France Magazine #106 - Summer 2013 by France Magazine

the best of culture, tr avel & art de vivre

$5.95 U.S. / $6.95 Canada / francemagazine.org

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HERMÈS’s Secret Garden

ARTISANS: The Next Rock Stars?

The New PATRONS

Summer 2013 features 22 EPV It stands for “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant,” and in the world of French craftsmanship, it’s become a highly coveted distinction. by Amy Serafin

34 The New Patrons Passionate supporters of heritage companies, Maison Parisienne and Fort Royal are helping artisans thrive in the global economy. by Tina Isaac & Roland Flamini

42 Object Lessons Hermès’s private collection is a secret oasis where designers can channel centuries of creativity. by Tina Isaac

50 Not the Real Thing Buying a fake Chanel isn’t as harmless as it might seem. by Roland Flamini

departments 5 The f: section Culture, books, travel, shopping, food & wine edited by Melissa Omerberg

56 Calendrier French Cultural Events in North America by Tracy Kendrick

62 Temps Modernes Coming of Age? by Michel Faure

•

A 1992 photo of three generations of the Dupuy family, makers of the celebrated La Cornue ranges since 1908. Story page 38; photo ©La Cornue.

Dear Readers, After celebrity chefs and winemakers, will artisans become the next pop-culture rock stars? It’s a question I never dreamed I would ask, let alone consider seriously. As our longtime readers know, we’ve written about artisans in every region of France, falling in love time and again with talented individuals whose rare skills are matched only by their endearing humility. Far too often, though, our interviews have led us to the maddening conclusion that in spite of their excellence, these small operations are endangered species. The most we could do to help was to buy whatever we could fit in our suitcases (not that we needed any encouragement) and tell their wonderful stories in our pages. Now, it seems that artisans’ fortunes might finally improve, perhaps even dramatically. The biggest game-changer is the world’s growing ranks of wealthy consumers, who are increasingly demanding unique objects, preferably custom-made. In this ongoing quest for distinction, exquisitely handcrafted pieces are the ultimate luxury. The French government is also playing an important role, giving artisans new recognition and lending support. One of its many initiatives is the annual Journées européennes COVER Hermès’s “Paperole” •scarf, des métiers d’art, when thousands of ateliers open created in 2000 and available in 11 colorways, was their doors to the public, demonstrating the skills inspired by a carriage in the needed to expertly facet gemstones, blow glass, inlay company’s private museum. Story page 42. Photo: ©Hermès. furniture, forge silver…. Luxury companies too have realized the value of showcasing their artisans’ extraordinary savoir-faire. This past June, LVMH staged its second Journées Particulières, inviting visitors to meet the talents behind its brands. And Hermès has dispatched its artisans to cities around the world, allowing far-flung clients to see exactly how their Birkin bags are crafted and their silk scarves are printed. Some observers have even suggested that the ever-growing number of hours we spend in front of computer screens is stimulating a hunger for things we can touch and feel, creating a new yearning for all that is handmade. (Which may explain why our bleary-eyed proofreader was tempted to run off to Paris when she read Amy Serafin’s article, specifically the part about Anne Hoguet, the fan maker who is looking for someone to train to be her successor.) So are celebrity artisans next? It’s possible. Many who have struggled for years would surely welcome additional income, a little fame, maybe even a reality TV show. But from what I’ve seen, most are like Anne Hoguet. What they want more than anything else is simply to continue to do the work they learned from generations before them. And to be assured that someone who shares their passion and skills will keep their beloved métier alive long after they’re gone. KAREN TAYLOR

Editor 2

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France magazine Editor KAREN TAYLOR

Senior Editor/Web Editor MELISSA OMERBERG

Copy Editor LISA OLSON

Proofreader DEBORAH PARKER

Art Direction TODD ALBERTSON DESIGN

Guest Designer TOM BROWN ART+DESIGN

Production Manager Associate Art Director/Webmaster PATRICK NAZER

Social Media and Marketing Associate BENJAMIN SIGMAN

Contributors MICHEL FAURE, now

retired from L’Express, is pursuing a variety of journalistic ventures • ROLAND FLAMINI, a former TIME Magazine correspondent, now writes a foreign policy column for the Washington-based CQ Weekly and is a frequent contributor to France Magazine • DOROTHY J. GAITER is a New Yorkbased writer and the co-author of four books • TRACY KENDRICK is a freelance journalist who often writes about French culture • TINA ISAAC, the Paris correspondent for Travel + Leisure and Flare magazines, also contributes to a number of other international print and online publications • JULIA SAMMUT is a food writer and partner in TravelFood, which offers custom culinary tours • AMY SERAFIN, formerly editor of WHERE Paris, is a Paris-based freelance journalist who has contributed to The New York Times, NPR, Departures and other media. EDITORIAL OFFICE

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The 2013 •Rencontres d’Arles features Viviane Sassen’s fashion photography, typified by vivid colors and unusual poses.

