France Magazine #89 - Spring 2009 by France Magazine

the best of culture, tr avel & art de vivre

Spr ing 2 0 0 9

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No.89

Art Deco’s BOLD BIJOUX

L’Heure de L’APERO!

Calais’s Lust for LACE

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Spring 2009

features

departments

26 Bold Bijoux

5 The f: section

For the first time ever, Art Deco’s most avant-garde jewels are showcased in Paris by Sara Romano

36 A Lust for Lace Calais inaugurates a new museum celebrating the city’s famous Leavers lace by Amy Serafin

Culture, Livres, Bon Voyage, Nouveautés, Sons & Images edited by Melissa Omerberg

20 Délices & Saveurs The Bourgeois Kitchen by Renée Schettler

22 Musique Going for Baroque by Roland Flamini

46 L’Apéro!

Basil Childers

Refreshing Lillet, bittersweet Suze, decadent absinthe… France’s traditional aperitifs are so retro they’re nouveau by Renée Schettler

58 Calendrier French Cultural Events in North America by Tracy Kendrick

64 Temps Modernes Doubting Descartes by Michel Faure

• New York’s RIOULT dance

company performing “Views of the Fleeting World.” See Calendrier, page 60.

Dear Readers, Now that this issue is ready to go to print, I can only say that my subconscious must have been at work here. Like you, I have heard over and over again that the economic crisis has people retreating to the familiar and the comfortable, but I certainly hadn’t thought that I was one of them. Yet looking at these pages, I see that I have done just that, putting together a collection of articles about bourgeois cooking, Baroque music, Art Deco jewelry and even charmingly retro aperitifs! Typically, our issues are conceived and commissioned as a whole; this one, for various reasons, took shape in fits and starts, with articles postponed or cancelled and others added along the way. The big picture became clear only late in the process. Yet while the final lineup was not a conscious effort to escape the present, I have to admit that we very much enjoyed telling all of these wonderful stories, and we hope that they will be an oasis of pleasure for you, too. An alfresco aperitif is a •delicious beginning to a leisurely That said, culture can be much more than summer dinner with friends. Story page 46; photo Jacques a refuge in times such as these. We may need a Guillard/SCOPE. little comfort, but we also need inspiration and motivation, the kind of exhilarated resolve to reach higher, think differently and do more that comes from being exposed to artists whose talent and dogged determination have lifted them to the top. Their excellence and creativity—regardless of whether it is in painting, dance, film, design, music or some other field—somehow always wears off on us, if only just a little. And with roots that extend so far back in time, culture can also give us perspective—something we could all use a little more of these days. I was thinking about all of this as I read a piece in The Wall Street Journal reporting that about 10,000 arts organizations—10 percent of the U.S. total—are at risk of folding. Many have already been shuttered, and even such august institutions as The Metropolitan Museum of Art are cutting staff. These losses send ripples through the community—the nonprofit lobbying group Americans for the Arts estimates that cultural institutions generate $166.2 billion in annual economic activity for surrounding areas through spending by visitors attending exhibitions and performances. All of which has me wondering: Has there ever been a time when patrons and cultural organizations needed one another more? Karen Taylor

Editor 2

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

France magazine Editor Karen Taylor

Senior Editor/Web Editor Melissa Omerberg

Associate Editor RACHEL BEAMER

Copy Editor lisa olson

Proofreader steve moyer

Art Director todd albertson

Production Manager Associate Art Director/Webmaster patrick nazer

Contributors MIchel faure, now

retired from L’Express, is pursuing a variety of journalistic ventures • ROLAND FLAMINI was for many years a Time Magazine correspondent; he now writes a foreign policy column for the Washingtonbased CQ Weekly and is a frequent contributor to France Magazine • TRACY KENDRICK is a freelance journalist who often writes about French culture • Sara romano covers French cultural topics for a number of publications • RENEE SCHETTLER is a freelance writer with a special interest in food; she has worked as editor and writer at Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and The Washington Post • AMY SERAFIN, formerly editor of WHERE Paris, is a Paris-based freelance journalist who has contributed to The New York Times, National Public Radio, Departures and other media.

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Photo credits

Bold Bijoux pp. 26-27: private collection, new york ; pp. 28-29: arts décoratifs /paris ; pp.

30-31:

courtesy of the brant foundation /© laurent sully jaulmes, musée des arts

décoratifs / paris, private collection, private collection / paris, the toledo museum of arts / toledo, musée de l’avalonnais ; pp.

32-33: collection van cleef & arpels, paris ; pp. 34-35: siegelson, new york. © gérard blot/rmn, cidm calais, © a . deswarte /agence moatti rivière ; pp. 40-41: dior, noyon, © f. kleinefenn ; pp. 42-43: © f. kleinefenn, agence moatti rivière ; pp. 44-45: solstiss, cidm calais, baccarat. L’Apéro! pp. 46-47: ©j. guillard /scope; pp. 48-49: thomas shoepke/plant-pictures.de, ©j. guillard /scope, ©rogerviollet; pp. 50-51: museo nacional centro de arte reina sofía /madrid, getty images, © roberto anguita , elena elisseeva, kalalo, comugnero silvana, danielle bonardelle /fotolia.com, cusenier- caves byrrh ; pp. 52-53: noilly prat, © max tactic, monkey business, marina moskovich /fotolia.com, © j. guillard /scope ; pp. 54-55: 2007 getty images, courtesy of international poster gallery, maison 140, © monkey business, uros petrovic /fotolia.com, © corbis ; pp. 56-57: lillet, ©stockmaker, elke dennis, jurgita mozuraite /fotolia.com, cusenier- caves byrrh, u.s. department of agriculture, alocolobo /webshots.com, © nutsonline. Lust for Lace pp. 36-37: mars productions inc., studio harcourt; pp. 38-39:

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

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magazıne

f • “Collapse in a

Garden” (1995) is a highlight of the David LaChapelle retrospective at the Hôtel de la Monnaie.

Edited by melissa omerberg

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Culture

Paris & the provinces • Johannes

exhibits

works and a selection of archival materials. Through May 24; mam.paris.fr.

paris

Dream Factory Giorgio De Chirico—the inventor of “metaphysical painting”—moved to Paris in 1911 and soon become part of the circle comprising Guillaume Apollinaire, Picasso, André Derain, Max Jacob, Georges Braque and Francis Picabia. In the early 1920s, his oneiric, subtly incongruous work won him the admiration of the Surrealists (until his fallingout with André Breton). Giorgio De Chirico 1888-1979: La fabrique de rêves, a major retrospective at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, traces the artist’s entire career through 170 paintings, sculptures, graphic

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

David LaChapelle The Monnaie de Paris presents David LaChapelle, the largest French retrospective ever devoted to the famous American photographer/video director. In addition to his best-known works—celebrity portraits and images that ponder the perversities of popular culture or Hollywood—are a recent series of scenes such as “Deluge,” inspired by Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The show also marks the European debut of LaChapelle’s 2008 “Auguries of Innocence” collection, inspired by William Blake. Through May 31; monnaiedeparis.fr/musee.

La Force de l’Art A triennial event showcasing France’s contemporary art scene, La Force de l’Art 02 is being held this year in the nave of the Grand Palais. Visitors traverse a series of “space/time” zones featuring a diverse array of environments, art works and live performances; the core is “White Geology,” an original work by architect Philippe Rahm featuring a series of upthrust white tectonic plates projecting from the floor of the nave. April 24 through June 1; laforcedelart.fr. Double Vision Artists eager to explore the limits of painting have long been fascinated by optical illusions and visual puzzles. The Grand Palais now

courtesy of Rijksmuseum, A mster da m

Bosboom’s “Rouen, le quai de Paris” is part of “Voyages pittoresques: Normandie 1820-2009.”

presents an entire show devoted to these eyeteasers. Une image peut en cacher une autre: Arcimboldo, Dalí, Raetz features 250 works from different countries and periods incorporating composite, reversible or multiple images; some were intended to deliver a moral, symbolic, religious, political or sexual message, while others were probably made just for fun. Through June 7; grandpalais.fr.

anglais, a comprehensive retrospective that includes some 130 works from international museums and private collections. Through June 28; petitpalais.paris.fr.

Century of Jazz More than merely a musical revolution, jazz marked every aspect of 20th-century art and culture. Le Siècle de Jazz, at the Musée du Quai Branly, chronologically examines the influence of jazz on painting, photography, cinema, literature, graphic arts and even cartoons; the exhibit is accompanied by a series of musical performances and films, many of which are free. Through June 28; quaibranly.fr.

portes du Ciel”: visions du monde dans l’Egypte

m a r c r i b o u d ; © M a r t i n e B e c k- C o p p o l a / RMN

Art Deco Jewelry When goldsmith and jewelry designer Jean Després submitted his creations to the Paris Salon d’Automne in 1928, they were turned down on the grounds that they were “too modern.” It is precisely this “modernity” that is explored in Bijoux Art déco et Avant-garde: Jean Després et les bijoutiers modernes, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. The exhibit brings together more than 300 pieces of jewelry from the 1930s as well as photos and drawings, most from private collections. Through June 28; lesartsdecoratifs.fr. William Blake British poet and artist William Blake was a visionary—quite literally, having beheld his first vision at age four. Along with his masterful verse collections, he produced extraordinary engravings and watercolors, and invented a technique called relief etching that he used to illustrate many of his books, pamphlets and poems. Blake’s art is the focus of the Petit Palais’s William Blake (17571827): Le génie visionnaire du romantisme

• Louis XV’s crown

(1722) is one of the treasures displayed “Fastes de Cour,” in Versailles.

Gates of Heaven To ancient Egyptians, the doors of a tabernacle housing the statue of a divinity were known as “gates of heaven,” symbolizing the point of passage to another world. The Louvre’s “Les ancienne seeks to help visitors cross into a different world. The show examines 350 objects spanning three millennia, from the ancient empire to the Roman era, putting seemingly familiar objects into their proper social, religious and artistic contexts. Through June 29; louvre.fr.

Warhol’s World From the early 1960s until his death in 1987, Andy Warhol produced portraits of dozens of celebrities, friends and acquaintances, reviving the neglected genre of portraiture. He typically photographed his models with a Big Shot Polaroid, then painted and silk-screened the portraits. Le Grand Monde d’Andy Warhol: Les portraits, at the Grand Palais, offers an overview of this work, focusing on such themes as self-portraits, screen tests, Mao, disasters and “The Last Supper.” Through July 13; grandpalais.fr.

Marc Riboud’s poetic “Huangshan” is on view •in the Musée de la Vie Romantique.

moments, Marc Riboud has photographed everything from the pleasures of daily life to the horrors of war. Marc Riboud: L’instinct de l’instant, 50 ans de photographie, at the Musée de la Vie Romantique, presents 110 photographs by the 85-year-old photographer, including never-before-displayed variations on his famous “Painter of the Eiffel Tower” and “Girl With Flower,” shot in front of the Pentagon in 1967. Through July 26; vie-romantique.paris.fr.

Calder in Paris Alexander Calder is beloved in France, where his giant mobiles grace parks and town squares. In Alexander Calder: les années parisiennes (1926-1933), the Centre Pompidou takes a look at the early career of the American engineercum-artist, focusing on the sculptures and wire portraits he created before discovering the work of Mondrian—an encounter that led him to embrace abstraction. A workshop in the Galerie des Enfants is devoted to Ca lder’s fa mou s Circus film, with artsand-crafts programs available for youngsters. Through July 20; cnac-gp.fr.

Filippo and Filippino Prato was an important artistic center during the High Renaissance, thanks notably to the stylistic innovations of painter Filippo Lippi and his son, Filippino, during their stay in that Tuscan town. Known for their humanistic style, these superb colorists and gifted technicians influenced artists such as Luca Signorelli and Raffaelino del Garbo. Filippo et Filippino Lippi: La Renaissance à Prato, at the Musée du Luxembourg, focuses on the 14th to 16th centuries, with 60 works from Prato museums; the important role of sculpture is also highlighted in a special section devoted to private altars. Through August 2; museeduluxembourg.fr.

Marc Riboud Celebrated for his ability to capture fleeting

Kandinsky The completion of a catalogue raisonné as well as recent discoveries in Russia challenge

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Culture

Lille

Images and Subconscious This spring, Lille’s Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse presents a large-scale, interdisciplinary exhibit organized by the city’s Kandinsky’s “Komposition 8” (1923) is included in a major Musée d’Art Moderne •retrospective at the Centre Pompidou this spring and summer. (currently closed for renovations). Hypnos: Images the narrow view of Kandinsky as “merely” the et inconscients en Europe (1900/1949) explores inventor of pure abstraction. Kandinsky, a major the meeting between the subconscious and retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, revisits modernity through paintings, drawings, the oeuvre of this lawyer-turned-painter who sculptures, films and literature by a veritable saw the artist as prophet, and art as a spiritual Who’s Who of European artists. The show endeavor. The exhibit includes Kandinsky’s covers three themes: automatic writing and work with the Blue Rider, watercolors and “spirit” works; the influence of psychoanalysis; manuscripts from his “Russian” period, and the and the rise of totalitarianism. Through July Bauhaus portfolio produced for his birthday in 12; mamlm.fr. 1926. Through August 10; cnac-gp.fr. Normandy

Valadon and Utrillo Suzanne Valadon carved out a place for herself in the bohemian, male-dominated art world of late 19th-century Paris, posing for Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec and creating her own powerful work. She transmitted this passion to her son, the noted Impressionist Maurice Utrillo, who went on to become one of the most important exponents of the Paris School. Suzanne Valadon – Maurice Utrillo: Au tournant du siècle à Montmartre, at the Pinacothèque de

Paris, focuses on their creative dialogue before and after World War I. Through September 15; pinacotheque.com. Chartres

Gathering Light The Centre International du Vitrail examines the work of some 20 female glass artists from four continents in Capter la lumière: Femmes artistes-verriers du XXIe siècle. The exhibit comprises 60 diverse creations, from

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Picturesque Voyages Three Normandy museums join forces to present Voyages pittoresques: Normandie 18202009. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen focuses on the romantic period, with paintings, watercolors, drawings and engravings; the show illustrates in particular the important role that British artists played in chronicling the region. Le Havre’s Musée Malraux showcases landmarks and monuments captured in historic heliogravures and photographs. And the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen offers a contemporary view of Normandy in a photo exhibit of natural and industrial landscapes and cityscapes. A pass is available for the three shows. May 16 through Aug. 16; normandy-tourism.org.

color in nature, and particularly in the animal world. Chromamix 2: des pigments aux pixels at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporaine, examines pigments and the color choices artists make; the show brings together a wide array of works, from archeological shards to contemporary videos. Through September 27; musees-strasbourg.org. Versailles

Court Finery Court dress evolved as a symbolic language that visually conveyed the hierarchy of power. Fastes de Cour et cérémonies royales: Le Costume de Cour en Europe 1650-1800, at the Château de Versailles, chronicles the history of court dress in Europe, focusing on France’s influence from the mid-17th to the early 19th century. More than 200 items—apparel, jewels, paintings—associated with the Continent’s great monarchies will be on view in this scintillating show; many have never been exhibited outside their countries of origin. Through June 28; chateauversailles.fr.

backstage access Theater buffs who wonder how a show is put together now have a chance to go behind the scenes and check it out for themselves. Purple Beam is offering guided tours of some of Paris’s most venerable theaters, including the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Variétés, the Bouffes Parisiennes and the Comédie des Champs Elysées. One-and-a-half-hour visits include backstage areas, dressing rooms, the stage manager’s console, boxes and public areas, with guides offering tidbits on theater history and craft. €10 to €15; purplebeam.com.

Strasbourg

Color Codes Strasbourg offers a two-part look at color: Chromamix 1: du camouflage à la séduction,

at the Musée Zoologique, explores the role of

The Théâtre • du Châtelet.

S o l o m o n R . G u gg e n h e i m M u s e u m , N e w Y o r k / S o l o m o n R . G u gg e n h e i m F o u n d i n g C o ll e c t i o n , b y g i f t / © A D A G P, Pa r i s 2 0 0 9

stained-glass windows to monumental sculptures to paintings and engravings on glass; varying tremendously in style, from the abstract to the highly figurative, they share vibrant colors and an extraordinary luminosity. Through August 1; centre-vitrail.org.

