Grand Serra

Another favorite contemporary sculptor is Richard Serra. I have seen some his work at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, in New York City (see Massive Curves, 09/02/2007), and now in Paris. Seems like every city with cultural ambitions needs to have a Richard Serra. One of his sculptures is partially blocking the view of the Place de la Concorde, at the end of the Jardin des Tuileries (I'll search if I have a picture of it).
Here his work is on display at the Grand Palais. It seems as if he made these monumental plates specifically for this space. His work always leaves quite an impression on me. Does that make me a junkie of minimalism?

Bronze Spider

A huge poster on the facade of the Centre Pompidou announced an exhibition of Louise Bourgeois' work. I admire her work a lot. She is one of the great sculptors of our era. However, I chose not to go see it because of the long lines in front of the ticket booths ... and because I do not like that building at all. Instead, I took a picture of one of her giant Spiders that found a home in the Jardin des Tuileries. It looks like an alien invader.

Inspiring Attraction

Paris is filled with interesting architecture and it reminds me a lot of New York City in that aspect, be it that Paris is a lot more user friendly, better proportioned to fit humans. The architecture appears at the same time diverse and coordinated. It is an attractive city that is a candy box for the eyes, very livable and inspiring.

Memories

I had a great time at the Louvre and learned a lot, despite the crowd. I remember when museums were less visited ... at least on weekday mornings. I remember walking through the halls at the Louvre and only occasionally encountering other living souls. That could be a guard, or a couple of visitors, or here and there an art student, sitting at his easel in front of a painting that he/she was meticulously copying. In my earliest recollection, these art copiers were older men, some wearing a beret, indicating they must have been French. In later years they were younger and mostly Asian. And now there are none because museums became appealing to the general public and are busy as department stores on sales days. It's a great development, to see art is being appreciated by so many, but it also makes me feel nostalgic to quieter times.

Famous Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is a celebrity. She only gained that status during the last 100 years or so, which it is remarkable. Paris Hilton won't last that long (luckily).
I like the new location and the lighter colored wall much better. It is intriguing why this particular painting is so popular. Marketing is to a large degree responsible, because the painting is not particularly different in quality from the other paintings by this artist in the Louvre. My personal favorite is his lesser known portrait of St. John the Baptist (bottom picture)

Airy Hall

I remember the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre received a lot of criticism when it was newly built. I have no idea what the general opinion about it is nowadays. It does not bother me personally and I found the central hall beneath it very functional, well lit with natural light and providing easy access to different sections of the museum. It must be hot under all that glass in the summer though.

Not A Cover Girl?

The Venus of Milo is certainly not a pretty woman to modern standards. Her big boned features punctuated by a blunt nose and heavy jaw, fat cheeks (do I see acne there?), massive hips and giant feet are not exactly suggestive of 21st Century ideals of elegance and beauty. Yet, there is a very strong attraction towards this sculpture, resulting from the inviting slightly forward leaning pose and direct gaze. She does not go unnoticed, she leaves a lasting impression... and let's agree that is not because her breasts are perfectly shaped, OK?

Few individuals possess that special aura of graceful confidence and personality that makes heads turn in their direction wherever they go. I read in an article - many years ago - that Elizabeth Taylor has (or had) that aura, Luci Baines Johnson has it too. When these women appear at public functions, we can not resist the urge to stare at them. Esthetic imperfections are overshadowed by grace. To be able to carve that untangible special quality in cold stone is ultimate Art. This is even more remarkable because the arms and hands, important elements by whose position we base a lot of our judgements, are missing.

Wings

The Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre is one of the most admired Greek sculptures. One can almost feel the force of the wind, pressing the thin woven robe against the forward striding female body. One can almost hear the flapping of the fabric in the wind. There is force, movement and strong energy radiating from this sculpture.

Treasures From The Past

The honest boldness in Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture continues to stupefy me, bringing me on the verge of tears. There are a few posts on the subject in this blog already. Now again, at the Louvre, I stood face to face with some truly amazing artistic feats of around 2000 years ago.