©VIVIANE SASSEN

magazıne

Edited by MELISSA OMERBERG

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Culture

Paris & the provinces

• Giverny’s Musée des Impressionnismes is showcasing Hiramatsu Reiji’s Monet-inspired works, including “Motifs de nymphéas – Divertissement” (2010). PARIS

Light and Motion The Grand Palais’s Dynamo: A century of light and motion in art, 1913-2013 examines notions of space, vision, movement, light and perception. Dan Flavin, James Turrell, Victor Vasarely, Jean Tinguely and Alexander Calder are but a few of the 200-plus artists represented in this wide-ranging show. Through July 22; grandpalais.fr. Delicate Masterpieces The Musée Maillol’s FRAGILE.

Murano –

Chefs-d’œuvre de verre de la Renaissance au

traces the history of glassmaking on the Venetian island of Murano from the mid-15th century to the present. The show’s 200 objects range from works commissioned by the most eminent Renaissance families to contemporary studio glass. Through July 28; museemaillol.com. XXI siècle

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Jacques Demy Director Jacques Demy made Hollywood-style musicals filmed in supersaturated color, featuring fairy-tale imagery and romantic intrigue; Les parapluies de Cherbourg won him the Palme d’Or in 1964. This major retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française presents clips and photographs as well as paintings, drawings and sculptures by artists who influenced the filmmaker. Through Aug. 4; cinematheque.fr. Keith Haring The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is presenting an overview of Keith Haring’s career. Featuring more than 200 works, the show highlights both the artistic importance of his work and its political significance. Indeed, the Pop Art icon deliberately used the street and public spaces as avenues for fighting racism, capitalism, homophobia and all forms of violence, and his subway drawings, paintings and sculptures delivered messages of social justice and change. Keith Haring / The

a parallel exhibit at Le Centquatre, showcases the artist’s largest creations. Through Aug. 18; mam.paris.fr; 104.fr. Political Line,

A French Passion The Musée d’Orsay’s Une passion française pays tribute to Spencer and Marlene Hays, American art lovers and Francophiles who assembled a remarkable collection of works from the 19th and early 20th century. Spanning a wide range of styles, the show includes Nabi and Symbolist painters Bonnard, Vuillard and Redon; Impressionists such as FantinLatour, Caillebotte and Berthe Morisot; and later masters such as Derain, Matisse and Modigliani. Through Aug. 18; musee-orsay.fr. Rudy Ricciotti Coinciding with the opening of his Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM) in Marseille, Ricciotti, Architecte at the Cité de L’Architecture et du Patrimoine examines a career filled with experimentation.

EXHIBITS

This is the first monographic exhibit devoted to the audacious Provençal architect whose concrete structures embrace an astonishing variety of unconventional forms. Through Sept. 8; citechaillot.fr.

Brothers Bouroullec The multifaceted creations of Brittany’s most famous design team are showcased in Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec – Momentané at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Their signature large partitions—Algues, North Tiles, Twigs, Clouds— are the centerpiece of this retrospective, which also includes objects, furnishings, drawings, films and photographs. Through Sept. 1; lesartsdecoratifs.fr. Simon Hantaï The Hungarian-born abstract artist Simon Hantaï is best known for his pliages, a technique he developed in 1960. It came out of nowhere, he said, and involved folding and crumpling his canvases, covering them in paint, and then unfolding them to reveal blank white sections punctuated by vivid splashes of color reminiscent of stained-glass windows. This summer the Centre Pompidou is hosting an unprecedented exhibition devoted to the artist, featuring more than 130 paintings created between the late 1940s and the 1990s. Through Sept. 9; centrepompidou.fr. New Waves Occupying the entire Palais de Tokyo as well as more than 30 galleries and the Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Saison 2: Nouvelles Vagues highlights the role of the curator in exhibitions of contemporary art. The show focuses in particular on the work of 21 young international curators and curatorial teams selected by an eminent jury in conjunction

with the curators of the Palais de Tokyo itself. Through Sept. 9; palaisdetokyo.com. Titanic After touring the U.S. under the name “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” Titanic – L’exposition docks at Paris’s Porte de Versailles (Pavilion 8) for the summer. The show conjures up life aboard the doomed vessel through re-creations of its interior as well as more than 150 artifacts recovered from the shipwreck. Through Sept. 15; titanic-expo.com. Ron Mueck Australian artist Ron Mueck is known for meticulously detailed figurative sculptures that are as disturbing as they are fascinating. The Fondation Cartier focuses on his new work in this show, introducing three sculptures created especially for the event. Through Sept. 29; foundation.cartier.com. Roy Lichtenstein One of the originators of the Pop-Art movement, Roy Lichtenstein is best known for the use of hand-painted, mechanical-looking dots creating areas of tone and color. This important retrospective at the Centre Pompidou includes Lichtenstein’s classic early Pop paintings based on advertisements, his comic-book treatments of war and romance, his own takes on paintings by modern masters, and series such as Brushstrokes, Mirrors and Landscapes in a Chinese Style. July 3 through Nov. 4; centrepompidou.fr.

