A Laughing Matter: Escapist Art “Well Tempered Chair” (1986), made from four sheets of stainless steel. © Vitra Design Museum An explosion of sheer exuberance greets visitors to the Centre Pompidou’s new show of designer Ron Arad’s work: exuberant swooping … Read More
Going to the Dogs You won’t find anything else quite like it in Paris. Casting around on the Web for a hook to get this piece going, I came across a 1957 photo of Au Chien qui Fume (“The Smoking … Read More
The Wine Price Is Right A vast choice of wine to go with your meal. Lavinia is a large, upmarket wine supermarket with an upstairs restaurant that opens six days a week for lunch and occasionally in the evening when … Read More
No TimeLike the Future “Architectonique Picturale à la Planche Jaune” (1916) by Ljubov Popova. At a time when Russian art is at the center of a storm of censorship – as incredible as it may seem, in October French customs … Read More
Serious Series “The Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Weimar II” (2004) by Cadida Höfer. © ADAGP, Paris 2008 The walls of Paris museums and galleries are plastered with photos during the biannual Mois de la Photo (Oct. 27-Nov. 30), a month-long … Read More
Provincial Comfort in Paris A quiet, comfy setting for a thoroughly unpretentious taste of classic French cuisine. It’s been a busy week on the food front – that’s what happens when you have houseguests – with return visits to Ze … Read More
If you were to pay a flying visit to Paris, eat at Le Dôme and then jet off to your next destination, you might start to harbor doubts about the global reputation for surly behavior that attaches to French restaurant … Read More
The Art of Capitalism An intruder in the bank vault. Photo: Claude Lévêque. Courtesy the artist and Kamel Mennour, Paris. © ADGAP The northern French city of Béthune has come up with a great idea for making use of empty … Read More
Pizza Party Pooper The Lu Lioni came with Italian sausage and red peppers. Reader reaction posted Oct. 31, 2008 Last week I took some time out for a long weekend in Florence to visit a friend who is soon to … Read More
Riffing on the Masters Picasso’s “Still Life with Sheep’s Head” (below, © Succession Picasso, 2008) interprets the incredible pathos of Goya’s original with rather less subtlety but plenty of drama. Yes, of course, Picasso was a genius, but there is … Read More
