Category Archives: Paris art

Colour commentary

In the 1840s, my great-great grandfather came to Paris to study at the Gobelins Tapestry Factory. He was not a weaver or tapestry-maker, but a chemist who specialized in the science of colour and dyes, and the Gobelins was the … Continue reading

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The story behind the sculpture

The Rodin Museum is one of the most popular tourist sites in Paris. It encompasses a lovely old house surrounded by a huge garden, with several of Rodin’s bronze sculptures positioned here and there in the grounds. One sculpture in … Continue reading

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Eyes on the street

One hears a lot about the use of surveillance cameras in England. Indeed, when we returned from Greenwich, I spotted a few lurking in photographs I had taken. Can you spot the camera in the picture below? (There may even … Continue reading

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Mary Callery, sculptor and collector

Last February, I wrote a blog about the Villa d’Alesia, a small street of artists’ studios in the 14th arrondissement. In my research, I came across a photograph of Henri Matisse taken by Brassaï in 1939. The title was “Matisse … Continue reading

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The invisible woman

As the saying goes, “Behind every great man stands a woman, rolling her eyes.” In the case of the Modernist architect Le Corbusier, that woman was probably Charlotte Perriand, his colleague and co-creator in the 1930s. Only she was probably … Continue reading

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The balcony scene

The painter Gustave Caillebotte and his brother, photographer Martial Caillebotte, loved balconies. They frequently painted and photographed people standing on ornate balconies overlooking wide boulevards, gazing down at the passing scene below.* And sometimes they set up an easel or … Continue reading

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The photograph I didn’t take

It was winter and we were walking back to our rented apartment in the 14th arrondissement from Monoprix, with a borrowed buggy filled with basics – toilet paper, dried pasta, yogurt. We traipsed down a road called rue Campagne Première. … Continue reading

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A villa in the south

When we say the south, we don’t mean the south of France, we mean the southern parts of Paris, particularly the 14th arrondissement. And when we say “villa,” we don’t mean a detached house. The villas of Paris are cul-de-sacs, … Continue reading

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Hiding in plain sight

When we rented an apartment near the Val-de-Grâce, the lady who owned the flat told us that the church and buildings there were very beautiful, but the only way to see inside was to go for mass on Sunday morning. … Continue reading

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Keeping warm in a wintry Paris

Last week snow was falling, snow on snow, in Paris. The international press (when it hits the Toronto papers you know it is Major News) even reported that the Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed because of it. Unimaginable! Well, actually, … Continue reading

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