Aristide Maillol’s “Dina à la métairie” (1941), on •view at the Musée Bonnard.

artists ranging from Jean Arp to Edward Weston and Marina Abramovic, Nuages at Arles’s Musée Réattu takes clouds as its theme. This multimedia exhibit comprises photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, with works made of such diverse materials as Styrofoam peanuts, inner tubes, cotton, coffee cups and telephones. Through Oct. 31; museereattu.arles.fr.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE & MARSEILLE

AVIGNON

Le Grand Atelier du Midi Ever since Renoir and Signac first traveled to the South of France, the region has been a source of inspiration for painters. Le Grand Atelier du Midi —a highlight of MarseilleProvence 2013 - European Capital of Culture (see FM, Spring 2013)—offers a chronological presentation of the various artistic movements that flourished there between 1880 and 1960. Boasting some 200 masterpieces, this two-part exhibition is being presented simultaneously in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. Through Oct. 13; museegranet-aixenprovence. fr and musee-des-beaux-arts.marseille.fr.

Power Players Pope Joan—an apocryphal figure said to have been elected pontiff in the 9th century after long concealing her gender—served as the inspiration for Les Papesses, a joint effort by Avignon’s Collection Lambert and Palais des Papes. Featuring 150 sculptures, paintings and installations, the exhibit establishes aesthetic and thematic ties between five high priestesses of modern and contemporary art: Camille Claudel, Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, Jana Sterbak and Berlinde de Bruyckere. Through Nov. 11; collectionlambert. fr and palais-des-papes.com. BORDEAUX

ARLES Sedira’s “Haunted House III” (2006), part •of Zineb “Dinard, L’amour atomique.”

Cloud Cover Bringing together 120 works by nearly 60

Spanish Design The Iberian peninsula has long bred innovative design, with Barcelona inspiring architects

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Culture and the artistic movement, from the couturier’s first designs in 1947 to Raf Simons’s 2012 creations. With loans from such institutions as the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Marmottan, the show establishes a dialogue between more than 70 dresses and masterpieces by painters such as Monet, Degas, Renoir and Berthe Morisot. Through Sept. 22; museedior-granville.com. LE CANNET

All About Eve The story of Eve has always been a popular subject for artists (and, of course, an opportunity to portray the naked female body). Le nu, de Gauguin à Bonnard – Eve, icône de la modernité explores this recurring motif from 1880 to

the 1950s, with depictions of modern Eves by Gauguin, Bonnard, Brancusi, Derain, Chagall and Picasso, among others. July 6 through Nov. 3; museebonnard.fr.

as diverse as Antonio Gaudí and Mies van der Rohe; more recently, designers Patricia Urquiola, Jaime Hayon and Nacho Mariscal have made quite a splash. España, un siècle d’objets at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Bordeaux offers a survey of Spanish designers over the past century and examines their growing international influence. Through Sept. 16; mairie-bordeaux.fr.

includes such artists as Duchamp, Man Ray, Andy Warhol, Yayoi Kusama and Niki de Saint-Phalle. Through Sept. 15; musenor.com/ Les-Musees/Dunkerque-Lieu-d-Art-et-ActionContemporaine-LAAC.

DINARD

matsu, le bassin aux nymphéas – Hommage

Atomic Love

à Monet

looks at fusion, fission and the explosive power of love. This intriguing show at the town’s Palais des Arts et du Festival features an impressive roster of contemporary artists including Doug Aitken, Mircea Cantor, Mona Hatoum, JR, Takashi Murakami, Jean-Michel Othoniel and Nils Udo. Through Sept. 1; ville-dinard.fr. Dinard, L’amour atomique

DUNKERQUE

Object Lessons A century after Marcel Duchamp “created” his first Readymade, Poétique d’objets at Dunkerque’s LAAC contemporary art museum examines artists’ relationships to manufactured objects. Works from the ’60s and ’70s form the backbone of the exhibit, which