These examples below are not simply a likeness of a certain person of that age. The marble portraits are injected with life, personality, a certain energy, making them incredibly beautiful. They are testimony to a time when unashamed admiration of the human body was not yet adulterated by the rigors of Christianity.

A Palace For Kings And Art

First on our list of monuments to visit was the Louvre. I have been there a few times in the past and never felt quite moved by it, nor by the exterior nor by the art on display. This time however, I saw it with totally different eyes, forcing me to drastically alter my opinion. Was it the season, or the nice weather that day that is responsible for this? Or has my taste developed, .... or dare I say .... ripened, matured? Perhaps that tells me I may have been an ignorant fool in my younger years, preoccupied with a too narrow range of interests.

Anyway, the place certainly has a regal vibe, a majestic sense that leaves no doubt that France is a nation with an influencing rich past, both in politics and art.

Food Is Art Too

First of all I can't help but making a few comments about French food versus American food because the difference in quality is striking. This alone would be reason enough to consider moving. OK, I admit to be hopelessly spoiled. My parents introduced me and my brother to the finest French cuisine from a very young age. Each time we travelled in France, my mother searched through the latest Guide Michelin, instructing my dad, who drove the car, along detours to exceptional restaurants that had promising ratings. The result is that since I moved to the North American continent, I have been mostly complaining in disappointment about food quality, especially when dining out. It all starts with the produce. For example, here in Austin, we shop at the best and most expensive gourmet grocery stores in town, Central Market and Whole Foods. They pride themselves to offer the best and freshest produce available. Croissants at these stores are greasy and inflate after a couple of hours. Strawberries taste like water. They are invariably white on the inside and if the current trend continues, I am sure a few years from now they will need to be boiled before consumption because they become increasingly harder to bite in. I already do no longer buy peaches, melons or bananas because most of the time they are mealy inside and disgustingly tasteless. Even good apples are becoming hard to obtain. In North America shelf life is more important than taste. I heard that fruits are exposed to gasses to make them look ripe on the outside. And the bigger the better. It's always about size with American products.

I won't even mention meat products and how the presence of excessive amounts of fat and growth hormones in American meat products affect human appearance. It is scary.

In France, on the other hand, the strawberries were lusciously soft, juicy, fragrant, full of rich taste ....and naturally decaying the following day! I ate the best peaches in years and couldn't get enough of the bread and chocolate croissants. The eggs were tasty and fresh. Most of these items were locally grown. And guess what ... I pulled my partner into a butcher shop to show that real filet mignon is not marbled with fat. Actually, red dominated as color in the entire raw meat section. No wonder the French retain such lean figures at any age.

Most Americans don't eat. They feed. They do not care and/or know about fine food and table etiquette. Most restaurants employ ignorant students to wait tables. Do not expect fresh silverware with each course and most restaurants do not own fish forks, fish knives or real glasses for water. Expect a plastic or styrofoam beaker for drinks in most middle-range establishments. Restaurant kitchens are in general, sometimes horribly, dirty, especially in Austin, TX. There are several very popular restaurants in this city where I refuse to eat because of unclean premises. There are of course exceptions to this grim picture, but those are a vast minority.

So what a refreshing experience to eat in France again, where pride in food quality and table manners still reign.

Paris, je t'aime toujours!

The last time I was in Paris was in 1987, 21 years ago! Surprisingly not much has changed during two decades. Although I nearly didn't pronounce a word of French during all that time, my tongue and memory quickly warmed up to it and the Parisians still guessed me to be Italian. It was a fabulous experience to be back after such a long period. In the following posts I will occasionally express some of my observations as an Americanized expatriate.
I enjoyed enormously the visit from a friend from Austin, who arranged to be in Paris for a day during a business trip to London and Brussels, and my aunt and cousin, who drove down from Belgium to spend a day with us. My heartfelt thanks for their effort and friendship!

