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Art · Museums · Observations · Paris · Society Pages
Yesterday I attended the opening of the Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton
Yesterday I attended the opening of the Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Believe me, taking in all the splendour Richter has created is harder than reading this text. Given that some call the 93-year-old Richter the greatest artist of our time, the exhibition is indeed
Art · Observations · Paris · Humour
This assistant is so devoted to her work that she ignores deadlines even in her sleep
The Parisian gallery Massimo de Carlo presents a project by the Scandinavian contemporary artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset: a hyperrealist sculpture of a gallery assistant, installed in the window in full view of passers-by. The gallery office, usually hidden behind the exhibition space, has been brought to the fore:
London · Science · People · Humour
The legend of Newton's tooth, sold in London and set in a gold ring
There is a legend that in the eighteenth century one of Isaac Newton's teeth was sold in London for several hundred pounds, in those days the price of a decent house. At some point, it is said, the owner of the relic had the tooth set in a
Observations · Mores · People · Nature
Robespierre's Childhood Love of Birds and the Death of a Pigeon in a Storm
As a boy, Robespierre was mad about birds and kept sparrows and pigeons as pets. Once his sisters asked to borrow one of his pigeons and ended up leaving it outside during a storm, and the bird died. On learning of this, Robespierre flew into a rage and wept for
The East · Art · Cinema · Observations · Ethnography
Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well
Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well. I am convinced that Utagawa Yoshiuji's graphic rendering of the legend Kamikiri no kidan, about a maidservant who went to the privy at night and was attacked by something utterly black that seemed to fall upon
Art · Observations · Mores · Humour
A GDR furniture set and a 1970s photograph of skiers on a snowy slope
Anyone Who Owned a Czechoslovak Suite of Furniture Should Also Enjoy a Czechoslovak Bruegel. Admittedly, ours was from the GDR, but I am very fond of this photograph from the 1970s
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Mores · Humour
The Boudoir of the Marquise de Pompadour's Dog Has Seen a Great Deal in Its Time
Art · Observations · Society
From 2026 Ireland Plans to Make Its State Stipend for Artists Permanent
The programme has been running since 2022 and was launched to support the cultural sector after the pandemic. Of 8,200 applicants who met the criteria, 2,000 participants were selected at random (!) and received 1,500 euros a month each from the state. Can you imagine how this "
Art · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Paris
Execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793, her trial and the role of David in the Terror
On the other hand, David's sketch indubitably depicts not the majestic Queen of France but a condemned, emaciated woman, made ready for execution. Marie Antoinette was only 37 at the time of her execution on 16 October 1793. After her trial she spent 10 months in the Temple
Art · Books · Monarchies · Paris · People
David’s Sketch of Marie Antoinette on the Way to the Scaffold and Zweig’s Account of It
Marie Antoinette in the procession to the scaffold, 16 October 1793. The Revolution's first crime was the death of the king; its most terrible crime was the death of the queen Chateaubriand's famous phrase acquires its meaning once one truly reflects on the fate of this
NB! · Observations