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GIVERNY

Water Lilies Like many of his contemporaries, Claude Monet was enamored of Japanese art. Hiraat the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny shows that the fascination went both ways. This lovely exhibit offers Hiramatsu Reiji’s take on Monet’s favorite themes— particularly his lily pond—executed according to traditional Japanese techniques and displayed together with works by the Impressionist master. A selection of Japanese prints from Monet’s own collection rounds out the show. July 13 through Oct. 31; museedesimpressionnismesgiverny.com. GRANVILLE

Dior and Impressionism Part of the Festival Normandie Impressionniste, Impressions Dior – Dior et l’Impressionnisme at Granville’s Musée Christian Dior reveals connections between the fashion house

LENS

The Europe of Rubens Born near Cologne, a resident of Italy and Antwerp, and an active figure in the courts of Spain and England, Peter Paul Rubens was a diplomat, a prolific correspondent and an entrepreneur as well as a renowned artist whose work was influenced by the political, social, religious and economic concerns of his time. L’Europe de Rubens —the Louvre-Lens’s first major international exhibit—sheds light on the Baroque painter’s era through more than 170 works by the artist and his contemporaries. Through Sept. 23; louvrelens.fr. METZ

Ginsberg and the Beats Cue the bongos for the Centre PompidouMetz’s look back at the Beats: the writers, artists and musicians who launched a countercultural movement in San Francisco that won followers worldwide. Beat Generation/ Allen Ginsberg, Europe’s first digital exhibition, offers a portrait of the movement’s key figures—Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kerouac, Corso, Ferlinghetti—through videos, sound documents, manuscripts, drawings and projected photographs taken by Ginsberg, Richard Avedon, Harold Chapman and many others. Through Sept. 9; centrepompidou-metz.fr. Views From Above Vues d’en haut at the Centre Pompidou-Metz

©PHOTO JOHN SCHWEIKERT

Nashville home of Marlene and Spencer Hays; works from their prodigious art collection are •onThe display at the Musée d’Orsay.

looks at how bird’s-eye views—from Nadar’s first aerial photographs, taken from a balloon in the 1860s, to the satellite images of our own time—have transformed the way artists see. Covering more than 20,000 square feet, this huge multidisciplinary exhibit shows how modern and contemporary painters, photographers, filmmakers and architects have explored this perspective in their work. Through Oct. 7; centrepompidou-metz.fr. MARSEILLE

Mediterranean Menu Two exhibits kicked off the inauguration of Marseille’s Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée: Le Noir et le Bleu – Un Rêve Méditerranéen looks at different aspects of culture and civilization around the Mediterranean basin, from antiquities and cosmopolitan exchanges to organized crime. Au Bazar du genre – Fémininmasculin en Méditerranée examines gender, sexuality and family life in the region through everyday objects, films and works of contemporary art. Through Jan. 6, 2014; mucem.org. NANCY

Renaissance Nancy The town of Nancy and its surrounding area celebrate the artistic and intellectual legacy of the Renaissance through a series of exhibitions, performances, lectures, fairs, tastings and tourist itineraries. Among the highlights of Renaissance Nancy 2013 are the show “L’Automne de la Renaissance d’Arcimboldo à Caravage,” jointly organized with the Louvre; torchlit tours of the Citadelle CharlesQuint in Montmédy; and sound-and-light shows on the Place Stanislas. Through Aug. 4; renaissancenancy2013.com. Summer of Matisse The city of Nice is marking the 50th anniversary of its Matisse Museum with Un été pour Matisse, featuring eight simultaneous exhibits paying tribute to the master and his œuvre. Participants include the Musée Matisse, the Musée d’Archéologie, the Théâtre de la photographie et de l’Image, the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, the Palais Lascaris, the Galerie des Ponchettes, the Musée Masséna and the Musée des BeauxArts. Through Sept. 23; nicetourisme.com.

ROUEN

Reflected Color The constantly shifting reflection of light on water was a popular Impressionist motif, conveying the transitory nature of reality. Eblouissants reflets, 100 chefs-d’œuvre impressionnistes at the Musée des BeauxArts—a highlight of the Festival Normandie Impressionniste—looks at how artists such as Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Caillebotte and photographers such as Gustave Le Gray and Charles Marville interpreted this theme. Through Sept. 29; rouen-musees.com. SAINT-PAUL

Painting and Philosophy Writer and public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy is the curator of this year’s summer exhibit at the Fondation Maeght. Les aventures de la vérité – Peinture et philosophie:

features seven “stations” that contemplate the age-old

un récit

dialogue between philosophy and painting. The show brings together 100 ancient and contemporary works from French and international collections, with artists running the gamut from Bronzino to Basquiat. Through Oct. 6; foundation-maeght.com. NATIONWIDE