Culture

• This year’s International Garden Festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire showcases every aspect of color.

Color takes center stage at the cutting-edge yet crowd-pleasing 18th-annual Festival International des Jardins in Chaumont-sur-Loire. Though “Gardens of Color” may seem a conventional theme compared with those of years past (“Eroticism,” “Weeds” and “Chaos,” to name a few), don’t be fooled by the name: One of the featured participants is celebrity hair colorist Christophe Robin. Chaumont 2009 promises to be a provocative examination of the horticultural palette, touching on everything from color theory to symbolism to the vegetable sources of dyes and pigments. Moreover, this year’s participants have a new creative dimension to work with: For the first time, the gardens will be illuminated at night. Indeed, as indicated by its motto—“Venez piquer nos idées!” (Come steal our ideas!)—Chaumont has always been about innovation, be it conceptual, aesthetic or practical, with an emphasis on sustainability, recycling and other socio-cultural and environmental concerns. But wit and whimsy also play a prominent role in all this “avant-gardening”; last year’s festival included a jardin poubelle created with scraps from the other plots. This broad appeal explains why the event attracts more than 150,000 visitors annually. Participants are selected through a juried competition; this year, 20 made the cut from a pool of nearly 300 submissions. Other talents are also invited to let their horticultural imagination run wild. Among those offered carte blanche (or “carte verte” as it is termed here) this year are botanist Patrick Blanc, creator of the mur végétal, or vertical garden, incorporated most famously into the façade of Paris’s Musée du Quai Branly. April 29 through Oct. 18; chaumont-jardins.com.

By TRACY KENDRICK

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Clive Nichols

spotlight on... the Festival International des Jardins

Livres FRENCH STYLE AT HOME Inspiration from Charming Destinations by Sébastien Siraudeau

Author and photographer Siraudeau journeyed from Picardy to Provence in search of guesthouses offering the kind of design inspiration that visitors can apply to their own homes. As they say, it’s all about the mix—the chambres d’hôte featured in this very lovely volume range from farmhouses and mills to châteaux and townhouses; their personality-filled interiors combine vintage and modern, urban and rustic, sleek and traditional—often in the same establishment. Flammarion, $39.95.

MADE IN FRANCE

by Reed Darmon

This new collection celebrates the spirit of innovation, sophistication and wit that has long characterized the French graphic arts. The hundreds of images packed into this little book include movie, café and travel posters; book, magazine and album covers; advertisements for everything from electric clocks to salad oil; product packaging (Camembert, anyone?)—even such diverse items as postage stamps, currency and board games. Informative captions offer context. Chronicle Books, $14.95.

THE BELLY OF PARIS

by Emile Zola, translated by Mark Kurlansky

Le Ventre de Paris recounts the story of Florent Quenu, a wrongly accused convict who escapes from Devil’s Island and returns to Paris, where he becomes caught up in the political intrigue of the food market, Les Halles. Zola considered it one of his best works, although it never quite got its due. Now, with this new translation by prizewinning author Mark Kurlansky, American readers will have an opportunity to make their own judgment. Modern Library, $15.

PARISIAN HIDEAWAYS Exquisite Rooms in Enchanting Hotels

by Casey O’Brien Blondes, photographs by Béatrice Amagat

A compendium of some of the French capital’s most unique boutique hotels, this book is sure to satisfy travelers of both the active and armchair varieties. Selected for their authenticity, design flair and service, the hotels included in this lavishly photographed volume are grouped by theme: literary, historic, couture and so on. All family- or manager-owned and all boasting fewer than 100 good-sized rooms, they offer an impressive range of décors, from the minimalist to the baroque. Rizzoli, $39.95.

FRENCH INTERIORS The Art of Elegance

by Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery; photographs by Christina Vervitsioti-Missoffe

This exquisitely illustrated new coffee-table book offers an intimate look at nine of France’s most exclusive estates, whose proprietors include such big names as Hubert de Givenchy, Madeleine Castaing, Jacques Grange and the late Yves Saint Laurent. Stunning detail shots showcase fine china, intricate embroidery, gorgeous fabrics, antique furnishings and other design elements. The exterior spaces too are breathtaking, often featuring centuries-old gardens. Flammarion, $85.

EIFFEL’S TOWER by Jill Jonnes

Coinciding with the 120th anniversary of Paris’s most iconic landmark, this entertaining new work chronicles the tower’s storied beginnings: Constructed as the centerpiece of the 1889 Exposition Universelle, it was considered alternately monstrous or marvelous, depending on the viewer. This carefully researched book, which combines technological and social history with biography (and offers a lively account of the World’s Fair), paints a compelling portrait of Belle Epoque France. Viking, $27.95.

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Bon Voyage

Notes for the savvy traveler

SLEEPER HITS

DESTINATION LYON

• Hôtel Jules radiates contemporary chic. Just a tad boho, the newly renovated 101-

room establishment is all done up in warm tones of chocolate and cream. Rooms and junior suites boast all the amenities (Wi-Fi, LCD televisions and so on), and there’s also a fitness center and a cool bar where guests can grab their morning croissant or evening nightcap. From €175; specials available online. hoteljules.com

Devoted to the preservation of French architecture in France and in the U.S., the non-

• The très cool

Hôtel Jules boasts an extraordinary attention to detail.

profit French Heritage Society is offering “Lyon:

Timeless City, Enchanting Countryside”—an intimate tour of France’s gastronomical capital and its surrounding area. Participants will discover the hidden passageways and architectural treasures surmounting its lobby and its “Eiffelesque” staircase. This new four-star establishment—complete with two restaurants, nightclub, bar, private club, spa and gym—also boasts its own art collection, featuring Egyptian, African, pre-Columbian and Buddhist works. From €220; derbyhotels.com. • Helzear, a company that styles itself “a creator of Parisian moments,” offers guests the services of a grand hotel with the comforts of a private apartment. Its six flats on the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré are stylishly appointed and include fully equipped kitchens with Alessi tableware. From €235; helzear.com. ON LOCATION

The City of Light is a mecca for movie buffs—its romantic streets have served as a backdrop for flicks ranging from the moody Le Jour se lève to the whimsical Amélie. The Paris City Council is now making it easier than ever to trace the footsteps of iconic movie heroes—maps indicating shoot locations of famous films can be downloaded for free from its Web site (cinema.paris.fr). If you prefer to walk with the stars, try Soundwalk, whose guided tours of five neighborhoods, including Pigalle and Belleville, are narrated by glamorous vedettes such as Virginie Ledoyen (€10 each from soundwalk.com). Or if you’re dreaming of a leading role behind or in front of the camera, check out Hors Piste. The agency provides costumes, scripts and cameras, allowing cinéphiles to act out movie scenes—great for parties and A scene from Paris Je t’aime. team-building exercises (paris-horspiste.com).

•

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

of Le Vieux Lyon and will enjoy private tours, receptions and meals in the region’s most spectacular châteaux. June 8 through 11; frenchheritagesociety.org.

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courtesy of hôtel Jules ; unifr a nce

• Hôtel Banke embodies the Belle Epoque spirit, what with the crystal dome

Bon Voyage

Notes for the savvy traveler BEAUTY AND WELLNESS

• L’Occitane en Provence, the natural cosmetics brand that showcases the ingredients of Southern France, has opened its first Paris spa on rue de Sèvres (6th). In an atmosphere inspired by the Camargue region, guests enjoy a menu of services ranging from skin treatments to massages to reinvigorating herbal soaks. €35 to €175; occitane.com. • La Grée des Landes, Yves Rocher’s first ecohotel and spa—slated to open this spring—boasts green architecture (the hotel complex is carbon neutral) and a range of skin-care and wellness treatments incorporating organically grown herbs and other plants. From €85 to €170; yves-rocher. com/fr/aventure/la_gacilly/ecohotel.html • Hotel Amour, the über-trendy boutique hotel in the 9th arrondissement, is partnering with Kiehl’s to offer guests Beauty Room Service. Clients can have Kiehl’s products—in a kit specially designed by artist/co-owner André—sent up to their rooms along with breakfast, to make sure they get the day off to a good start. hotelamour.com

new •spaL’Occitane’s brings Provençal pampering to Paris.

This fall, the San Francisco-based company Two Bordelais is offering a new tour

guides

• The Best Vintage, Antique and Collectible Shops in Paris by Edith Pauly; photographs by Sandrine Alouf. Shopping for vintage items offers two benefits: bargains and uniqueness. And when the shops are as appealing and eclectic as the 60 or so featured in this handy little guide (due out in May), there’s a third attraction: fun. The Little Bookroom, $18.95. • Vintage Paris Couture: The French Woman’s Guide to Shopping by Jessica Clayton. The author narrowed down her

favorite Paris vintage clothing shops to about 100 for this great little guide aimed at fashionistas whose pockets aren’t as deep as their desires. Once you’ve found your treasure, you can take a break at one of the bistros or cafés suggested in the book. Universe, $22.50. • Guesthouses in France. Michelin brings its signature discernment to this invaluable compendium of B&Bs throughout France. The 330 charming establishments listed in this little book were taken from the company’s regional guides and include everything from stately manors to country farms. Michelin, $21.56.

of the Basque Country. An exploration of the area’s cultural heritage, it will give visitors an intimate view of the history, art, customs, food, countryside and villages that make the Basque Country so unique. Space is limited to eight guests. twobordelais.com

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

C o u r t e s i e s o f L' o cc i ta n e e n p r o v e n c e ; © pat 3 1 / FOTO L IA

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basquE ADVENTURe

Nouveautés

What’s in store

Cloud Nine Brittany’s ever inventive Bouroullec brothers have wowed the design world once again, this time with their Clouds for the Danish firm Kvadrat. The origami-like fabric tiles, which come in a variety of color combinations and can be arranged in any number of configurations, can be used as room dividers, wall art—the sky’s the limit. From €285; kvadratclouds.com.

Body Potions Diptyque, the French company celebrated for its candles and room fragrances, is branching out. Its new L’Art des soins line comprises five new body care products whose delicious scents are inspired by destinations around the Mediterranean basin, from Aleppo, Syria, to Cõrdoba, Spain. From $38; diptyqueparis.com.

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Winning Slots Known for its commitment to ethical labor conditions and eco-friendly practices, France-based Ekobo works closely with artisans in Vietnam to create attractive housewares from sustainable bamboo. Their latest creation: Modulo, a kitchen or bath organizer whose frame—available in two sizes and six colors—can be adjusted to suit one’s storage needs. €25 to €35; ekobo.org.

k va d r at; d r o i t s r É s e r v É s ; D IPTY Q UE ; e k o b o

Bright Ideas In 1922, Bernard-Albin Gras created a line of task-lamps for industrial settings and offices. Ergonomic and elegant, they were an immediate success, finding favor with such luminaries as Le Corbusier, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jacques Rulhmann, Eileen Gray and Georges Braque. Now, six models are being reissued by the French lighting company DCW Entreprises; it took 18 months of research to achieve the quality of the original Gras lamps—and they’re as sleek and contemporary as ever. From $660; lampegras.fr.

L i v F r i i s - l a r s e n ; b a cc a r at; I n d u s t r e a l ; L A FIAN C É E D U MEKON G ; © RATP / P r o m o m é t r o

IDEAS THAT STICK If you want to ensure your privacy while still allowing in plenty of natural light, Cocobohème has the solution. Its new Contrejour electrostatic window film, printed with delicate floral patterns, attaches easily to window panes or even shower doors. And if you decide you need a change, it’s just as simple to remove. €31.25; http://cocoboheme.blogspirit.com.

Industrial Chic

Eye Candy One of today’s hottest young international designers, Spain’s Jaime Hayon has created his first collection for Baccarat. Crystal Candy, which snagged a Coup de Coeur award at the prestigious Maison & Objet design fair, includes nine stunning limited-edition vases and jars. Smooth and multifaceted, transparent and jewel-toned, crystal and ceramic, they offer a playful celebration of color, texture and materials. baccarat.com

Conceived by the young French designers Ionna Vautrin and Guillaume Delvigne, these glass-and-wire Bovisa vases were inspired by industrial landscapes. The domed “fence,” which cleverly anchors the floral arrangement, evokes the shape of a gas storage tank. industreal.it Sweet Drinks Sporting the brilliant hues of India and East Asia, these handpainted metal tumblers from La Fiancée du Mékong will brighten up any table—and remind you that summer is right around the corner. In fact, they practically beg you to enjoy a refreshing glass of lemonade outside. Available in two sizes. From €7.90; lafianceedumekong.fr.

time to go Underground

Want to bring back that quintessential Paris souvenir? It’s hard to get much more Parisian than the Métro. Whether you’re in the market for Métro-ticket keychains, umbrellas printed with Paris Métro maps, books, stationery, refrigerator magnets or even aprons, you’re bound to find it at the Paris Rapid Transit Agency’s new boutique, Métro et Bus Paris, Objets du Patrimoine. It’s located—where else?—at the Châtelet-Les-Halles station, in the RER transfer hall. souvenirs-metro.fr Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

On Screen SUMMER HOURS

Three adult siblings whose lives have diverged on different continents must return to the family home in France after their mother’s death. Torn by their conflicting desires as well as their financial and personal needs, they undertake the difficult task of dividing her country estate and art collection. Juliette Jérémie Renier, Binoche, Charles Berling and Juliette Binoche and Charles Jérémie Renier star in this family Berling star in drama by versatile director and Summer Hours. screenwriter Olivier Assayas. Slated release: May 8. (IFC Films) SHALL WE KISS? Drawing its inspiration from the talky dramedies of Eric Rohmer and Woody Allen, director Emmanuel Mouret’s fourth feature is a love fable about the implications of a “simple kiss” (the film’s thesis being that there is no such thing). Emilie (Julie Gayet), a married designer who is fighting off her own desire for Gabriel (Michaël Cohen), narrates this cautionary tale of two friends whose lives go haywire after sharing an “innocent” kiss. Starring Virginie Ledoyen and Frédérique Bel. Slated release: April. (Music Box Films) PARIS 36 From director Christophe Barratier (Les Choristes), Paris 36 centers on the familylike community of Chansonia, a vaudeville-esque music hall that attempts a revival in the economically depressed spring of 1936. The film has something for everyone (romance, gangsters and a beautiful ingénue, to name a few), but it is the downtrodden stagehand Pigoil (Gérard Jugnot) who is its driving force. For Pigoil, the theater’s success is his only shot at steady employment and best means of regaining custody of his beloved son. Slated release: April 24. (Sony Pictures Classics) ballerina Five ballerinas from the Mariinsky Theatre (formerly the Kirov) share, through candid (and sometimes tearful) interviews and rehearsal footage, their unique professional challenges. From Alina Somova, a rising star who is just beginning her career, to veteran dancer Evgenya Obraztsova, who is attempting a comeback after an injury, director Bertrand Normand provides a meticulous look at the triumphs and pressures that these young ballerinas experience. In French, Russian and English with subtitles. Select screenings. (First Run Features)

•

Music L&O C’est un garçon

The premiere album from husband and wife duo Laure and Olivier Slabiak (cofounder of the klezmer gypsy group Les Yeux Noirs) blends jazz and French chanson with toe-tapping rhythms. Laure, a classically trained opera singer, provides delicately energetic vocals to a backdrop of instruments that range from a clarinet to a ukulele. (Elles et O / Anticraft)

Sebastien Tellier Sexuality

Sebastien Tellier gives free rein to his retro leanings on his aptly titled third release, Sexuality. This danceable mix of ’80s-inspired electronica showcases Tellier’s mastery of sound layering. Retailer American Apparel picked this album, which includes the song “Sexual Sportswear,” for an exclusive three-month run in its stores. (Record Makers)

new on dvd THE LAST METRO (1980) Catherine

Deneuve earned a César for her role as Marion Steiner, an actress who struggles to keep her Jewish husband safe and their theater running during the Occupation. Starring alongside Resistance-fighter Bernard Granger (a baby-faced Gérard Depardieu) in The Cherry Orchard, Marion wrestles with Nazi censors as well as her burgeoning feelings for Granger. (Criterion Collection) THE ROMANCE OF ASTREA AND CELADON (2007) Examining relationships

has been director Eric Rohmer’s passion for more than 50 years. Recently, he has veered away from Paris and French seaside towns, exploring his trademark themes through period pieces. Astrée et Celadon, based on the novel by Honoré d’Urfé and set in a mythical forest in 5th-century France, tells the story of a young couple driven apart by jealousy. (Koch Lorber) THE new world (2007) Etienne

Dhaene’s Le Nouveau Monde follows Lucie and Marion, a French lesbian couple whose relationship is turned upside-down by Lucie’s desire to have a baby. Part screwball comedy (as the pair interviews potential sperm donors), part intriguing drama (as they struggle with family reactions and their own evolving dynamic), the film is both entertaining and thought-provoking. (Casque d’Or) under the bombs (2008) As she

frantically searches throughout Lebanon for her son and sister, Zeina (Nada Abou Farhat) must rely on the help of a complete stranger, Tony (Georges Khabbaz), a cab driver. The two forge a growing friendship as they hunt for her loved ones in hospitals, convents and monasteries. Director Philippe Aractingi shot the movie in war-torn Lebanon in 2006, using professional actors only for the two principal roles; the rest of the cast is composed of actual journalists, refugees and local non-actors. (Film Movement)

Additional film and music reviews as well as sound clips are available on francemagazine.org.