Out & About

Lady Bird Wildflower Center turns a new leaf
Serious environmentalism altering the Lady Bird Wildlife Center
By Michael Barnes
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The memory of the late Lady Bird Johnson lingered on the breeze. And before the evening was over, it seemed a generational shift had altered the sensibility of her namesake wildflower center, as anyone witnessing its annual gala and art auction on Friday could observe.
The Johnson clan and their longtime friends had not skipped that cornflower spring dusk on La Crosse Avenue. Luci Johnson was there, spreading wisdom like bone meal around the garden. (Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith looked like he was taking studious mental notes while Johnson schooled him off to one side.)
Yet the ages and professions represented at the $500-a-plate dinner embraced a broader range of Central Texans than one might have expected. And the auction art: No dowdy bluebonnets on offer. Lots of exquisite, nature-inspired paintings, sculptures, prints, etc., but nothing that would look out of place in the finest galleries or museums.
We talked with scientists, architects, lawyers, techies, the owner of a collision repair service who'd recently moved his family here from Mexico City, members of families mantled in ancient power and bubbling kids attending their first gala. We also met Ken Gladfish, new high-spirited director of the Austin Community Foundation, and Becky Beaver, who has urged the center in admirable new directions.
We sat between photographer Nancy Scanlan, always the pinnacle of good taste, who traced her relations with present friends through her native Beaumont and her introduction to Austin, St. Stephen's School; and Sharon Watkins, who told vivid anecdotes about her recent trip to France and the ideas she imported for Chez Zee, her Northwest Hills eatery which now seems virtually downtown.
Scanlan's companion, John Watson, told a delicious story about Hollywood star Anne Baxter despising Zachary Scott's old-fashioned mother while visiting Austin, and another about the neighborhood youths vying to swim with the shapely granddaughter of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and star of "All About Eve."
But the lasting change, clearly evident throughout the evening, was the ongoing and evolving seriousness of the center's mission: environmental sustainability. Not just packets of wildflower seeds distributed to bonnet-wearing gardeners — that's a stale stereotype anyway, sorry — but ambitious study and advocacy of ecological issues. I'm looking forward to the center's new arboretum and its continued work greening Austin, Texas and the nation.
Lady Bird, like the night, must have smiled.

Space Enhancement

The painting on the wall in this vignette of a window detail in a library in a commercial architect's project is one of mine. Although this is a simulation, I always like to see how my work is being used in different settings because once they leave my studio, the fate of most of my paintings remains unknown to me.

Auction

Enchanted Rocks I oil on linen 36" X 36" Chris De Dier

This painting was donated to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for their 2008 Wildflower Gala and Silent Auction, Friday May 2. This elegant garden party, where host tables cost $5,000 to $25,000, is the Center's major annual fundraising event with proceeds benefiting the education and research programs underway at the center. This is the second year I have been asked to participate. Last year during the Afternoon Salon & Exhibition, which is basically a reception to thank the artists he day before the Gala, I had the privilege to be introduced to Luci Baines Johnson. It is also a great opportunity to chat with the other artists.

This painting is one of a new series that I am currently working on, all relating to the Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, TX. There may be a future exhibition with a number of these paintings but I have not decided until the series is closer to be finished.

Winter

February is my least favorite month of the year. I am tired of the winter already and can't wait for warmer days. A time when I do not mind turning into a hermit for a while and totally concentrate on painting. I started working on a new series and plan to inaugurate them with an open studio reception later, maybe in April or May. Two large paintings are finished already and several others are well underway. I am quite excited about it, not thinking about anything else for the moment, hence why there are less frequent posts to this blog. Below, I am in my studio playing with my devoted mate Paolo, during a relaxing moment.
Now back to work.

Adios La Esmeralda

The link Vacation Rental on the Arris Studio website has disappeared last week. Villa La Esmeralda is no longer available. It has been sold. Here is a last look on a project that I have fully enjoyed working on and hope to be able to repeat in the near future. For before and after pictures, go to Arris Style.

Windswept Coast

In this painting the canvas is divided in two areas split along the horizontal middle. The top half shows bands of clouds obscuring the sun, the bottom half is a windswept beach. On the distant horizon are a row of buildings and a pier leading into the receding sea.

Coast oil on linen 36" X 36" Chris De Dier