FRAC Show Thirty years ago, then-Culture Minister Jack Lang created a constellation of local exhibition spaces known as Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain (FRAC). Their mission: to collect the work of living artists and make major movements in contemporary art more accessible to those living far from big cities. Les Pléiades – 30 ans des FRAC fêtes this anniversary with a nationwide series of shows in which designers were given carte blanche to conceive of new ways to exhibit the works in each collection. Through Dec. 31; frac-platform.com.

festivals It’s festival season again—that time of year when virtually every French town is overflowing with art, music and theater. Here are a few of our perennial faves, with a couple of new additions: • ARLES “Arles in Black,” the 2013 edition of Les Rencontres d’Arles, focuses on black-and-white photography past and present, with a retrospective dedicated to Chilean photographer Sergio Larrain, Guy Bourdin’s first black-and-white series, Lartigue’s portraits from the 1920s and the work of younger artists. July 1 through Sept. 22; rencontres-arles.com. • AVIGNON Featuring associate artists Dieudonné Niangouna and Stanislas Nordey, the Festival d’Avignon highlights cutting-edge theater from around the world, including a rising generation of African talents. July 5 through 26; festivalavignon.com. • LA ROQUE D’ANTHÉRON The Festival International de Piano features keyboard virtuosos such as Evgeny Kissin performing at venues ranging from open-air theaters to the cloisters of a Cistercian abbey. July 20 through Aug. 20; festival-piano.com. • LORIENT The Festival Interceltique de Lorient offers 10 days and nights

of traditional, folk and rock music and dancing from throughout the Celtic world; this year, the northern Spanish region of Asturias is in the spotlight. Aug. 2 through 11; festival-interceltique.com. • MARCIAC Headliners at this year’s Jazz in Marciac festival include the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Chucho Valdes, Diana Krall, Wynton Marsalis, Gilberto Gil, Taj Mahal and Esperanza Spalding. July 27 through Aug. 18; jazzinmarciac.com. • ORANGE Les Chorégies d’Orange is staging “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “The Flying Dutchman” at the town’s ancient Roman amphitheater this summer, along with concerts starring Anna Catarina Antonacci, Roberto Alagna, Patrizia Cioffi and Leo Nucci. July 11 through Aug. 6; choregies.fr. • MARSEILLE-PROVENCE Check out the rich array of special events comprising Marseille-Provence 2013 (see FM, Spring 2013). mp2013.fr • NORMANDY The Festival Normandie Impressionniste offers a panoply of cultural events—exhibits, performances, films and literary gatherings—revolving around the theme of water (see FM, Spring 2013). normandie-impressionniste.fr

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Culture

• Above, below: An equestrian panel attributed to Giuseppe Zocchi (c. mid-1700s); Chantilly’s Grandes Ecuries.

For centuries, the Château de Chantilly has had a love affair with all things equestrian. Legend has it that Louis-Henri, Duc de Bourbon, the seventh prince of Condé, was so convinced he would be reincarnated as a horse that in 1719 he commissioned architect Jean Aubert to build an appropriately magnificent stable. Completed in 1735, the Grandes Ecuries (which at the time accommodated 240 horses and 150 dogs) are considered one of the 18th century’s architectural masterpieces. The fate of the duke’s soul remains a mystery, but during the five years he had yet to live, Louis-Henri was so proud of the structure that he hosted many sumptuous dinners under its monumental dome. If your only chance to view the Great Stables was in the 1985 James Bond flick A View to a Kill, now is the time to visit in person, particularly if you’re a horse lover. You’ll be one of the first to discover the new MUSÉE DU CHEVAL, which opened in June and features nearly 200 objects—riding equipment, textiles, paintings, engravings, sculptures, audiovisual documents—that reflect the horse’s importance since the beginning of civilization.

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Occupying 15 rooms previously closed to the public, the museum explores such themes as the evolution of horses and their breeds; technical developments in equestrian equipment; and the role played by horses in war, hunting and the exercise of power. Sports are also well represented, particularly the thoroughbred races that have brought renown to Chantilly’s Hippodrome since 1834. A large gallery is devoted to horse-themed works by celebrated artists ranging from Dürer to Dufy, and the final rooms feature an extraordinary collection of carousel horses, with two impeccably restored carriages rounding out the display. After viewing all this equine imagery, pay a visit to the real animals. The Grandes Ecuries’ Live Horse Museum notably houses Iberians, Lusitanians and Pure Spanish horses, breeds similar to those most highly prized when Chantilly’s stables were built. Shows and riding demonstrations highlight the art of Haute-Ecole training, widely considered to be the highest form of equestrian training in France. chateaudechantilly.com

©AK TC / G. FRIEDLI ; ©DAMIEN ROUÉ

spotlight on... Chantilly’s Musée du Cheval

Livres PARIS LINE BY LINE

by Robinson

In the 1960s, illustrator Robinson documented the buildings and neighborhoods of Paris in a series of amazingly precise line drawings. More than 40 years after they were first published, Universe has brought them back into print in this tribute to the City of Light. Fans of both Sempé and Where’s Waldo? will want to snap up this new volume, with its meticulous depictions of Paris landmarks, mind-boggling aerial views and whimsical portrayals of Left Bank bohemians. Universe, $19.95.