By RACHEL BEAMER 18

Fr a nce • SPR ING 2009

Sons & Images

Délices & Saveurs

The Bourgeois Kitchen by Renée Schettler

produce is increasingly lauded as being tasty, healthy and eco-friendly.

Americans just back from a

trip to France often echo a common refrain— predictably enough, the subject is food. Not the overt drama of haute cuisine or molecular gastronomy, but the quiet goodness of home-style cooking that’s honest and straightforward but certainly not ordinary— unless you define ordinary as a crisp-skinned, moist roast hen au jus fragrant with thyme, or tender, earthy spring asparagus that tastes just as you’ve always suspected it ought to but were never quite certain. Among this cuisine’s distinguishing characteristics are its exquisitely simple flavors, its quietly understated eloquence and its ability to evoke a reassuring familiarity even as you taste it for the first time. As long as Americans have been experiencing it—usually in a cozy bistro or at someone’s home—we’ve been trying to recapture it. One who did so successfully is Alice Waters, founder of the award-winning Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley. Her culinary epiphany occurred while studying in Paris in 1965; the experience not only changed her life and shaped her career but has had a 20

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

profound influence on the way Americans eat and think about food. Although this particular genre of French fare is not complicated, it’s not easily defined either. Commonly referred to as la cuisine bourgeoise, it can be traced back to François Massailot’s Nouveau Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois, published in 1691, and François Menon’s Cuisinière Bourgeoise, which went into print half a century later. Written during an era famous for aristocratic excess, these tomes ref lected the growing need for meals that were far less lofty than those served to the ruling class yet no less noble. Wives typically presided over the kitchen during those unliberated times, so it was perhaps inevitable that la cuisine bourgeoise would also come to be known as la cuisine de bonne femme and even la cuisine de bonne maman. No matter what you call it, this style of cooking is not a slavish obedience to the lists of ingredients and instructions we’ve come to rely on as recipes. Nor can it be reduced to specific dishes—say, blanquette de veau or tarte tatin. Rather, it’s a holistic

eggs from hell The tenets of bourgeois cooking were especially suited to the difficult war years. In How to Cook a Wolf, M.F.K. Fisher proudly admits that her cuisine kept pace with “the ingenuity of the cook and the size of the purse.” For her, unadorned eggs spoke of a paucity of resources, so they were often quickly simmered in tomato sauce, served on dry toast with a smattering of Parmesan, if any was to be had, and cheekily dubbed oeufs d’en bas (“eggs from hell”).

©Dirk Houben / Fotolia .com

• Locally grown

way of thinking about food shopping, your supper options and those pesky leftovers. Recipes may still play a role, but so does a cook’s inherent know-how in three essential areas: a respect for seasonal ingredients, a sensibility for basic cooking techniques employed in the enhancement of said ingredients, and a thriftiness that silently pervades every gesture. Lulu Peyraud, the subject of Richard Olney’s Lulu’s Provençal Table, has long been regarded the doyenne of la cuisine bourgeoise. At 92, there is still an unfaltering rhythm to her cooking, which has always been inspired by frugality without ever appearing so. “Having raised a large family, I have learned a few culinary tricks; for example, to brown a lamb bone before putting it in a vegetable soup to cook. Or how to combine leftovers from a roast lamb with potatoes to make a stew, or those of a roast beef to make a daube. Each housewife can use her imagination and wits to make a good meal out of leftovers!” she says.

It’s an approach that embraces rather than begrudges the fact that an inevitable reality of day-to-day existence is feeding oneself and one’s family; it’s an appreciation of the fact that doing so can lend a pleasant rhythm to our lives. Michel Richard, chef and owner of Citronelle and Central in Washington, D.C., recalls his mother’s tactic for cooking for her family in rural France. She often started meals from scratch but shrewdly used only a single pot, elegantly reinventing, say, a small cut of meat as pot-au-feu merely by embellishing it with “cabbage and leeks and potatoes and whatever she found in her garden,” he recalls. “And it was delicious.” The f lavors had time to mingle, the pot required little if any tending, and there was minimal cleanup—a clever calculation on her part given that she had eight children. Everything was based on simplicity, health and economy. “It’s a kind of cooking that not only satiates your hunger but also feeds a set of values,” says Waters, pointing out that la cuisine bourgeoise is perfectly in keeping with sustainable agriculture. Lulu and Madame Richard may not have had preserving the planet in mind when they bought food only when it was in season, but they did know that it tasted the best and cost the least. “We really need to be more aware of what is available at farmers’ markets, of

• First published in 1691, this book was one of the earliest attempts to cater to the home cook.

what can be grown in a garden,” says Waters. “Instead, we buy food that is disconnected from its natural environment. We don’t know what’s in season. So we have to begin there.” Eating locally and seasonally are the cornerstones of her La Panisse Foundation; launched in 1996, it strives to teach children approaches to food that will “build a humane and sustainable future.” Like their predecessors, contemporary “bourgeois cooks” also value pleasing family and friends over impressing them. The point is not to wow with cleverness or the latest kitchen equipment but rather to share just how divine the simplest foods can be. Few do this better than Judith Rodgers, who spent

formative teen years under the tutelage of Jean Troisgros before working with Waters and eventually opening Zuni Café in San Francisco. Her cooking displays a mastery of technique, a respect for seasonal ingredients and, on occasion, a measure of casual whimsy. Her favorite dessert—“tender, ripe figs and sweet, fragrant raspberries” with whipped cream and honey allows ingredients to taste, quite simply, of themselves. She sees no need to interject herself into the equation. Mastering this manner of thinking, of cooking, of living requires little more than practice. And patience. “Every time you do it, you learn to do it better,” says Waters, who sees the basic tasks that she repeats daily in her kitchen, even washing lettuce, as pleasurable experiences, a meditation of sorts. With repetition comes mastery. After your hands and mind have committed a technique to memory, she says, then you can get really creative. It’s an ongoing exercise in practicality and artistry. And this labor of love is not all labor. As Rodgers explains in The Zuni Café Cookbook, meals eventually take a shape of their own, fashioned with wisdom and experience yet shaded with spontaneity. The cook, for his or her part, becomes graced by continual insights and surprises. The learning, it seems, just never stops.

bourgeois by the book There is no shortage of resources to help cooks immerse themselves in the culture of la cuisine bourgeoise. Some of the most inspiring are listed below.

courtesy of enzo M.

• Lulu’s Provençal Table by Richard Olney captures the time-honored culinary traditions of the South of France via the infallible instincts, uncomplicated recipes and spirited personality of Lulu Peyraud, proprietress of Domaine Tempier in Bandol. (Ten Speed Press, 2002; originally published in 1994)

• La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. SaintAnge: The Original Companion for French Home Cooking remains extraordinarily relevant

in spite of a few inevitable anachronisms—the original French version was published in 1927. Full of oldfashioned charm, it is often referred to as the French Joy of Cooking. (Ten Speed Press, 2005)

• The Complete Robuchon by—who else?— Joël Robuchon illustrates that not all great chefs lose sight of the essential skills and insights necessary for home cooking. (Knopf, 2008)

• How to Cook a Wolf, M.F.K. Fisher’s famous wartime essays, will expand one’s definition of dinner via economical, uncomplicated musings and recipes infused with the author’s characteristic grace, wisdom and wit. (North Point Press, 1988; originally published in 1942)

• The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution by Alice Waters reflects the author’s philosophy that cooking well rests primarily in quality ingredients and a few fundamentals. Clear, coherent and unpretentious, it ought to be considered a constant kitchen companion. (Clarkson Potter, 2007) • The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judith Rodgers is as much a treatise on technique as it is a compendium of recipes, with the author’s insights eloquently and expertly conveyed in her reassuring, nurturing voice. An engaging read, it also yields profoundly satisfying results for the cook. (W. W. Norton & Company, 2002)

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

â&#x20AC;˘ William Christie

leads his famous Arts Florissants ensemble in a performance on September 7, 2007, at Versaillesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapelle Royale. It was one of more than a hundred concerts held at the palace to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles.

Musique

Going for Baroque louis xiv’s beloved music has never been more popular by Roland Flamini

For years, visitors from around the world poured into Versailles to admire Louis XIV’s favorite palace and the geometric triumph of its gardens. At the Louvre, they saw magnificent art works and artifacts amassed by the longreigning monarch. What this dazzling picture of past splendors did not give them, however, was a sense of the central role that music played in the court of the Sun King. The powerful literary tradition in France

long obscured the fact that Louis XIV loved

music—François Couperin even wrote “Concerts Royaux” to be played in Louis XIV’s bed chamber. Yet for centuries, operas, dance music, ballets and other orchestral works by such masters of the French Baroque as Jean-Baptiste Lully, JeanPhilippe Rameau, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Marin Marais languished in silence in the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale. Few French music lovers who enjoyed Maurice Ravel’s tribute to Baroque music, “Le Tombeau de Couperin,” knew anything about Couperin—and fewer still had ever heard his music. Why this state of neglect? The dismissive explanations were usually that Baroque was too stiff, over-stylized, hellishly difficult to perform and—in the case of the operas— hugely expensive to mount. These arguments are not entirely without merit: 17th-century French opera productions called for elaborate scenery by master set designers such as the Galli da Babiena family, along with rich costumes, dance interludes and stage machinery for lowering the gods from the heavens

(hence the phrase “deus ex-machina”). In spite of the long odds, French Baroque has nonetheless made a comeback, not only in the broader context of recent widespread enthusiasm for classical music in general but as a welcome renascence in its own right. The gods and goddesses, the heroes and heroines, and the demons and shepherds that kept Louis XIV glued to his seat in Versailles are back onstage in elaborate opera productions, not only in France but in the United States (where many of them are being seen for the first time) and elsewhere. In addition, a stream of new recordings—where once there was a mere trickle—has made French Baroque music more accessible, widening its global audience. A pivotal figure in breathing new life into French Baroque music is an American musicologist, conductor and harpsichordist from Buffalo, New York: William Christie. A long-time French resident—and now a French citizen and an Officier in the Légion d’Honneur—Christie was teaching Baroque vocal repertoire at the Paris Conservatoire in 1979 when he formed a musical ensemble and named it Les Arts Florissants, after

a composition by Charpentier. The group quickly became known as consummate specialists of the French operatic repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, with equally distinguished excursions into Italian and English works. Christie acquired a reputation in musical circles as a martinet with his musicians, but his exacting standards clearly paid off. London’s The Independent has called the group’s playing “unutterably chic, sensitive and vivid throughout—almost tearprovokingly perfect.” Christie was first exposed to early French music by his mother, a choir director, who gave him music lessons. Yet he attributes his epiphany to his grandmother, who gave him a recording of Couperin’s organ music. “That blew my mind—it was one of the most extraordinary things I had ever heard,” he says. “Lights flashed, bells clanged, and I was in a different state.” In other words, he was hooked. In 1982, Les Arts Florissants staged the work for which they were named at the Palace of Versailles. The performance was not only a critical success but also seduced a new audience. Major recognition came five years later with the Paris Opera’s presentation of “Atys” by Lully, the man who defined French opera under Louis XIV (this particular work was the king’s favorite). Christie’s ambitious production of “Atys”—the first in France since 1760—established the French early music movement in the musical calendar. Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

• Founded in 1992 by harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques brings together singers and instrumentalists that are part of the “new Baroque

By the 1990s, Les Arts Florissants had built up an impressive repertoire of French Baroque productions, including Rameau’s “Hippolyte et Aricie,” his first and in many ways finest operatic work, and “Les Indes Galantes.” “Hippolyte” is Rameau’s re-working of “Phèdre”; “Les Indes Galantes” is more a show than an opera—a series of mini-spectacles set in faraway lands (Turkey, America) and conceived to have mind-boggling sets and costumes, not to mention very busy dance sequences. Whether Le Roi Soleil would recognize contemporary renditions of the operas of his day or merely find them vaguely familiar is open to question. The French Baroque movement strives for authenticity, basing productions on research of the 24

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

strictures and rules that initially governed the performances. For example, the peculiarities of period diction and the delicate, quivering French Baroque trill in the signing are Arts Florissants trademarks. Still, New York Times music critic John Rockwell, who was at the “Atys” premier in 1987, described it as “not so much a period 17th-century re-creation as a 20th-century fantasy about the 17th century (just as the opera itself is a 17th-century fantasy about classical antiquity).” Since 1987, the main quest for authenticity has been entrusted to the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, a governmentfunded research organization that rediscovers, restores and advances France’s musical heritage of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Aside from being the main publisher of French music scores, the Centre produces recordings, and anyone interested in a total immersion course in early French music could do worse than to acquire the Centre’s 20-CD collection, “200 Ans de Musique à Versailles,” released this year. But while authenticity is important, what matters most is that French Baroque music has made a comeback and recaptured public attention. “The challenge,” commented Le Monde back in 2007, “was to prove that Baroque music was for everyone.” By then, of course, that challenge had long since been successfully met. How else to explain the box office success of the 1991 film Tous le Matins du Monde—winner of seven French Césars—whose central character,

E r i c L a r r aya d ie u

generation.” Based in Paris, they perform internationally and have recorded for numerous labels.

Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, was a 17thcentury musician and composer so obscure that even his first name is unknown? Christie himself says, “I’ll put on my epitaph that I was able to convince a number of people for a number of years that there are as many great composers, and as many masterpieces in the 17th and 18th centuries as there are in the 19th and 20th. This came as a great surprise to a lot of people.” Early French music continues to be a modest-sized growth industry. Ensembles such as Christophe Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques in Paris and the Grenoble-based Les Musiciens du Louvre, founded in 1982 by resident director Marc Minkowski, are flourishing. Rousset, who juggles his own career as a distinguished solo harpsichodist, conducted Rameau’s “Zoroastre” at the Paris Opéra-Comique in March. Outside France there is, among others, the Washington, D.C.-based Opéra Lafayette, which earlier this year staged “Le Déserteur” by PierreAlexandre Monsigny, a late-18th-century composer but still not too distant from the French Baroque tradition. But the belle of Baroque is unquestionably Emmanuelle Haim, another harpsichordistturned-conductor of her own orchestra,

Le Concert d’Astrée. This past March, the petite Parisienne with the flamboyant, balletlike conducting style performed Rameau’s “Hippolyte” in Toulouse. Haim attributes her passion for Baroque to the decade she spent working as Christie’s assistant. “What he gave me above all was a love for French Baroque, especially after his Paris staging of “Atys,” which proved that a Lully opera could be a living dramatic experience. After that, I knew that I wanted to devote my life to Baroque music.” In a recent interview with BBC Music magazine, Haim said that Baroque opera— French or other—would be more widely played and therefore even more popular were it not for the additional expense of hiring a Baroque orchestra. “You cannot do Monteverdi or Rameau with a modern orchestra, but opera houses that can afford a Baroque orchestra are rare—it’s an extra expense on top of the regular orchestra.” But at least, she added, staging a French Baroque opera eliminates one major casting problem compared with Italian operas of the same period: The French never followed the widespread Italian practice of using castrati tenors—and there aren’t many of them around these days.

