
I don’t know why, it just is. And this year, like last time, attendees got a copy of the book that won the award. Last time I watched as people denuded the display table of books that hadn’t won. This time, I was among the deflowerers. I got quite a haul - books on art, design, women and of course, Proust.
Here is a photo of my friend Peter.
Do you see the similarity as clearly as I do? Peter is obviously channeling Proust.
Proust by Cocteau
Proust at Carnavalet
Why else would he be wearing that hat and that coat from Mad Men? And of course, carrying that cane? Also, notice the scarf he is wearing. If you recognize it, that means you have been or have taught at Oxford as Peter has. His choice of clothes and accessories is very much in keeping with today’s topic - Heraldry - which, as it turns out, is all about brand affiliation.
Let’s see, what else did I do. On Friday, I went to the Galerie Lelong, actually two galleries Lelong - in the 8eme, about 10 minute walk from each other - to see a two part exhibition of new works by David Hockney, for whom the pandemic seems to have been a godsend.
Hockney at LeLong
It is the exhibition that was about to open at the Musée Matisse in Nice the week after I was in Nice. Which drove me crazy, because when I was there, the entire museum was closed in preparation. So now I finally get to see those Hockney paintings in Paris, but alas not those by Matisse.
On Saturday, I went to the Musée Marmottan-Monet for a show I have been meaning to see for months now. In celebration of the 150 anniversary of Monet’s painting, Impression, Sunrise it was a thematic show about the meaning of the sun - from ancient Egyptian depictions to contemporary ones. It was fascinating to see how looking at sometimes very well known works in a thematic context, can change how you look at and appreciate them.
On Monday I went to the Louvre for another thematic show. This one was about stuff, or ‘Choses’, things. Some manmade, some animal, some vegetable. It was a romp through history with things as our guide. It wasn’t as creative as the Marmottan-Monet exhibition was or maybe because there have been so many exhibitions about stuff already. But the categories were interesting and getting into the museum from the metro was uncannily easy and quick.
Tuesday, I was back at the Musée d’Orsay, this time to see the Rosa Bonheur exhibition. I’m not much of an animal painter aficionado, but I learned a lot about Rosa and her life. Firstly, she was very prolific. Because she could concentrate on her work. As a very young woman, she found her life partner. And with her, her partner’s mother and a handyman sort of guy, everything was taken care of around her. But, still, I was angry with myself for not having paid enough respectful attention to her trail blazing, gender defying life. This exhibition remedies that. I also wanted to see the Munch show again, thinking (silly me) that a mid-week visit would be less crowded than a weekend one. With huge groups on guided tours planted in front of paintings for what seemed like hours, it wasn’t.
On the food front, Peter and I had dinner one more time before he flew back to Baltimore. We ate at Bofinger, that art deco palace dedicated to choucroute and shell fish. Maybe an unlikely combination, but this restaurant excels at both. A friend brought some Algerian patisseries from La Bague de Kenza which were beautiful but probably are not going to make my repeat list. Finally, I did find a little crepe place just across the street from the Musée d’Orsay before I walked over to the Fondation Custodia, on rue de Lille, to see an exhibition on the short career of Leon Bonvin, half brother of better known François Bonvin.
This week’s review is about an exhibition I saw on a return visit to the Musée de la Renaissance, aka the Chateau d’Écoeun. The exhibition was about Brand Affiliation, what used to be called Heraldry. Hopefully, after reading it you’ll start looking at renaissance paintings in a whole new, Where’s Waldo kind of way. Which will be be fun, promise. Bisous! Dr. B.
Readers’ Comments for which I am always grateful:
New comments on The Iconography of an Icon: Another great article. Glad you are feeling better. Genevra did a wonderful job while you were incapacitated. Deedee, Baltimore
Ma chère Beverly, I just read your report on musée Galliera (Frida Kahlo, Iconography of an Icon). Wonderful ! JF, New York City
New comment on no more stars: “Finally it dawned on me as it had already dawned on [Beverly, no doubt]. [I] wasn’t suffering from [lack of technique for finishing ‘Remembrance of Things Past’]. And I didn’t [need advice from Ginevra’s mom] either. [I just needed to sit down and get back to reading!]” THANK YOU, Beverly! THANK YOU, Ginevra! (And how sweet to see my persimmons in this post!) Morris, N. Carolina