FRENCH STYLE

by Bérénice Vila Baudry

What do the TGV, striped T-shirts and Astérix have in common? They’re all included in this eclectic new volume—a compendium of France’s many style icons, with “style” broadly used to encompass art, music, movie stars, philosophers, literary figures, architecture, food, fashion and political principles. Both entertaining and informative, the book offers a visual feast of photographs, movie stills, historical documents, vintage ads and illustrations with a quintessentially French flair. Assouline, $65.

DIAGHILEV and the Ballets Russes 1909-1929

edited by Jane Pritchard

Accompanying exhibitions at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, this beautifully illustrated volume draws on new research to explore the life, work and indelible influence of one of the most gifted impresarios of all time. Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes expanded the frontiers of theater and dance through collaborations encompassing a Who’s Who of Modernists, from Picasso and Stravinsky to Man Ray and Chanel. V&A Publishing, $60.

HOME CHIC Decorating with Style

by India Mahdavi with Soline Delos

An architect by training, India Mahdavi is one of France’s best-known interior designers; her portfolio includes some of the world’s most stylish hotels, bars, restaurants and private residences, not to mention furniture and accessories. Packed with illustrations, her new book features practical advice on pulling together and improving a space while remaining true to your own personal style, and concludes with a selection of “best addresses” and favorite blogs. Flammarion, $29.95.

THE PHILOSOPHER, THE PRIEST, AND THE PAINTER by Steven Nadler

This absorbing new biography approaches Descartes through the “portal” of a painting believed to depict the philosopher. Attributed to the Dutch master Frans Hals and ostensibly commissioned by a Catholic clergyman who was a close friend of the Frenchman, the portrait provides an entree into the intersecting stories of the three men; it also serves as a jumping-off point to examine Descartes’s groundbreaking ideas and his life in Haarlem during the Dutch Golden Age. Princeton University Press, $27.95.

ERIC ROHMER Interviews

edited by Fiona Handyside

Celebrated for such classics as My Night at Maud’s, Chloé in the Afternoon and The Green Ray, Eric Rohmer is synonymous with dialogue-driven films examining the sexual, romantic and artistic mores of contemporary France, the temptations of desire and the unpretentious joys of everyday life. This new book brings together interviews and profiles covering the entire span of the director’s career and offering a range of insights into his remarkably coherent body of work. University Press of Mississippi, $40.

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Bon Voyage

Notes for the savvy traveler UNCOMMON SCENTS

•

La Plage Casadelmar offers alfresco dining and an airy modern décor.

Versailles was dubbed “the perfumed court” under the Sun King, so it’s fitting that the town’s new Cour des Senteurs is located just 100 yards from the château. Sure to become a destination for fragrance buffs, the Cour houses a

• Starwood Hotels & Resorts has just unveiled the Prince de Galles, part of its Luxury Collection,

following a meticulous two-year restoration. This Art Deco jewel in Paris’s exclusive Golden Triangle features custom-made furniture, accent pieces and sumptuous fabrics from some of Paris’s most illustrious maisons. French Top Chef Stéphanie Le Quellec is helming the hotel’s signature restaurant. From E600; luxurycollection.com/princedegalles. • Built in the 1930s, the legendary Hôtel de Paris – St. Tropez has just reopened its doors after 21 years, revealing 90 contemporary, colorful and luxurious rooms and suites. A dramatic glass-bottom pool suspended over the ultra-modern lobby reveals guests doing their laps; three-star chef Georges Blanc presides over an elegant restaurant; and a Clarins spa offers beauty treatments. From E320; hoteldeparis-sainttropez.com. • La Plage Casadelmar is set on a sandy cove in the bay of Porto-Vecchio. Corsica’s natural materials were the inspiration for this 15-room boutique hotel, which blends old stone with volcanic rock, concrete, resin, glass and 300-year-old oak, and is furnished in seaside hues. The restaurant serves uncomplicated cuisine that showcases fresh ingredients and Mediterranean flavors. From E300; laplagecasadelmar.fr. GUIDES

• Paris with Children by Kim Horton Levesque. This pint-sized guide reveals the best parks and playgrounds, carnivals and puppet shows, ice cream stands and toy stores, not to mention kid-friendly eateries and museums. And if the little one develops an earache, no worries—there’s a section on pharmacies and pediatric care. The Little Bookroom, $19.95. • Fashion Insider’s Guide to Paris by Carole Sabas. A correspondent for French Vogue, Sabas was approached so frequently for insider tips that she compiled a small guide for friends. She expanded it for Abrams, and it’s now available to anyone visiting Paris who might be in the market for a quick blow-out, an original cocktail or a Pilates class. Abrams, $24.95. • Quiet Paris by Siobhan Wall. When the hustle and bustle of the French capital get to be too much, it’s time to pull out this lovely little book, which will point you to destinations that are off the beaten track: tranquil gardens, peaceful churches, hushed libraries…. Frances Lincoln Limited, $19.95.