Best of Baroque • les arts Florissants If you missed William Christie and his ensemble (arts-florissants.com) at Zankel Hall (Julliard School of Music) on April 3, you may catch up with them at Paris’s Salle Pleyel on May 4 (sallepleyel.fr). This fall (Oct. 10 through Nov. 25), they will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a series of performances at London’s Barbican Theater; the program will focus on French Baroque religious music (barbican.org.uk).

• Les Talens Lyriques (lestalenslyriques. com) with conductor/harpsichordist Christophe Rousset will perform at the Cité de la Musique in Paris on May 16 (cite-musique.fr). This stylish Baroque group will also make a single appearance at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence on July 27 (festival-aix.com).

• Le Concert d’Astrée (leconcertdastree.fr) and its sparkling founder/conductor Emmanuelle Haim will perform in Berlin in December. Meanwhile, their most recent Virgin Records CD “Lamenti,” a compilation of heart-rending moments from Baroque operas, is outstanding if not exactly cheery. The recording features the incomparable French mezzo soprano Natalie Dessay and the equally impressive soprano Joyce DiDonato as soloists.

• To whet the appetite, there’s French operatic finger food on the Web. youtube, for example, has some amusing sequences from Les Arts Florissants’ production of “Les Indes Gallantes.”

music notes Constant added no new music, but the Baroque is not the only French music that is endrama has undergone some changes. Chijoying renewed interest. This season, the Chicago cago’s version of “La Tragédie” is set in Civil Opera is staging a new production of “La Tragédie War Spain of the late 1930s. Carmen is a de Carmen”—no, not Georges Bizet’s immortal chanteuse who smokes cigarettes but doesn’t opera but the 1980s deconstructionist unravelmake them; in the original, she works in a ing of the original by playwright and screenwriter cigarette factory. The most significant change Jean-Claude Carrière and two transplants: the is that Escamillo the bull fighter has become Romanian-born avant-garde composer Marius Escamillo the prize fighter, so the immortal Constant and the legendary theater director Peter “Toreador” song becomes more symbolic Brook, formerly British, now a French citizen. than specific. The “makeover” (to use a trendy television It’s one of the peculiarities of the music of word), which hasn’t been performed for some Spain that what many regard as the quintyears following its launch, retains only the four essential Spanish opera was written by a principals—Carmen, Don José, Escamillo and Frenchman, based on a novella by another Micaëla—and two small speaking parts. It Frenchman (Prosper Mérimée). But as Platt • Noah Stewart and Sandra Piques Eddy star as calls for a 15-member orchestra and a record points out, “The Spanish element is there, Don José and Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen, player, and rearranges the music so that familiar although it’s France looking at Spain.” “La Trawinner of the 1984 special Tony Award for arias are heard afresh and the famous overture gédie,” like the original, will be sung in French Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. becomes the finale. Stripped down to its bare with the spoken dialogue in English; the essentials—raw emotion, violence, a love triangle—“La Tragédie de Carmen” American cast (mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy, tenor Noah Stewart becomes, according to Chicago Opera conductor Alexander Platt, “the and baritone Michael Todd Simpson) are taking French lessons. “La ultimate work of music theater, with all the grandeur and essence of Carmen Tragédie de Carmen” will be performed at the Chicago Opera Theater on the opera without the spectacle and the unnecessary machinery.” May 2, 5, 10, 13 and 15. chicagooperatheater.org —RF

Liz L auren

the other carmen

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

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This dramatic bracelet (1934) by Suzanne Belperron incorporates all the edgiest Art Deco jewelry trends: geometric lines and a combination of diamonds, platinum and rock crystal. Franc e â&#x20AC;˘ sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

The photo at left shows Jean Després working in his studio in Avallon, Burgundy. Considered the most avant-garde jeweler of his day, Després created pieces that reflected his training as a silversmith, his experience designing aircraft engines and his passion for all things modern— Cubism, fast cars, technology. An iconoclast, he didn’t hesitate to use unconventional materials or surprising motifs.

World War I shook Europe to

its core. Twenty million people lost their lives in the conflict, and the years that followed saw a clear determination to break with everything and anything redolent of the past. “There was an air of renewal, a joie de vivre, a desire to leave behind the years of bloodshed and trench warfare,” says Laurence Mouillefarine, co-curator of “Bijoux Art déco et Avantgarde,” an exhibition of Art Deco jewelry

currently on view at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs. “People wanted to be bold in every way: in society, in sexuality, in the arts.” This collective mood made the 1920s a watershed moment in cultural history, with art, architecture and design simultaneously undergoing major upheavals. In the visual arts, Picasso and Braque burst on the scene, delivering choppy visions on canvas that looked like puzzles with ill-fitting pieces. Fernand Léger and the Futurists glorified the bolts, screws and wheels that delivered progress to millions via the factory floor. The decorative arts, too, experienced a revolution. In 1925, the Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes was the spontaneous start to a movement that, much later, took the exhibition’s name and became known as “Art Deco.” Originally intended to put arts and crafts in touch with industry, the Exposition turned out to be a festival of innovation and cross-fertilization. There were painters who designed jewelry, architects who

Jean Després Ring, 1937 Platinum, gold, diamonds, aquamarine.

made furniture, poster designers who crafted jewels, and jewelers who designed posters. What these gifted players sought above all else was to turn their back on the past; anyone who submitted a pastiche of existing styles was kept out. “The looks of yesterday— neo-Romantic, neo-Egyptian, neo-Byzantine, neo-Rococo—were over,” says Mouillefarine. “It was the end of all things ‘neo.’” The new inspiration was modernity itself: city life, cars, planes, sports, jazz. Curators from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art were among those who attended the Exposition, and they selected 400 objects for a show that toured major U.S. cities the following year. Wealthy Americans, meanwhile, were getting their

Jean Després Ring, 1930 From the “Bijoux Moteurs” collection; silver.

own introduction to Art Deco on the newly launched Ile de France, a chef d’oeuvre of French style. For the first time ever, an ocean liner was outfitted stem to stern with contemporary furnishings, and passengers were wild for the new look. Soon, Art Deco was cropping up on the sets of Hollywood movies, editors at Vogue and Vanity Fair were borrowing the look for their typography and layouts, and architects began producing such landmark designs as the Chrysler Building and Radio City Music Hall. This unbridled enthusiasm for the new underpinned what many consider to be the golden age of jewelry design, led by such maverick talents as Jean Després (1889-1980). “In the 1970s, Jean Després bequeathed some 30 pieces to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and we have long wanted to feature his work in an exhibit,” explains Marie-Laure Moreau, a spokesperson for the museum. “Then a couple of years ago, we learned that Melissa Gabardi’s book on Després was being translated

into French and English, and we knew the time was right. But we also wanted to show pieces by the other avant-garde jewelers of the day, so we expanded the show’s scope to include them as well.” Given the insane popularity of all things Art Deco in recent years, it is more than a little surprising to learn that these artistjewelers had never before been the subject of an exhibition. “They were not always as loved as they are today,” admits Moreau. “Probably because they were the most radical and abstract. You could say that they were to other Art Deco jewelers what Le Corbusier was to Ruhlmann.” The modern eye, however, has no trouble seeing the inspired beauty of these pieces. The exhibition includes more than 300 jewels (180 by Després), along with silver Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

Art Deco jewelry was large in scale, designed to stand out against the new streamlined fashions. Dresses with low waists, short hems and no sleeves created a demand for striking pendants, bracelets, brooches and rings. Only the most audacious and wealthy women, however, wore pieces such as the ones shown here. They identified their wearers as chic and elegant yet impossibly modern.

Jean DesprĂŠs Pendant, 1932 Silver, gold, lacquer, citrine.

Raymond Templier

Platinum, diamonds.

Ring, 1937

Cartier Bracelet, 1937-1939 “Bracelet Boule”; gold, silver.

Raymond Templier Brooch, 1930 Grey gold, platinum, enamel, diamonds.

André Léveillé Ring, 1925 Rock crystal, black enamel, diamonds, silver.

Jean Fouquet Brooch, 1925 White and yellow gold, onyx, lacquer, rock crystal, diamonds.

Jean Després Brooch, 1930 “Connecting Rod” from the “Bijoux Moteurs” collection; silver.

Jean Fouquet

Gold, topaz.

Ring, 1937

Raymond Templier Brooch, 1937 Platinum, diamonds, onyx, crystal.

Raymond Templier Brooch, 1925 Diamonds, platinum, enamel.

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& ION

g & in f ar s ee D gn CL S’S si n el De Va p o Ar ec D

NCT

FORM

Like the other venerable

jewelry houses in Paris, Van Cleef & Arpels, founded in 1906, has been steadily buying back its vintage pieces when they come on the market. Now rich with some 370 jewels, its private collection spans the company’s history. Almost half are from the 1920s and

’30s, and several of the most avant-garde designs from this period are currently on view in “Bijoux Art déco” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (its parent company, Richemont SA, is an exhibition sponsor). “Van Cleef didn’t abandon its floral motifs during that era,” says Catherine

Cariou, the company’s director of historic heritage. “But parallel to that, we also created several other collections that were exceptional contributions to the Art Deco movement. It was a time when a piece of jewelry was considered a work of art. Form followed function, with articulated bracelets and clips that could be worn either as brooches or as handbag closures.” In the 1930s, the house developed its signature serti mystérieux, or “invisible setting,” where gems are painstakingly shaped to fit into tiny grooves set closely together, leaving the metal mounting invisible. The technique was notably used in the famous “Boule” ring; made of rows of tightly packed rubies set in a platinum band, it has a sleek rounded shape that is as stunningly modern today as it was when it was unveiled in 1935. The invisible setting has remained part of the house’s design vocabulary, revisited as recently as 2000 to craft its “Clip Millénaire.” Other innovations of

the period were inspired by women’s changing lifestyles. Florence Jay Gould, wife of the American railroad builder Jay Gould, reputedly wandered into the store one day carrying a little tin box that contained her lighter, lipstick and powder. Charles Arpels had an idea: Why not create a slim, elegant box— set with precious gems, bien entendu—for exactly that purpose? The minaudière was born. Van Cleef & Arpels also picked up on cultural trends of the day. In 1931, the Colonial Exhibition sparked Europeans’ fascination with the Orient, and the jeweler responded with its “Chapeau Chinois” collection. Inspired by conical “coolie hats,” the design reduces this peasant headgear to its bare geometry, rendering the abstract shape in yellow gold. The necklace, bracelet, ring and earrings are all on view in “Bijoux Art déco”; that the set was re-created for the house’s 2004 collection—and proved a best seller—is the ultimate testimony to its timeless appeal. —SR

Van Cleef & Arpels Bracelet, 1931 From the “Chapeau Chinois” collection; gold.

More than half of the exhibit

tableware, drawings and other objects. In a clear departure from the sinuous organic forms of Art Nouveau, these brooches, bracelets, pendants and rings are rigorously geometric, often rectilinear. Designs from the early ’20s contrast translucent gemstones— diamonds, amethysts, citrines, aquamarines— with opaque onyx, jade, lapis lazuli and coral. This riot of color later gave way to a crisp black-and-white palette executed in onyx and diamonds, then to “white jewelry” composed of diamonds and white gold. Almost without exception, these pieces were so far ahead of their time that any fashionable 21st-century woman could slip them on and appear totally of the moment. 32

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consists of a retrospective of Després’s work. Jewelry historian and author Melissa Gabardi, one of the exhibition curators, is thrilled to see him getting the recognition he deserves. “I discovered Després when I was researching jewelry from the 1940s and ’50s—the moment I saw his work, I fell in love with it. He was very successful during his lifetime, but he had no children or students, so he was rather forgotten for a while.” Born in Avallon, Burgundy, Després showed an early talent for drawing. His parents decided to send their gifted 14-year-old son to Paris, where he could apprentice with a silversmith friend and study drawing. When he was old enough to enjoy Paris nightlife, he began hanging out at the Bateau-Lavoir, the famous artist haunt in Montmartre, where he met Modigliani, Picasso, Signac, De Chirico and Braque, who became a close friend. Like them, he craved the new and

untested. He became an admirer of Cubism and, like the Futurists, worshipped technology, fast cars and planes. During World War I, Després was recruited to design airplane engines, an experience that would later inform his designs with a revolutionary industrial aesthetic. He had intended to return to Paris after the war, but when his sister died, he decided to settle in Avallon to be close to his grieving mother. His parents had a small gift and jewelry shop that became the atelier where he would work throughout his life, producing both jewelry and silver tableware. “He still went to Paris frequently and kept up his relationships with friends, clients and the press,” says Gabardi. “He liked to say that he kept his notebook in Paris and his hammer in Avallon.” Initially, Després worked chiefly with silver,

Van Cleef & Arpels Ring, 1940 Yellow gold, platinum, sapphires.

enhancing it with onyx, coral, turquoise and lapis lazuli. He described his iconoclastic pieces as “rough and constructed, silversmith’s jewelry.” Their volumes contrasted sharply with the much flatter jewelry designs that had come before—when sculptor François Pompon closed his eyes and ran his fingers over one of Després’s jewels, he reputedly exclaimed, “Mais, mon petit, c’est de l’architecture!” Like other artists of his day, Després avidly experimented with new materials, notably working with artist Etienne Cournault to produce a series of “bijoux glaces,” or “ice jewelry.” Made of silver and glass, these pieces played with the effects of light and transparency. He also collaborated with artist Jean Mayodonto to produce his “bijoux céramiques,” which featured enameled ceramic medallions. But it is his “bijoux moteurs”

Van Cleef & Arpels Ring, 1935 “Bague Boule”; platinum, rubies.

that invariably elicit the most bemused reactions. Made in the 1930s, they include brooches in the shape of connecting rods and crankshafts, bracelets fashioned like camshafts and rings topped with engine gears. “He was always in the forefront of the avant-garde,” says Gabardi. “His was the kind of jewelry that appealed to critics, intellectuals, artists.” Admirers and clients included Josephine Baker, Jacques Doucet, Paul Signac, François Mauriac and Anatole France. Later, Andy Warhol became a collector, as did Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. Oddly enough, Després stayed

out of one movement that was key to the spread of Art Deco: the UAM, or Union des Artistes Modernes, a group formed in the 1920s that included several of his jeweler friends along with architect Mallet-Stevens, furniture designer Charlotte Perriand and some two dozen others.

The group had originally come together at the 1928 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, where Perriand, Djo-Bourgeois and René Herbst shared a booth to exhibit their furniture. For an added flourish, they adorned it with contemporary jewelry and silver tableware. The public and critics were so enthusiastic that the group applied for a bigger space the following year—and were turned down by the organizers for being too modern. The UAM movement was born of this rejection. Three of the founding members— Raymond Templier (1891-1968), Jean Fouquet (1899-1984) and Gérard Sandoz (1902-1995)—figure prominently in the exhibition. These artist-jewelers were friends of Després, and like him, they entered their work in the various salons and expositions. Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

Unlike their male counterparts, female jewelers of the Art Deco period preferred curved, rounded forms. There was nothing subtle about their jewelry—these were bijoux for liberated women who wanted bold statement pieces that could be seen from a distance. Bracelets such as the ones pictured here evoke the chunky cuffs so popular today.

Maison Boivin Bracelets, 1933 From the “Irradiante” collection; silver, mirror mosaic.