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perfume museum, scent garden and high-end boutiques. Guerlain and Dyptique are among its prestigious tenants; both offer exclusive products inspired by Le Nôtre’s celebrated gardens. versailles-tourisme.com

SUITE DREAMS

ADVERTORIAL

Travels with the

Two Bordelais J

ean-Pierre and Denise Moullé have been offering tours to the “disappearing” parts of France for more than two decades. Originally from Bordeaux, they have lived in Berkeley, California, for the past 30 years, an experience that has given them unique insight into what Americans love about France. Their tours are veritable immersions into French life, delivering a wonderful mix of authenticity, intimacy and discovery. Guests stay in private homes—farmhouses, châteaux and everything in between—and fabulous meals are prepared by Jean-Pierre, who for three decades reigned as head chef at Berkeley’s award-winning Chez Panisse restaurant. The Two Bordelais’s most popular tours are those to Bordeaux, where Denise and Jean-Pierre own a farmhouse and spend their summers. Their deep roots here (Denise hails from one of the region’s leading winemaking families) give them a rare access and knowledge that translate into unique experiences for their guests. Last fall, they began offering tours of the French Basque country, an area south of Bordeaux that they have enjoyed discovering over the years. Bordered by the Pyrenees mountains, the Atlantic and Spain, the Basque region is one of the rare parts of France where traditions have been preserved and modernity has not yet encroached on the bucolic landscape. Visitors immediately notice that this is a very special place. The Basques are fiercely independent, with their own political party that fights to preserve local culture and the regional language, which is still taught in schools. Road signs are in Basque as well as French, and every village boasts a trinquet, the wall used for playing pelote (a kind of squash), a uniquely Basque activity that unites the entire community.

Two Bordelais, P.O. Box 1800, Windsor, CA 95492

In the countryside, you’ll find rolling green hills, forests and meadows dotted with grazing sheep. For centuries, pilgrims from throughout Europe have made their way across this landscape on their way to Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain, and many of the charming chapels they built still grace the hillsides. The region is justly renowned for its wonderful culinary specialties: fragrant sheep’s milk cheeses, delicious charcuterie, chili peppers, chocolate, black cherry jam…. And artisans here still carry on traditional crafts, making espadrilles, shepherds’ staffs (carving one can take as many as three years) and Basque linens, prized for their bright colors and sturdiness. To make sure visitors get the most out of their week here, the Moullés carefully select the best of the best. Guests are guided from seaside villages and breathtaking Biarritz beaches, where the world’s top surfers compete, to picturesque hillsides, where they meet shepherds, hike to small remote chapels and enjoy picnics in huts built by hunters tracking palombes, a tiny bird that is a local delicacy. Tours are limited to eight guests, who are lodged in a lovely private Basque mansion; rooms are furnished with local antiques and offer contemporary en suite bathrooms. Jean-Pierre prepares dinner here every evening, and each morning packs gourmet picnic lunches that guests leisurely enjoy in charming, secluded countryside locations. Jean-Pierre and Denise have a gift for making guests feel wonderfully at home, and clearly love sharing “their” France. As one former guest wrote, “From the moment you picked us up at the airport in Bordeaux to the farewell dinner, the learning, the experiences, the surprises, joys and pleasures never ceased.”

Tel. 707-838-8839

info@twobordelais.com

www.twobordelais.com

Bon Voyage

Notes for the savvy traveler GARDEN PARTY

Chaumont-sur-Loire’s Festival International des Jardins showcases the world’s most out-of-the-box garden designs. Twenty projects, selected by a jury headed by eminent literary journalist and TV host Bernard Pivot, explore the many permutations of the theme “Jardin des Sensations”; additionally, a number of special guests and teams—designers, landscape artists, artists, botanists, sound technicians— were given free rein to create their own gardens. Contemporary art exhibits run concurrently with the festival. Through Oct. 20; domaine-chaumont.fr.