Templier, a fourth-generation joaillier, was enamored with symmetry. Nicknamed l’architecte du bijou, he created jewelry that played with contrasts of light and dark, black and white, shiny and matte. All of these elements are present in his masterful 1937 brooch: Exquisitely balanced, it is composed of two crystal semicircles slicing smoothly into horizontal onyx bars set with diamonds. Fouquet followed in the audacious footsteps of his father, whose Maison Fouquet had established a reputation for daring design during the Art Nouveau years. In 1931, he created a ball-bearings bracelet in chrome and ebony that was a modernist manifesto in and of itself. His bijoux were statement pieces meant to stand out against the streamlined fashions of the day. (“Tiny is detestable,” he once said.) 34

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And although Sandoz left the family jewelry business in 1931 to pursue a movie career, he too managed to leave a lasting mark on the profession. His creations display Cubist influences, strongly contrasting colors and a sculptural, monumental quality. In 1928, he fashioned a “Bague demi-globe” that looks as if it could have been designed by Sonia Delaunay; crafted with red and white enamel and eggshell, it is a bold intersection of triangles and concentric circles. The exhibition also presents the work of women jewelers Jeanne Boivin (1871-1959) and Suzanne Belperron (1900-1983). Unlike their male counterparts, whose jewels were often like bas-reliefs, they preferred curved, rounded forms carved from rock crystal and agate, shapes that would influence jewelry in the 1940s and beyond. Boivin, who took over her husband’s jewelry shop after his death, designed rings and thick, curvy bracelets dotted with gems that could be mistaken for

the chunky cuff bracelets so popular today. Belperron, who worked for Boivin for a decade, is often called the JAR of her day. Notoriously reclusive, she obliged clients ranging from Elsa Schiaparelli, Diana Vreeland and Grace Kelly to come to her small Paris shop for private “fittings.” The curators have also included some of the most avant-garde Art Deco designs from Paris’s famous grandes maisons: Boucheron, Cartier, Mauboussin and Van Cleef & Arpels (see sidebar, page 32). Cartier’s “Bracelet Boules” (1937-1939) is a veritable ode to the Machine Age: Rows of what look like gold ball bearings are set in a silver bangle with notched edges that evoke gear teeth.

Suzanne Belperron Bracelet, 1935-1936 Smoked quartz, cabochon sapphires, gold.

A After World War II, the public

shunned Art Deco along with other prewar artistic movements such as Bauhaus, which were associated with the rise of fascism and Nazi Germany. “The straight lines, the right angles, the rigorous designs were all characteristic of the 1930s, and after the war, no one

wanted them anymore,” says Mouillefarine. “In hard times, people often want softer forms; there’s a return to the figurative, to nature, to flower bouquets and little birds on tree branches.” But Art Deco would not remain in the shadows for long. In the 1960s, jewelry and furniture began cropping up in Paris flea markets, attracting such tastemakers as Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton. At the time, Art Deco went for a song; then the trend began to catch on among the glitterati, and prices gradually escalated to the peaks seen recently. “There is a taste nowadays for simple forms, for design, for contemporary art,” explains Mouillefarine, “and Art Deco works very well with all that. It’s very chic. Moreover, the quality of the workmanship is exceptional. In those days, labor costs were low, and it didn’t matter how long a worker spent on a piece— even if it was 100 hours or more.”

In spite of her own passion for this period, Mouillefarine points out that no trend lasts forever. “Fashion and taste are constantly being renewed,” she observes. “One day, people will want to go back to floral motifs.” This stunning exhibit, however, f may well make them reconsider. “Bijoux Art déco et Avant-garde: Jean Després et les bijoutiers modernes” runs through July 12, 2009, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, 1er, Paris. Tel. 33/1-44-55-57-50; lesartsdecoratifs.fr. In 2010, the exhibit will travel to The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture; 18 West 86th Street, New York, NY 10024. Tel. 212/501-3000; bgc.bard.edu. Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

F r a n ce â&#x20AC;˘ s p r i n g

For nearly two centuries, Calais has been synonymous with lace. This spring, the city proudly inaugurates a new museum celebrating its exquisite dentelle. By Amy Serafin

_Calais lace stars in both Chantal Thomass’s luxurious lingerie and Shu Uemura’s show-stopping false eyelashes. _ Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

ace is a game of peek-a-boo, covering and exposing, full of contradictions. Sew it onto a pair of panties, and it’s seductive. Lay it on top of a piano, and it’s fussy. In black, it evokes erotica or mourning; in white, wedding gowns. It has decorated bishops’ albs and courtesans’ frocks. All of this and more is presented at the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode in Calais, a new museum where head. (Legend has it that Queen Marguerite de Navarre couldn’t visitors also learn that this reach around her ruff to feed herself, so special eating utensils most delicate of fabrics were made for her.) When long is made on massive iron wigs came into vogue, ruffs disappeared, giving way to lace cravats, machines operated by burly shirt ruffles and headdresses. Bemen with blackened hands. cause French dentelle could not Originally, lace was made by hand—female hands, to be precise. Needle lace goes back to a 15th-century Italian technique called reticella, which involved removing threads from fabric to create a see-through effect. This was the precursor of punto in aria (“stitch in air”), considered the first true lace. Catherine de Medici introduced the fabric to the French, who named it dentelle for the tiny teeth around the edges. About the same time, bobbin lace was developing in Flanders, where women used wood or bone spools to intertwine threads. The material was as expensive as gold, and Europe’s aristocracy couldn’t get enough of it. Originally both sexes (and even children) wore it the same way: as stiff cuffs and the Renaissance ruff, a sort of neck ruffle. They eventually became so large that they prompted comparisons to the platter under John the Baptist’s 38

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_Right: Rich with some 30,000 samples, the new Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode highlights the entire history of lace. The locally produced Leavers lace occupies pride of place in the museum. Top: A 17th-century engraving showing a collar made of handmade lace. Above: Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain (1602-1644) wearing the immensely popular lace ruff._

compete with superior products from Italy and Flanders, most of the lace worn in France was imported. Louis XIV’s finance minister, JeanBaptiste Colbert, propped up the local industry by imposing heavy import taxes, bringing in Venetian lace-makers to train the French and establishing royal workshops in cities such as Alençon and Sedan. Court etiquette made it obligatory for Versailles’s nobility to wear this royal lace, called point de France, despite its hefty price tag. When the Revolution broke out, lace abruptly went out of fashion, then came back into style under Napoleon. Hand weaving was a slow process for both lace and simpler tulle, which was in great demand as mosquito netting for the colonies. The English, leaders of the Industrial Revolution, sought a machine-made alternative. Various inventors updated the frame for knitting silk and

wool stockings devised by William Lee in the 16th century and were able to make open-looped fabrics such as mesh. Then in 1809, John Heathcoat of Nottingham patented a machine using a system of bobbins and chariots, still at the heart of today’s technology. Shortly afterward, John Lever created a similar, better functioning loom that became known as the Leavers machine. Both looms made basic tulle netting upon which craftswomen hand-embroidered lace designs. The British forbade exportation of the looms under penalty of banishment or death. But French taxes on imported cotton and lace were so high that some risked their lives to set up shop across the Channel. (Luddite attacks on Nottingham factories also encouraged the English to relocate.) In 1816, a certain Robert Webster and a couple of accomplices broke down a wooden loom and hired smugglers to ship the pieces across the narrowest part of the Channel, to Calais, where they started a clandestine workshop in the adjacent town of Saint-Pierre-les-Calais. At the time, Calais was a small, relatively unimportant walled city with no textile production to speak of, despite its location in a region where the industry flourished. Napoleon had imposed his Continental Blockade against England, so Calais’s port was quiet, though its proximity to Dover made it a favorite site for trafficking. But by the 1820s, trade restrictions were relaxed, and the tulle industry flourished in Calais and Saint-Pierre, which at the time was a rural area with lots of space for new factories.

In the 1830s, British engineers revolutionized the Leavers loom by attaching a Jacquard mechanism; a technology based on the street organ, it uses perforated cards to program intricate patterns. The adapted Leavers could produce not only tulle but real lace, practically indistinguishable from the handmade version but less expensive and with vast design possibilities. Within a decade, steam power was introduced; the machines grew bigger and faster, and lace became affordable to a larger clientele. By 1910, some 40,000 people in Calais and Saint-Pierre—about half the population—worked in the lace business. It was the coup de grâce for handmade lace. Calais enjoyed this golden era until WWI, then thrived again between the wars. Lace decorated dresses and lingerie throughout the 1920s and ’30s with motifs ranging from ancient Greece to the latest

Marguerite de Navarre couldn’t reach around Her ruff to feed herself, so special eating utensils were made for her.

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_Opposite page: France’s haute couture industry has long relied on Calais to provide lace worthy of its designs. This Dior dress evoking Delft porcelain (Spring/Summer 2008) required more than 2,000 yards of Leavers lace ribbon. Left: Although made by machine, Leavers lace involves many skilled workers, including draftsmen and spoolers. Right: Spools feed a machine making lace ribbon._

Art Deco designs. It wasn’t until the postwar period, however, that Calais became largely associated with lingerie, a result of the move away from binding corsets and the invention of elasthane, which made it more comfortable to wear lace against the skin. Today, bras and underwear are still Calais’s economic foundation. In May 1940, German bombs destroyed Calais’s historic center, including the Beaux-Arts museum, where the city’s lace-making heritage was on display. All that survived were the régistres d’échantillons, the books of manufacturers’ lace samples going back to 1838, which were stored elsewhere. After the war, the city slowly amassed a new collection that was displayed in the municipal museum. But the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode is its first institution devoted solely to the business that put it on the map. Curator Martine Fosse says that it’s about time. “The people of Calais have wanted a lace museum for as long as the industry has been here.”

With its high concentration of postwar buildings, Calais

won’t win any beauty contests, but the people live up to their friendly reputation, recently made famous in the hit film Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis. It’s right by the sea, and when the sky is clear, you can see the famous white cliffs of Dover. Calais’s identity is inextricably linked to England, from the arrival of the Leavers looms to its current notoriety as a squatting place for Third World immigrants hoping to cross the Channel. Long a place of passage, the city now has a nearby TGV station and ferry terminal, and the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode hopes to attract some of the 30 million people who travel through here every year on their way to somewhere else. The 84,000-square-foot museum occupies a handsome brick lace-making factory built in the 1870s and overlooking a canal in Saint-Pierre. One of the city’s two remaining steam-powered factories (there were once 50), it was in service until 2001. The Parisbased architecture firm Moatti et Rivière designed the museum, which joins the original building with a contemporary L-shaped addition. The base of the L is cantilevered, and the entire structure has a glass façade. “We searched to find glass the same shade of gray as the sky of Calais,” says Henri Rivière. Using silkscreen printing, they gave the glass a pattern of circles to imitate the holes in a Jacquard card, then molded it to curve outward and inward, suggesting the lines of a woman’s body. According to the architect, the typical construction budget for a museum with the status of Musée de France is €2,500 per square meter, yet this museum’s budget was a mere €1,700 per square meter, for a total of €15.8 million. Rivière explains that they offset the high cost of the new addition by leaving the old factory building close to its original state. They made changes, of course—such

Fashioning even the simpleST piece of Leavers lace involves nearly 40 different métiers— designers, drafters, spoolers....

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as enlarging the windows for more natural light—but there are still wood-plank floors, exposed-brick walls and enameled cast-iron columns that once piped in steam to power the looms. Rivière says they took an “archaeological” approach, keeping or referencing the factory’s scars. These include a concrete outline in the courtyard that marks the place where a small building once housed the steam engine that powered the entire operation. Then there are the four modern bow windows sticking out of the rear façade, recalling the historical practice of punching holes in the factory walls to make room for the ever-larger Leavers looms.

At the same time, the museum

It wasn’t until the postwar period, however, that Calais lace makers became largely associated with lingerie, a result of the move away from binding corsets.

has a very contemporary feel. Fluorescent tubes bathe the walls in primary colors, and near the entrance, there’s a shiny aluminum curtain made from a material that Paco Rabanne used for dresses. The building contains an auditorium for fashion shows, a boutique and a restaurant with an arresting contemporary chandelier constructed of fiber-optic glass and bobbins from Leavers machines. The permanent collection comprises five themes, starting with the history of handmade lace throughout Europe. Martine Fosse explains that this is important because Leavers lace is an “industry of imitation.” The second theme, the development of the industry in Calais and Saint-Pierre, includes the sample books that survived the war: an infinite variety of birds, flowers and geometric patterns are exhibited in a long glass case mounted on the wall. Nearby, a large three-dimensional model shows what the city looked like before the German bombing raids. The highlight of the museum is a demonstration of lace production on real Leavers machines. Visitors walk on a raised platform that holds four massive looms, some more than a century old. Some 20 feet long, each loom contains up to 5,000 bobbins and makes 8,000 movements per hour. Such machines haven’t been produced since the 1970s, and they never were standardized—a fact that Fosse finds 42

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_The museum’s collections highlight masterpieces of Calais lace, including a 1995 dress by Christian Lacroix (left), lingerie by Eva Rachline and Chantal Thomass (below) and a 19th-century parasol made of Chantilly-style Leavers lace (below left)._

almost incomprehensible. “If a piece breaks, you can’t just replace it with a part from another machine. You need the original mold, or you have to somehow adapt another piece to fit.” Flat bobbins in chariots glide rhythmically back and forth as the lace pattern gradually appears, the looms making a loud, low “chacalack, chacalack” sound, like an industrial “Boléro.” The rhythm is similar to that of a locomotive, and in earlier days, passersby could hear the machines from the street. In the next room, another Leavers loom stands in the position it would have occupied on the factory floor, amid a presentation of the different stages of lace-making. Fashioning even the most simple piece of Leavers lace involves nearly 40 different métiers—designers, drafters, spoolers, menders, inspectors—and labor represents the lion’s share of a factory’s costs.

_The new museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impressive glass faĂ§ade was inspired by the punch cards used to program Leavers machines._

For more than three decades, Solstiss has brought fresh thinking and innovative design to haute-couture lace.

The YEAR was 1974, and the world economy was in crisis. The lace industry’s woes were compounded by changing fashions: Women were burning their bras and wearing miniskirts. The Vatican, meanwhile, was no longer requiring veils at Mass. In the city of Caudry, 100 miles from Calais, four longstanding lace manufacturers decided the best way to survive was to pool their resources and create one company, called Solstiss. By 2002 their turnover had risen twentyfold. Today the four divisions still work out of their respective factories, on antique Leavers looms. One is known for its colors, another for 12 point (referring to the thread count), the third

for its variety of motifs, and the fourth for Chantilly, the most refined type of lace, light as a whisper. Unlike Calais, which specializes in lingerie, Caudry dominates the market for luxury ready-to-wear and hautecouture lace. Season after season, fashion houses from around the world pick out patterns from the company archives or from one of 450 new models Solstiss creates each year. Many designers come in with their own sketches, taking the material in new directions. Marie-Catherine Santerre, who works in sales and marketing, says, “When I joined Solstiss in the 1980s, lace had an old-fashioned image. We are lucky to have worked with designers who changed all that— Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Chantal Thomass.” According to Santerre, Gaultier was the first to try out radical ideas when the fabric was still synonymous with flowers. She pulls out a sample he designed about 15 years ago, a cowboy on a rearing stallion in gold metallic thread. For his own label and for Hermès, Gaultier has used eagles, boxers and an effect like body tattoos. He has also dipped into the company archives, selecting a 25-year-old Chantilly for Madonna’s last concert tour. Santerre holds up a sample, alongside a 2008 calendar. On the cover, the singer is onstage, her muscular arm showing through a pattern of black leaves. “It still looks very modern, doesn’t it?” she remarks. Her office is in the Paris showroom across from the Opéra Garnier, which is a client, as are the Comédie Française and costume designers for movies such as Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. About 90 percent of Solstiss’s production is exported. Americans have always been big fans

The aristocrats of this chain of production are the loom operators, or tullistes, men with hands blackened from the graphite used to lubricate the machines. They oversee the tension of the fibers, search constantly for flaws and leap into action if one of the 15,000 threads should break. It takes 10 years to master this profession, and tullistes are so highly respected they’re known as “Seigneurs de la dentelle,” or “Lords of Lace.” Another section of the museum is devoted to 20th-

and 21st-century fashions and the evolution of the aesthetics of lace. Mannequins in glass cases model couture dresses by Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, Christian Dior, Chanel and others. Fosse points out that it’s tricky to exhibit any kind of textile. “You’re showing two-dimensional objects, but they need to be seen in three dimensions, on mannequins, if they’re to make any sense. And yet if you’re not careful, visitors won’t see the fabric, they’ll see a cliché.” The museum is also intended to be a place to explore the future 44

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of lace, and in 1985 the company opened a New York outlet. Solstiss also sells to the general public, in particular to independent designers who use the online store to order bolts of lace (boutique.solstiss.com). There is also a Paris boutique adjacent to the showroom, which can be visited by appointment. Prices start at €25 per meter and go as high as €3,000 for an extravagant model embroidered with Swarovski crystals, tiny pearls and wispy pink feathers. Lace is undeniably a luxury product, and high-end designers invariably choose French dentelle over cheaper products from China or India. (“Couturiers always see the difference, even though the general public may not,” says Santerre, who admits that when she goes to weddings she is often dressed better than the bride.) However, haute couture represents only a small fraction of the company’s turnover, and globalization has taken its toll, with revenue dropping nearly a third last year. Nevertheless, Solstiss continues to innovate: It has collaborated with Baccarat to reproduce spiderweblike patterns on crystal carafes and glasses, and with Lancôme to create black Chantilly decorations that women can paste on their eyelids. As Santerre says, once you’re stuck on lace, it’s hard to let go. “The first time designers use it, they’re a little nervous, wondering what to do with something that seems so delicate. But when they see how distinctive it looks and how well it sells, they always come back for more.” —AS

MUSEUM Directors plan to invite artists and designers to try their hand with lace, hopefully leading to prototypes that can be produced on a limited scale.

_Above: Calais has always been in the forefront of lace design, as evidenced by this charming 1926 Art Deco pattern. Left and right:

the Solstiss company is known for its creative edge, collaborating with Baccarat on barware and fashioning lace with subtle color gradations._

of dentelle. Directors plan to invite artists and designers to try their hand with lace, hopefully leading to prototypes that can be produced on a limited scale. Past collaborations have resulted in a pasta strainer made of lacy red resin and tea bags with a honeycomb texture embroidered on the side. Visitors can also sign up for workshops similar to those held at the Beaux-Arts museum when it housed the city’s lace collection. One of those sessions was led by lingerie designer Chantal

Thomass, who helped people create their own simple lace tops. Fosse says that ideally, she would like to see the museum play a role in helping Calais’s lace industry adapt to future challenges. During the past five years, globalization has led to a severe decline in this labor-intensive business. There are fewer than 900 Leavers machines worldwide, and 80 percent of them are in the Nord-Pasde-Calais region. When a factory closes down, French lace makers try to buy the machines—even if they don’t need them—in order to keep them out of the hands of overseas competitors. Nonetheless, some looms have been acquired by factories in Asia, where lowpaid workers are gradually learning to operate them. Meanwhile, Leavers lace, with its complex motifs, textures and colors, is losing market share to inferior but cheaper products made on Textronic

and Jacquardtronic looms in Chinese factories. At its height, Calais counted 350 lace factories and workshops; today there are fewer than 10, two of them foreignowned. The biggest is Noyon, the world’s largest producer of dentelle de Calais, the lace made on Leavers machines. A family business created in 1919, Noyon has an annual turnover of €43 million, more than half from exports. It boasts the biggest portfolio of lingerie clients in the world, from mass market to top-of-the-line: Wonderbra, Playtex, Marks and Spencer, Victoria’s Secret, Eres, Aubade, Chanel, Dior…. But even Noyon, whose superior quality is uncontested, has been hit hard by foreign competition, the strong euro and now the economic crisis. This past October, the company went into receivership. Owner Olivier Noyon remains unbowed. “There is no question that we are the best when it comes to Leavers lace,” he said in a newspaper interview. “We will continue to develop collections that are increasingly tailored to our clients, and we will continue to educate them about the many qualities that set us apart from the competition.” As Martine Fosse points out, “The Pas-de-Calais and Picardy regions have relied on the textile business since the 13th century, and they have often had to adapt to change.” In the past century alone, French lace makers have survived two world wars, fashion trends from miniskirts to Lycra and numerous recessions. Currently they are working to stay competitive in a range of ways: computerizing the Leavers machines, introducing high-tech and organic fibers, and even acquiring overseas facilities. Although it may seem that Calais’s lace industry has become as fragile as the fabric itself, neither the city—nor its new museum—has any intention of becoming simply f a monument to the past. The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode opens on June 11, 2009. On May 4, 2009, Italian artist Maria Dompé will wrap the museum in 85 kilometers of blue and green lace, creating a weeklong installation called “Lace and the Sea.” Tel. 33/3-21-46-43-17 or 33/3-21-46-42-34. citedentelle.calais.fr Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

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LA ’ péro! When was the last time you had a Dubonnet on ice? A refreshing splash of Lillet? A bittersweet Suze or decadent absinthe? These traditional aperitifs are so retro they’re practically nouveau. With warm weather on the way, it’s a great time to indulge in the convivial heure de l’apéro. All you need is a chilled bottle, some glasses, ice cubes, good friends— and the background and tips you will find on the following pages.

By renée schettler

There is perhaps no better place to enjoy l’heure de l’apéro than in Provence, where lingering late-afternoon light, local olives and flavorful pastis set the stage for relaxed conversation.

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DeciDing which Drink to enjoy at the enD oF the Day is a

highly personal matter. Your choice—stiff or sweet, new or familiar—will be swayed by your mood, your palate, your companions. And your culture. While Americans may gather for happy hour cocktails, the French still enjoy the time-honored tradition of l’apéritif. “L’apéro is a gentle transition between a hectic work day and an evening with friends that has yet to unfold,” explains Jean-Pierre Xiradakis, owner of the renowned La Tupiña bistro in Bordeaux. “If l’apéro goes well and everyone has a good time, you can be pretty sure that the rest of the evening will be a success.”

The word apéritif is derived from the Latin aperire, which means “to open.” A true aperitif literally opens the palate and physically stimulates the appetite. France being France—that ungovernable nation of 365 cheeses that so frustrated De Gaulle—it has an aperitif culture that varies considerably from place to place. According to Gilles Pudlowski, one of the country’s leading restaurant critics, the aperitif of choice in Paris these days is a glass of white wine. “Or Champagne. We’re drinking a lot of Champagne to forget about the economic crisis,” he quips. The real reason, he says, is that the recent crackdown on drinking and driving has meant that people are choosing lighter drinks and indulging much less when they go out. France’s classic aperitifs—Dubonnet, Lillet, Ricard, even the wonderfully retro Suze—still have their fan base, however, especially in the provinces. Not surprisingly, the aperitif culture is strongest in the south of France, where a relaxed attitude, a Mediterranean climate and the ineffable quality of lateafternoon light conspire to create an ideal scenario for lingering, conversing, being. 48

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In Marseille, the slowly sipped pastis à la Pagnol remains a sacrosanct ritual. Aperitifs are only modestly intoxicating— around 18 percent alcohol—just enough to awaken the senses, not obscure them. And they are always served with something to nibble. Sarah Brown, an American who offers culinary vacations called A Week in Provence, has devoted a section of her cookbook to various aspects of aperitif culture. “Americans often serve cheese or pâté with drinks before dinner, but you never do that here,” she cautions. “They would clash with most aperitifs.” Better choices include nuts, Provençal olives, paper-thin slices of saucisson sec. There are even special biscuits apéritifs sold in grocery stores. “Or you can get fancy,” she says. “Tapenade, stuffed zucchini flowers, Gruyère cheese straws, that kind of thing.” While enjoying a nip before a meal may date from antiquity, aperitifs are generally traced back to the Middle Ages, when bitter concoctions of barks, seeds, roots and flowers were believed not only to facilitate digestion but to strengthen one’s constitution and ward off illness. These pungent curatives were commonly blended with wine

Originally herb-based tonics, aperitifs may now be any number of drinks enjoyed with friends before dinner. Above: A botanical print of fennel, an ingredient in pastis.

to enhance their palatability. In the late 18th century, early mixologists began to focus more on flavor, drawing inspiration from all manner of regional ingredients and eventually blurring the line between panacea and aperitif. Whether distilled from the roots of the gentian flower in the Auvergne, infused with anise in Provence or redolent of the noble wines of Bordeaux, these more refined renditions were all about taste. They became increasingly diverse, nuanced, even playful as modern transportation allowed access to such exotic ingredients as cane sugar from the West Indies, star anise via the Spice Route, cacao from the New World and citrus from Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and Haiti. These tippling tonics included wines fortified with liqueurs (Dubonnet, Lillet, Pineau des Charentes), wines flavored with aromatic botanicals (Amer Picon, vermouth) and herb-infused spirits (Suze, absinthe, pastis). Although producers knew these drinks were more libation than elixir, they still brazenly—and very successfully—marketed them as restoratives for body and soul. This early, unregulated age of alcohol advertising coincided with the Art Nouveau movement that swept across Europe in the early 1890s. Artist Jules Chéret promoted aperitifs in joyful posters featuring his trademark swoops, swirls and flourishes. “Those full-color, life-size advertisements were

Above: House aperitifs offered by Edouard Loubet at his two-star Bastide de Capelongue in Bonnieux. Right: Friends in Marseille enjoying a pastis in a scene from Pagnol’s Marius (1931).

unprecedented,” explains Jim Lapides, art historian and owner of the International Poster Gallery in Boston. “They drew a lot of attention and inspired an entire generation of poster artists.” Painter Leonetto Cappiello, known as the father of modern advertising, later produced simpler, sleeker images that not Below: Quinqui Noix, a only captivated wine-based aperitif from passersby on Paris’s southwestern France, is busy boulevards flavored with green walbut instilled in them nuts. Right: Sweetly pungent olives are the classic a memory of the apéro accompaniment. actual product— the beginning of branding. In more rural areas, aperitifs made their way into the public consciousness via immense roadside murals. The faded block letters spelling out Suze, Byrrh or Dubonnet remain visible on some buildings in the south of France today and are a perennial favorite with amateur photographers. A number of the names immortalized on those brick and plaster walls have long since disappeared from the market, however, and while the aperitif ritual endures, the traditional

brands no longer enjoy the trendy image they did a century ago. Sometimes, that is the very source of their appeal. A few years ago, Jean-Pierre Xiradakis revived the refreshing Bordeaux tradition of Blanc Limé, white wine laced with a splash of limonade. A sweetly tart reminder of the charm and sensibility to be found in a gently intoxicating sip, it is a throwback to an earlier era, packaged in an elongated bottle with vintage graphics. In Haute Provence, meanwhile, the Distilleries et Domaines de Provence carries on its century-old business of producing a broad range of aperitifs incorporating the medicinal herbs, fruits and other plants native to the region. The company won a gold medal for its pastis at the 2008 National Agricultural Competition, and it still sells its wares in a quaint little shop in the village of Forcalquier. None of which prevents hip London bartenders from showcasing its products in chic cocktails. In the United States, aperitifs are almost invariably served as accents in mixed drinks rather than straight. “The idea of enjoying

an aperitif on the rocks is alien to most Americans,” says Jim Meehan, a mixologist at PDT, a contemporary speakeasy in New York City. He and other bartenders at Prohibition-style cocktail clubs believe their role isn’t to insist that these beverages be enjoyed according to tradition but rather to reveal their nuances in carefully constructed cocktails so as to raise a younger generation’s awareness of their existence. “It’s a … social responsibility at this point,” he deadpans. Many French aperitifs—Suze, Byrrh, Amer Picon—simply aren’t available stateside. At Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in San Francisco, manager Jim Hollinger long ago imposed a house rule on the entire staff: Anyone traveling to Europe must bring back a bottle for the bar. Although the last time he was abroad, he broke the rule. “I brought back two,” Hollinger recalls. “And I kept them for myself.” Not surprisingly, aperitifs are most often appreciated by Americans who happened to discover them while traveling in France, returning home with memories of a bottle shared with friends on a sun-dappled terrace. To take a whiff or a sip, they say, transports them immediately back to the French countryside. They also appreciate how ridiculously easy aperitifs are to serve: Just chill, open and pour. Most will keep in the fridge for several months—provided they last that long. Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

Sonia Delaunay riffed on the Dubonnet logo in this vibrant 1913 painting. She was one of many famous artists—Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Picasso— who integrated trendy aperitifs into their art.

began bottling and selling an almost identical substitute, relying on the same blend of botanicals but using California red wines. The French and American versions have remained distinct over the years, each evolvPAIRINGS ing according to the A lovely Spanish formula for an aperitif. Known as a “vin tonique,” palates of their respecham, particularly Dubonnet gained popularity with its fanciful tive markets. DubonSerrano, plays Belle Epoque ad campaigns, the vast majority net in France is rich, off Dubonnet’s featuring either the iconic hat-clad “Dubonnet almost port-like. The richness. man” or Madame Dubonnet’s pet cat. American version is By the early 1900s, the cocktail craze was decidedly less intense. in full swing, and Dubonnet was increasingly In 1980, the company introduced Dubonnet prized in France and abroad as a complex, blanc. Made from a similar blend of botanicals lightly spiced mixer. It was especially known for in a base of white wines, it delivered nuanced its role in an eponymous drink of equal parts herbal overtones and a rich, full body. It remains Dubonnet and dry gin with a splash of orange a distant second among traditionalists, who bitters. During WWII, however, exports from prefer the almost swanky rouge, yet has made Nazi-occupied France abruptly halted. Joseph’s inroads with those who appreciate its relative grandson Paul, who had moved to New York complexity compared with a simple white wine. before the war with his American-born wife, Although the company has launched many storied advertising Dubonnet’s mix of botanicals was originally designed to mask the extremely campaigns, the brand bitter taste of quinine. Created by a Parisian chemist, the carefully guarded recipe may have gained its includes coffee beans, Provençal herbs and citrus. strongest unsolicited endorsement when the Queen Mother expressed an affinity for the aperitif, served on the rocks in an exacting ratio of seven parts Dubonnet to three parts gin with a slice of lemon—under the ice, if you please.

Dubonnet In the 1840s, soldiers in the French Foreign Legion stationed in North Africa had one fairly certain means of staving off malaria: quinine, an uncommonly bitter substance derived from the bark of the chinchona tree. Yet many of them knowingly risked death rather than subject themselves to this extremely pungent remedy. Desperate, the French government offered a monetary reward to anyone offering a palatable alternative. Almost overnight, an entire class of not unpleasant potations came into existence. Known as quinquinas, they were invariably flavored with a motley mix of botanicals in an attempt to overshadow quinine’s assertive nature. The agreeable, if slightly inebriating, blend that won was based on red Roussillon wine, cinnamon, coffee, citrus and Provençal herbs. Created by Parisian chemist and wine merchant Joseph Dubonnet, it possessed a deep ruby hue, a complex bouquet with notes of spice and citrus, and a rich yet refreshing flavor that hinted at nuts, chocolate, black currant and various aromatics. It finished slightly sweet and exhibited a concentrated consistency that, some said, came perilously close to being syrupy. The drink soon found favor far beyond the troops—Monsieur Dubonnet had walked away not only with a military contract but with a winning 50

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Suze

anyone who has Driven by the FaDeD roadside murals in the south of France will recognize the block letters spelling out the name “Suze.” Few people, however, are aware that this venerable aperitif is made from the tiny, vibrant yellow gentian flower that grows wild in the mountains of Auvergne. The healing powers of the plant’s roots have been revered since ancient times. First bottled and sold by distillery owner Fernand Moureaux in 1889, Suze was made by macerating gentian roots and other aromatics in spirits rather

than wine, which was the basis for the vast majority of aperitifs of the day. The gentian presence is unmistakable, from the brilliant amber hue to the long, sharp finish; the root’s bitter overtones are smoothed by hints of vanilla and apricot on the nose and a subtle sweetness imparted by citrus, herbs and spices. Initially, Suze was marketed as “l’ami de l’estomac,” but it was the aperitif’s unique flavor that inspired loyalty and at times creativity among its patrons, as evidenced by Picasso’s 1912 “Glass and Bottle of Suze.” The painting later graced Suze’s iconic amber bottle, which since 2001 has also featured designs by such famous couAbove: Suze often turiers as Sonia Rykiel, invites fashion Christian Lacroix, designers such as Thierry Mugler and Sonia Rykiel to “dress” its bottles Paco Rabanne. Left: Gloss de Suze, Suze has been exlaunched in 2005, ported globally for combines cherry more than a century, and ginger flavors. ranking as the second top-selling French aperitif worldwide after pastis for more than two decades. It is not currently available in the States, however, leading a handful of industrious American bartenders to toy with their own moonshine versions. PAIRINGS Slightly salty snacks stand up well to the bittersweet overtones of Suze. Some fans say that it deserves to break out of its aperitif role and star alongside certain Auvergnat cheeses, such as Cantal and Fourme d’Ambert.

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Noilly Prat an accent to a cocktail rather than a tempting aperitif on its own, Vermouth tends to be underappreciated outside its native Mediterranean region. Yet when it first came into vogue during the late 1700s, the richly flavored drink marketed by Cinzano and Punt e Mes was served straight and prized for its sweet spiciness and surprising hints of cinnamon and cocoa. The Italian innovation quickly spread along the coast, and in the early 19th century, Joseph Noilly created a crisper, less cloying version that eventually came to be known as dry vermouth. A blend of Picpoul and Clairette wines from the Languedoc, it was aged in oak and allowed to lose up to twice as much volume to evaporation as the usual cellar-aged wines, concentrating the soft, refreshing flavors. A few weeks before bottling, nearly two dozen aromatics—among them Italian chamomile, Bulgarian coriander, Indonesian nutmeg, Murcia oranges from Spain and bitter orange from Tunisia—were gently stirred in daily, a process known as dodinage. vieweD largely as

Paler and more delicate than its Italian counterpart, the resulting aromatized wine possessed an PAIRINGS intensely floral bouquet, sharp yet not Olives are traditional, but overpowering herbal Bouzygues notes and only a trace oysters are the of residual sweetness. consummate Noilly’s son, Louis, pairing. Anything and his brother-inwith herbs is also delightful— law, Claudius Prat, perhaps crostini began to manufacture with goat cheese and market Noilly and herbes de Prat in the south of Provence. France; by the turn of the century, they were shipping it to ports as distant as New Orleans and Singapore. The French enjoyed dry vermouth almost exclusively on the rocks with a twist until the late 1800s, when cocktails became the rage. By the turn of the century, vermouth the aperitif had tumbled 52

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into relative obscurity, eclipsed by vermouth the mixer, not just in the Martini but also the Manhattan, the Negroni, the Metropole and countless other cocktails in France and abroad. Julia Child was reputedly partial to unwinding with five parts Noilly Prat to one part gin. A favorite with dry Martini aficionados, Noilly Prat remained the house vermouth at innumerable establishments, including New York’s famous Knickerbocker Hotel. In 1978, the company introduced a formula tailored to the U.S. market—smoother, less intense and colorless. It too became a classic, favored by San Francisco’s Absinthe Brasserie & Bar and other Prohibitionstyle cocktail bars. Earlier this year, it was replaced by the original European version, reintroducing Americans to an aperitif meant to be sipped on its own—an ideal blend of crisp dryness, a hint of spice, a little something floral and a distinct wine flavor. Just chill and pour—none of that waving silliness, please. Serve with a twist.

Pastis

There are those who say there really is no substitute for absinthe. Yet after the green fairy was outlawed in France and elsewhere in the early 1900s, distillers ushered in pastis as a proxy. Fashioned in the general likeness of its predecessor— minus the dread wormwood and with much lower alcohol content—“pastis” referred to an entire category of anise-flavored aperitifs. No wallflower, it boasted a lurid yellow hue

Pastis is inextricably linked with its native Provence; its many aromatic components—anise, licorice root, fennel, herbs—grow wild in the region’s famous garrigues.

backed by bold flavor achieved through hefty doses of licorice root, fennel and the relatively exotic star anise acquired from China via the Silk Road. The lingering finish reflected each brand’s proprietary array of botanicals. These were typically aromatic herbs native to the south of France, hence the name “pastis,” which means “mixture” in Provençal. Absinthe-maker Maison Pernod Fils was the

first to introduce pastis after reformulating and renaming its classic recipe, relying on mint and coriander to round out the star anise and fennel. In 1932, Ricard followed with “le pastis de Marseille.” The two brands remain top sellers. Pernod has modified its flavor profile considerably over the decades, toning down the anise to suit evolving tastes. Jeff Hollinger, author of The Art of the Bar and general manager of Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in San Francisco, says that traditional pastis remains slightly sweeter with more anise flavor than newer brands, which emphasize herbal and vegetal notes. Still, pastis has never really caught on in the States. “Americans are less inclined to drink anise-flavored anything,” he says. “We just don’t have the palate.” Meanwhile, an opposite trend is shaping up

PAIRINGS Robust Mediterranean flavors stand up well to anise—try herbflavored olives, tapenade or feta.

in France, where there is a return to the robust flavors of classic pastis. Known as pastis à l’ancienne, these artisanally made spirits are not for the timid. Nor, for that matter, is any pastis. As with absinthe, custom dictates that it be served with a carafe of cold water, allowing the individual to dilute it as desired—two to five parts water to one part spirit is the norm.

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Absinthe Let’s be perfectly clear: No French host is going to casually serve you a pre-prandial glass of absinthe. Even before it was outlawed (more on that later), absinthe only briefly played the role of your garden-variety aperitif. The fact is, it isn’t one. Sure, it contains the requisite botanicals, but it also has a much higher alcohol content. Originally made of herbs macerated in beet alcohol or wine that was then distilled, it could reach a whopping 140 proof. That compared with a timid 40 proof or less for most aperitifs. Absinthe evolved from the ancient practice of using wormwood as a medicinal elixir. Its modern 54

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Now that it is legal again, absinthe is enjoying a revival. Clockwise from above: the drink’s characteristic louche; an 1896 poster by Henri Privat-Livemont; a botanical print of wormwood; a slotted spoon and sugar cube perched atop the clear green liquid.

form has been credited to a Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, who came across wormwood concoctions while in Switzerland. He devised his own recipe in 1792, and in 1805, Pernod began marketing the drink. The new aperitif soon gained a reputation for freeing the mind and liberating the senses, hence its initial popularity among nonconformists in 19th-century Paris. By the 1870s—a time when phylloxera had practically wiped out wine production—absinthe’s popularity had reached a faddish fervor, and it was added to cocktails seemingly at random. In 1872, a French newspaper published a doctor’s report

of his own experience with absinthe—tried purely for research purposes, of course. “The most curious thing about this transformation … is that all sensations are perceived by all the senses at once,” he wrote. “My own impression is that I am breathing sounds and hearing colors, that scents produce a sensation of lightness or of weight, roughness or smoothness, as if I were touching them with my fingers.” He advocated small doses. Referred to as la fée verte, or the green fairy, the emerald liquid came to epitomize an artsy, bohemian French subculture. Rimbaud, Verlaine, Degas, Wilde, Picasso, Hemingway, Baudelaire,

Toulouse-Lautrec, Bernhardt, Van Gogh and Zola—among others—claimed time and again that it induced shifts in perception and unparalleled clarity of thought. These mind-altering experiences were largely attributed to thujone, an oil in wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Recent scientific analysis of bottles dating from that era, however, has debunked that notion, revealing that the amount present was far too small. Instead, it seems that it was the high alcohol content that produced the delirious effects. Indeed, absinthe was so strong that it required considerable dilution with water to bring it down to non-lethal levels. The ritual, which only added to its mystique, involved pouring a shot of absinthe into a hand-blown Pontarlier pedestal glass with a reservoir base that held exactly one ounce of absinthe and a flared upper portion that allowed for ample water. A perforated, flat-tipped silver spoon was set over the glass, and a cube of sugar perched atop. Water was spilt, drop by drop, over the sugar, sinking slowly through the thick liquor to the bottom of the glass. This was PAIRINGS repeated until the alcohol Like pastis, was diluted three to five absinthe works times over, a process best with strong sometimes referred to as Mediterranean “surprising the spirit.” It flavors—think imparted the characterbagna cauda, aïoli istic cloudy appearance, with vegetables, or louche, to the drink toasts slathered and released its familiar with tapenade or perfume—bitter, sweet, anchoïade…. sour and earthy. Eventually, absinthe became the stuff of urban legend, blamed for everything from epileptic seizures and sexual diseases to murder. After being declared a detriment to mind and body, it was banned in the U.S. in 1912, and in France just a few years later. (Resourceful types could, however, still find absinthe in select hair tonics in Parisian pharmacies.) Absinthe was once again authorized for sale in the European Union in 1988 and in the U.S. in 2007. The general consensus was that true absinthe was innocuous enough when consumed responsibly, but its wild popularity had led unscrupulous types to flood the market with some vile imitations. There are now about two dozen brands available in the U.S., some from France, others domestic. The spirit can be sampled in the classic drip manner in all its theatrical splendor at San Francisco’s Absinthe Brasserie & Bar; across the country at New York’s Death & Company, bartenders have been using its anise edge to enhance an array of cocktails, from the classic Sazerac to more innovative offerings such as Champagne with gin and lemon juice. Few drinks, however, share the brazen appeal of Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon: “Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.”

Pineau des Charentes

it was quite by acciDent, as the story First blended four centuries ago, Pineau is made from unfermented goes, that one of the most graceful aperitifs grape must and Cognac brandy. came into existence. In the late 1500s, a Today there are white, rosé and batch of wine must, or fresh-pressed grapes, red versions, as well as “vieux” and “très vieux” bottlings. was inadvertently poured into a barrel of Cognac. The renegade cask was set aside to age along with the rest of the harvest, and the mistake, which halted the usual fermentation through a process now known as mutage, went undiscovered until years later. The amber assemblage that resulted resembled neither of its constituent parts but retained the most compelling aspects of each, yielding a perfumed aperitif with crisp, balanced acidity and honeyed overtones. Little has changed over the centuries, save that Pineau des Charentes, as the vin de liqueur came to be called, is now made and consumed intentionally. A regional and artisanal tradition, it is still crafted from a blend of white Bordeaux grapes and Cognac then aged in oak for a minimum of 18 months. Pineau des Charentes has earned its own appellation d’origine contrôlée, and producers now number in the hundreds, each claiming an aperitif with its own unique flavor profile. Rouge and rosé versions PAIRINGS are made in the same style Pistachios are perfect. from Cabernet Sauvignon, Adventurous imbibers have Cabernet Franc and Merdiscovered that Pineau is lot grapes but are relatively also excellent with foie gras and all things chocolate. uncommon.

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Lillet some winemaking pursuits, it seems, are more inspired than others. It has been said that Lillet benefited from no less than divine intervention in the form of Father Kermann, a monk and doctor who ventured to Brazil under the rule of Louis XVI and returned to Bordeaux with an intimate knowledge of herbal remedies, which he incorporated into various wine-based mixtures. In the late 1880s, brothers Paul and Raymond Lillet, whose family had cultivated vineyards near Podensac for more than two centuries, decided to build upon the monk’s legacy. They crafted a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Ugni Blanc grapes along with citrus fruit steeped in brandy and quinine, then aged the mixture in oak barrels for a year. The resulting beverage had a golden straw color and exhibited notes of honey, mint and citrus offset by a slight touch of minerality and bitterness. It was not a wine-based aperitif but rather an aperitif wine made in the style of Bordeaux wines. It was christened Kina Lillet,

Unlike most a playful reference to French aperitifs, its modest measure of Kina Lillet was bitter quinine derived perceived by Amerifrom the bark of the cans as eminently “kina kina,” or chindrinkable on its chona, tree. own and remained Innovative marwell established keting ploys in the PAIRINGS in the U.S. bar late 1920s included Both the rouge and the blanc versions pencils and postcards scene throughout are great with casual salted snacks of all as well as thermomthe 20th century. sorts—olives, nuts, even a proper potato Sales were boosted eters that bore the chip. Creative types say the subtle sweetness of Lillet blanc is great with foie gras, by several of Ian words, “Qu’il fasse while the rouge does wonders for blue Fleming’s James froid, le Lillet est toucheese or prosciutto with melon. Bond novels, which jours délicieux.” But featured Lillet in the company’s most its traditional role as an aperitif and as the iconic ad appeared in 1937: An exuberant blonde brandishing a bottle of Lillet in primary component of the Vesper, Bond’s one hand and a glass in the other, her skirt favored cocktail in Casino Royale. (It called covered with clusters of white grapes and orange leaves. 56

F r a n ce • s p r i n g 2 0 0 9

for three measures Aperitif brands vied for the public’s gin, one measure attention during the vodka and a half early days of advertismeasure of Kina ing. Lillet courted Lillet, shaken and consumers with ads on train and bus served with a twist.) windows, metal signs The company along railroad tracks, later unveiled a and colorful posters richer, ruby-colored and print ads. Lillet, fashioned in the same style as the classic but from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Lillet rouge never gained quite the status of the original blanc, typically referred to simply as “Lillet.” A little more than 20 years ago, a “nouveau” Lillet blanc was introduced. The bitter quinine edge is attenuated and blends more harmoniously with the floral and mineral components. Inspired indeed.

Byrrh Counterclockwise from above: A turn-of-the-century poster vaunting Byrrh’s great taste; the company’s new premium aged bottling; cacao, green orange and cinnamon, some of the botanicals woven into this wine-based drink.

In the mid-1860s, wine was still considered as much a medicine as a libation, a perception reinforced by Louis Pasteur’s recent pronouncement that wine was “the healthiest and most hygienic of beverages.” It was a wellcalculated moment for pharmacist Simon Violet and his brother Pallade to introduce a wine-based aperitif touted as a tonique. Launched in 1870 and sold initially in pharmacies, Byrrh (pronounced “beer”) was made from a

quasi-medicinal dose of quinine mingled with Carignan and Grenache wines from the western Pyrenees. Aged for three years, it was then infused with spices and botanicals as varied as cacao, Ceylon cinnamon, coffee, elderberry and green orange peel, revered since PAIRINGS ancient times for If you’re drinking its healing properByrrh, you’re clearly ties. The resulting in a retro mood; nuts restorative offered an or olives in one of unmistakable citrus those faux-wood aroma and a subtle, bowls so ubiquitous harmonious combinain France will ramp tion of flavors. Even up the nostalgic vibe. if it didn’t cure one’s

ailments, it certainly took one’s mind off them. Byrrh’s allure as a tipple soon surpassed its reputation as a curative, and the Violets began selling their “apéritif au quinquina” to bars and restaurants as well as pharmacies. A lawsuit from the pharmacists union, which sought to protect its own bottled quinine- and wine-laced offerings, promptly led the Violets to market their blend simply as “Byrrh.” It soon became a common aperitif along the eastern Mediterranean coast, and with the advent of the railroad, its popularity spread throughout Europe. By 1935, it had become the best-selling aperitif in France. In 1999, the company launched a second aperitif, Byrrh Rare Assemblage. Aged in oak for nearly a decade, it uses only the best vintage wines, replicating the slightly bitter quinine edge of the original but setting it against a richer, more intense, almost port-like backdrop. But classic Byrrh remains largely the same, save subtle shifts in grape varietals that have occurred during the past century. Although Byrrh is absent from American stores and cocktails, its citrus bouquet and faintly sweet finish remain a steady if unsung presence throughout France, whether taken with a slice of orange or a twist of lemon. Franc e • sp ri n g 2 0 0 9

Calendrier French Cultural Events in North America

April-June 2009

• Gustave Caillebotte’s “Oarsmen Rowing on the Yerres” (1877), on view at the Brooklyn Museum.

Both an artist and a patron—part of his collection now hangs in the Musée d’Orsay—Gustave Caillebotte is best known for his Paris cityscapes. Yet his body of work also reveals a passion for non-urban pursuits—specifically water sports; an avid rower and yachtsman, he even designed sailboats. “Oarsmen Rowing on the Yerres” (1877), above, illustrates both his realist tendencies and his fondness for perspectives that draw the viewer into the picture. The immediacy of the piece reflects his intimate knowledge of the subject matter; his well-to-do family spent many summers at their estate on the Yerres River, just south of Paris. The canvas is one of about 40 on view in G ustave C aillebotte : I mpressionist P aintings from P aris to the S ea , which also includes drawings, photographs and sailboat models. Through July 5 at the Brooklyn Museum; brooklynmuseum.org.

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

P r i vat e c o l l e c t i o n

season highlights

exhibits

Portland, OR

New York

LA VOLUPTÉ DU GOÛT

CAST IN BRONZE

Comprising 70 oils, watercolors and drawings, Pierre Bonnard: Still Life and the Late Interiors is the first exhibition devoted exclusively to this part of the artist’s oeuvre. Infused with Mediterranean light and color, the pieces on view date from 1923 to 1947, the year of Bonnard’s death. Many were painted at Le Bosquet, the villa near Cannes that he shared with his wife, Marthe. Through April 29 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

In addition to being the official mistress of Louis XV, the Marquise de Pompadour was a keen patron of the arts who helped to shape the tastes of her time. La volupté du goût: French Painting in the Age of Madame de Pompadour brings together more than 50 paintings that she either commissioned or collected, many never before exhibited outside France and some featuring her likeness as a mythological figure or otherwise. Among the 24 artists highlighted are Boucher, Fragonard, Greuze and Vanloo. Through May 17 at the Portland Art Museum; portlandartmuseum.org.

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

BARBIZON LANDSCAPES

CÉZANNE AND BEYOND

Named after a village near the Forest of Fontainebleau, the Barbizon School of painting favored both a style and a subject matter rooted in real life—naturalistic landscapes and depictions of laboring peasants rather than the idealized imagery and historical scenes that reigned at the Salon. Its practitioners embraced plein air practices decades before the Impressionists set up their easels outdoors. The Road to Impressionism: Barbizon Landscapes from the Walters Art Museum examines the school’s place on the art historical spectrum through works by such artists as Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot. Through May 3 at the Frick Art & Historical Center; thefrickpittsburgh.org.

Cézanne and Beyond explores the evolution of the artist’s career and his still unexhausted influence on generations of artists in France and abroad—Picasso, for one, referred to him as “my one and only master.” To illustrate how Cézanne’s vision informed Cubism and numerous other artistic movements, some 60 of his oils, watercolors and drawings are juxtaposed with dozens of paintings by such diverse artists as Braque, Matisse, Giacometti, Mondrian and Johns. Through May 17 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; philamuseum.org.

In the 16th century, thanks largely to Italian artists working at the court of François I, the French came to appreciate bronze for its aesthetic rather than simply utilitarian properties. During the next 300 years, the art of the bronze flourished in France in myriad incarnations, from statuettes to royal monuments. Today, however, the names of most of its leading practitioners are known only to connoisseurs. Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution brings together 125 works in the culmination of a decade-long effort by curators and scholars to shed light on this underappreciated subject. Through May 24 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

New York

BONNARD

West Palm Beach IMPRESSIONIST LANDSCAPES

Forty French and American paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are displayed in Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism. The exhibit follows the arc of the Impressionist movement, from its origins in the plein air practices of the Barbizon and Realist schools to its full expression in the hands of Monet, Renoir, Sisley and others to its influence on American painters such as George Innes and John Singer Sargent. Through May 10 at the Norton Museum of Art; norton.org.

Baltimore CIRCUS ART

Opening with vibrant posters by Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Chéret, A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger brings together some 75 paintings, sculptures and works on paper featuring clowns, acrobats and other performers. These late 19th- and early 20thcentury pieces range from celebrations of the circus as spectacle to social commentary to windows onto the lives of entertainers outside the ring. Through May 17 at the Baltimore Museum of Art; artbma.org.

Washington, DC LOUISE BOURGEOIS

Still evolving as an artist at the age of 97, Louise Bourgeois has remained at the forefront of the contemporary art scene for some 70 years, driven in part by an enduring need to exorcize memories of an unhappy childhood. The most comprehensive retrospective to date of her work, uniting more than 150 paintings, works on paper, installations and sculptures, Louise Bourgeois illustrates the artist’s singular ability to express themes at once personal and universal and to do so in both abstract and figurative modes. Through May 17 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; hirshhorn.si.edu.

• Raoul Dufy’s “La console jaune” (1949) is a

highlight of Jackson’s “A Celebration of Beauty.”

New Haven PICASSO AND LANGUAGE

After setting up his studio in Montmartre in 1904, Picasso joined an artistic circle that included such literary figures as Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Reverdy and Gertrude Stein. These encounters fueled a lifelong fascination with the written word that would manifest itself in numerous ways, from the imagery in certain paintings to illustrated book projects to literary efforts of his own. Picasso and the Allure of Language explores this overlooked aspect of the artist’s oeuvre through some 70 works in all media, along with photographs, manuscripts and other archival materials. Through May 24 at the Yale University Art Gallery; artgallery.yale.edu.

San Francisco ARTISTIC LUXURY

Through nearly 300 pieces of jewelry and decorative objects, Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique compares the styles and techniques of three of the finest designers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The show also explores how these rivals for the most elite of clienteles— royals, celebrities,

•

René Lalique’s diamond, enamel and glass “Poppy Necklace” (circa 19001903), at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor.

captains of industry—marketed their creations by presenting them as works of art rather than of craftsmanship. Through May 31 at the Legion of Honor; famsf.org.

Columbia, SC TURNER TO CÉZANNE

Presenting 53 paintings and works on paper, Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales offers an overview of the major movements of 19th- and early 20th-century Western art, from romantic naturalism to PostImpressionism. The pieces on display were among 260 donated to the museum by the Welsh heiresses Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, who between 1908 and 1923 amassed the largest collection of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in Great Britain. Through June 7 at the Columbia Museum of Art; columbiamuseum.org.

Jackson, MS RAOUL DUFY

Influenced by Impressionism, Cubism and, most famously, Fauvism, Raoul Dufy developed a joyful style distinguished by its exuberant palette and dynamic use of line. In addition to being a painter and illustrator, Dufy was a prolific decorative artist, designing both ceramics and textiles. He left his stamp on the world of fashion through repeated collaborations with couturier Paul Poiret, as well as more than 5,000 fabric designs—some still in production—for the renowned Lyon silk Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

manufacturer Bianchini-Férier. Raoul Dufy: A Celebration of Beauty presents some 200 paintings, drawings and textile designs as well as 13 dresses made with Dufy fabrics. Through July 5 at the Mississippi Museum of Art; msmuseumart.org.

stripped down, and the music has been cut, reorchestrated or reordered, allowing this “Carmen” to emphasize psychological tension over theatricality. Brook collaborated on the piece with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, whose credits include several Buñuel films, and composer Marius Constant, creator of the iconic theme music for the television show The Twilight Zone. May 2 through 15 at the Harris Theater, Millennium Park; chicagooperatheater.org.

Baltimore PRAYERS IN CODE

A kind of devotional day planner for lay Christians, books of hours became status symbols in medieval times; the finest featured exquisite miniatures and marginal decorations rendered in gold leaf, silver and costly pigments such as lapis lazuli. Prayers in Code: Books of Hours from 16th-Century France explores such themes as the vogue for rebuses and the intellectual currents that influenced patrons at the court of King François I. April 25 through July 19 at the Walters Art Museum; thewalters.org.

Charleston LOUISE

New York THE MODEL AS MUSE

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Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg star in the Royal Ballet of London’s production of “Manon.”

Saint Louis works he created during this period form the core of Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera, which also includes pieces by Picasso, Braque, Bonnard and Maillol, among others. Through Nov. 1 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; philamuseum.org.

performing arts

premieres of works by four of the composer’s most celebrated protégés: Pierre Boulez, Allain Gaussin, Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail, who will perform his own concerto for ondes Martenot and chamber orchestra, Les Courants de L’Espace. The program of Birds of a Feather: Messiaen and His Legacy also includes the master’s own “Oiseaux Exotiques.” May 5 at Merkin Concert Hall; kaufman-center.org.

New York

California Tour

Atlanta

RIOULT PRESENTS

BALLET PRELJOCAJ

LOUVRE ATLANTA

Founded in 1994, the modern dance troupe RIOULT presents its 2009 season this April. Under the direction of French dancer and choreographer Pascal Rioult, the company will perform a world premiere of The Great Mass, a full-evening work set to Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, as well as three repertory pieces: Views of the Fleeting World (2008), set to Bach’s “The Art of the Fugue”; Les Noces (2005), a bold reimagining of Stravinsky’s classic; and Wien (1994), set to Ravel’s “La Valse.” April 14 through 19 at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. prdance.org

The renowned contemporary dance troupe Ballet Preljocaj performs Les 4 Saisons, a playful take on one of the most popular works in the classical canon. In creating the piece, choreographer Angelin Preljocaj sought to discover if something so familiar had any surprises left to yield. The result, a collaboration with sculptor Fabrice Hyber, borrows from the comic strip aesthetic to inspire a childlike sense of wonder. April 28 at The Grenada, Santa Barbara; May 1 and 2 at Royce Hall, UCLA; May 5 at the Carpenter Center, Long Beach; and May 8 at the Birch North Park Theatre, San Diego; preljocaj.org.

New York

Chicago

MESSIAEN CENTENARY

LA TRAGÉDIE DE CARMEN

Pianist Gil Kalish, the Argento Chamber Ensemble and the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players honor the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen’s birth with a concert featuring the U.S.

Chicago Opera Theater stages La Tragédie de Carmen, the provocative film and theater director Peter Brook’s Tony Award–winning adaptation of the Bizet opera. Cast and sets have been

Louvre Atlanta, now in its third and final year, has transformed a wing of the High Museum of Art into an outpost of the venerable French institution. The concluding exhibition, “The Louvre and the Masterpiece” brings together 91 sculptures, paintings, drawings and decorative items spanning four millennia to explore how taste, connoisseurship and the definition of “masterpiece” have evolved over the ages. Through Sept. 6; louvreatlanta.org.

Philadelphia LA CÔTE D’AZUR

As well as being one of the world’s most celebrated resort areas, the French Riviera holds a significant place in art history as a source of inspiration to some of the great masters of the 20th century. Among these was Matisse, who praised “the richness and silvery clarity of the light” in Nice, where he spent the last three decades of his life. Twelve of the

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents a new staging of The Ghosts of Versailles, originally commissioned for the 1983 centennial of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The piece was scored by John Corigliano, whose numerous accolades include an Academy Award for the soundtrack for The Red Violin (1999) and a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 2 (2001). In this fanciful “grand opera buffa,” the ghost of Beaumarchais creates an opera within an opera to entertain the spectral Marie Antoinette and ultimately undo her tragic fate. June 17 through 27 at the Opera Center; opera-stl.org.

Washington, DC MANON

The Royal Ballet of London performs Kenneth MacMillan’s adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s scandalous 18th-century novel Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, which traces the downfall of a woman torn between love and greed—a journey that takes her from the glitter of Paris to the swamps of Louisiana. One of the company’s signature works since its 1974 premiere, Manon is set to a variety of music by Jules Massenet— none of which comes from his opera of the same name. June 25 through 28 at the Kennedy Center; kennedy-center.org. —Tracy Kendrick For a regularly updated listing of cultural events, go to francemagazine.org.

Bill Cooper

From the elegant figures sporting Christian Dior’s New Look in the classic Avedon photographs to the waifish Kate Moss as the face of 1990s heroin chic, models have both reflected and shaped the fashion zeitgeist. The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion examines this synergy through some 70 haute couture and ready-to-wear garments, along with photographs and video footage of models, actresses and other style icons. Among the many familiar faces on view are Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Lauren Hutton, Linda Evangelista and Gisele Bündchen; designers represented include Armani, Cardin, Chanel, Prada and Saint Laurent. May 6 through Aug. 9 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

The only opera scheduled for this year’s Spoleto Festival, Gustave Charpentier’s Louise is the tale of a shopgirl torn between filial duty and her love for an artist. This “musical novel” scored an immediate success when it premiered at Paris’s Opéra Comique in 1900 and remains the composer’s best-known work. Charpentier wrote the libretto himself; at least semi-autobiographical, it stands out for its naturalistic depiction of bohemian life in Montmartre. May 22 through June 6 at Gaillard Auditorium; spoletousa.org.

Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés en 1855 Médoc & Sauternes as seen by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

“For more than 150 years, these wines have represented a terroir and a climate, but also men and women.” Poster available through www.grand-cru-classe.com

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Temps Modernes

Doubting Descartes René Descartes’s skull is small, jawless and

looks as if it’s been varnished. It sits in a display case in Paris’s Musée de l’Homme on top of a faded edition of his Discours de la Méthode and next to three other skulls: one from a 100,000-year-old Homo sapiens, another from a 40,000-year-old Cro-Magnon man, and a third belonging to one of the earliest French farmers, dating back about 7,000 years. Truth be told, Descartes’s isn’t the most impressive of the four. I’d have thought it would be larger, to contain the brain of the genius whose philosophical method of doubt gave us the key to the Enlightenment and free thinking. On the skull’s forehead, you can still make out Latin phrases and the signatures of previous owners, who probably had curiosity cabinets. These markings are all the more fascinating in that we now know— beyond a shadow of a doubt— that the history of this skull is extraordinary indeed. The story begins in 1666, 16 years after the exiled philosopher died in Stockholm. That was the year that Descartes’s remains left Sweden in the baggage of a French diplomat, Hugues de Terlon, to be interred in Paris, at the Eglise Sainte-Geneviève. Then came the Revolution, and church tombs were dug up to save them from being sacked; Descartes’s bones are believed to have been transferred to a site that is now l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts for safekeeping. Later, discussions arose concerning possible interment in the Pantheon, but the Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés was finally chosen to be the philosopher’s last resting place. That was when they discovered that the skull was missing. It was tracked down in Sweden and began its own travels, almost getting swept away in a flood. You can read about all these skeletal peregrinations in an excellent book called Descartes’ Bones by Russel Shorto (Doubleday, 2008). It’s a riveting tale, part historical adventure and part philosophical digest, that takes the form of a detective story featuring a somewhat masculine Nordic queen, a very Cartesian yet very Catholic (I see a contradiction there, others say it’s possible) French diplomat, a Swedish casino owner, poets, scholars, astronomers and physicists, revolutionaries, and even Louis XIV and a few Republicans. Descartes’s skeleton and, more specifically, his skull, experienced so many adventures that they are the subject of a Cartesian-style study marked by skepticism and the search for truth. 64

Fr a nce • spr ing 2009

For more than 350 years, Shorto points out, Descartes’s ideas took root, ushering in the dawn of scientific thinking and an imperious desire for democracy and reason—reason that defies faith, the Church and monarchies ruling by Divine Right. Yet the philosopher’s remains were treated like relics of the saints or splinters of the True Cross. Like some sort of superstitious charm, the skull was coveted and traded. Through this paradoxical story, we relive some of France’s most moving moments, from the first stirrings that would become the Enlightenment to the passions and the violence of the Revolution. We meet the young Alexandre Lenoir, a convert to the ideas of the Revolution and equality who nonetheless saved religious statues and tombs of great men from the destruction of the sans-culottes. He may even have saved Descartes’s, although that’s by no means certain. We also witness the impassioned debates at the Académie des Sciences where, in the 19th century, scholars still pitted faith against reason or tried to reconcile the two, as Descartes himself had done (although in his day, he was accused of atheism). Shorto goes on to describe how, true to their master’s spirit, Cartesians sought to prove the authenticity of the little skull in the Musée de l’Homme through scientific means (a delicate task, given that it was the object of the debate about the duality of body and spirit). In 1913, physician, anatomy scholar and sculptor Professor Paul Richer used a portrait of Descartes by Frans Hals to sculpt a hollow bust, then made a cast of the skull, the idea being to show whether the internal and external parts would fit together like hand in glove. The result, now on view at Paris’s Académie des Beaux-Arts, is rather strange and very morbid—a sort of classical bust whose face comes off to reveal its mystery: the very image of death as symbolized by a skull. Doubt, of course, is an integral part of the Cartesian approach. It is not at all certain, despite all efforts and Richer’s talents, that the skull in the Musée de l’Homme really belonged to Descartes. Nor is it certain that the famous portrait of Descartes attributed to Frans Hals was really his work or even, says Shorto, that the bones in the tomb of the Eglise de Saint-Germain-des-Prés are really the philosopher’s. I find this quest without a certain conclusion admirable, and I think (therefore I am) that this story is nonetheless useful, because it shows once again that reason is the path to knowledge, but that certainty is f the monopoly of idiots.

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