For travelers who feel ready to branch out a bit, spending the night in a treehouse is a great way to get a new perspective on things. Just about every region in France has its share of these leafy hideaways; known as cabanes perchées, they range from Swiss-Family-Robinson rustic to spa-inthe-sky luxe. Here are a few options: • Orion B&B, near St-Paul-de-Vence,

features four sweet red-cedar treehouses named for Jungle Book characters. Spacious balconies are outfitted with comfy hammocks, and guests are also welcome to use the pool, filled with pure, filtered water. From €140; orionbb.com. • Perched among the pines, the two treehouses at Les Ecotagnes, in the

The Domaine de •Capelongue’s newly renovated dovecote.

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French Alps, are a little on the spartan side, but natural wood, candlelight and scenic panoramas give them plenty of charm. Each one has its own deck where guests can have breakfast or dinner or simply revel in the natural beauty from more than 25 feet up. From €155, including breakfast and dinner; ecotagnes.com. • Cabanes Perchées dans les • Le Nid dans L’Arbre’s romantic Toi et Moi treehouse. Arbres, located in the Dordogne region, offers a chance to commune with spectrum. Located on the grounds of a nature in considerable comfort; its three five-star property in the Vendée, each treehouses are heated and well insulated luxuriously appointed cabin is designed and offer a scenic view of the medieval around a specific person or theme village of Monpazier. From €130; (Dian Fossey, Madame de Pompadour, cabanes-perchees-dans-les-arbres.com. In the Mood for Love). All feature • A tree trunk runs through the most stylish furnishings and fine linens, air romantic cabins rented out by Le Nid conditioning and Internet access. From dans l’Arbre, in the Picardy region, €330; chateau-boisniard.com. about 50 miles from Paris. These love • If you think sleeping up in the air is nests come with a bottle of Champagne. for the birds, the reconverted dovecote From €160; leniddanslarbre.com. on the grounds of Provence’s Domaine • Spectacular mountain vistas are among de Capelongue—a Relais & Châteaux the amenities offered by the charmingly property celebrated for Edouard Loubet’s rustic Cabanes Perchées des Pyrénées. delectable cuisine—offers airy elegance Kids will enjoy the suspension bridges in the round, with lovely views of the and bunk beds, and soaking in a hot surrounding countryside. From €380; tub 15 feet above the ground is sure capelongue.com. to be a first for everybody. From €130; For more information, visit cabanes-decabanespercheesdespyrenees.fr. france.com and check out the site of one • Château Boisniard’s 10 treehouses of the top treehouse builders, La Cabane are definitely at the posh end of the Perchée (la-cabane-perchee.com).

©DR, COMDESIMAGES.COM, ©LAURENT DECAVELE

nesting instincts

Bon Voyage TABLE TALK

sophisticated new bistro.

GRANDS MAGASINS

• Why not pick Lafayette stores

( g)

up some culture while you’re shopping? Galeries in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Paris and Strasbourg are showcasing contemporary art in their store windows in a project called “Vitrines sur l’Art.” Local FRACs are setting up the displays, as part of their 30-year anniversary celebrations (see Culture). July 3 through 31; galerieslafayette.com. • Best known as the French capital’s DIY mecca, the BHV now boasts the Marais’s largest center of beauty and skin-care products along with a selection of the most sought-after perfume brands, from Chanel and Dior to Serge Lutens and Terry de Gunzburg. bhv.fr • Strasbourg has just transformed its more than century-old Printemps store into a purveyor of luxury fashions, watches, jewelry and beauty potions. Its “Belle Parfumerie” department (left) offers rare brands (Francis Kurkdjian, Kilian, Acqua di Parma) amid works of art. printemps.com

Julia Sammut contributed to this section.

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LOCAL BOUNTY

Think globally, shop locally. Which, if you’re in Paris, means doing your souvenir shopping at Taj, a new concept store in the first arrondissement devoted entirely to Frenchmade crafts. The boutique selects its merchandise based on elegance, prestige, authenticity and tradition, and carries everything from jam to leather goods to stationery. Each item is accompanied by a card explaining its origins. From €2 to €350; taj-paris.com.

Top: Edgar, specializing in seafood. •Above: The Régalade Conservatoire’s

• Outdoor seating and super-fresh seafood give Edgar (which shares space with a funky new boutique hotel) a beachy atmosphere. Inside, the Danish Modern dining room and cocktail bar with turquoise walls are very on-trend. Hungry guests will find plenty to tempt them: heaps of shellfish, including top-notch Charente oysters; smoked herring, beets and fromage blanc; steamed clams with chorizo…. About E30; 31 rue d’Alexandrie, 2e; Tel. 33/1-40-41-0569; edgarhotel.com. • Housed at the five-star Hôtel de Nell, the Régalade Conservatoire boasts an elegant interior by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and delicious modern bistro fare. The emphasis is on cuisine de terroir and seasonal ingredients; this spring’s menu included such treats as asparagus and watercress soup topped with little cubes of duck foie gras and crispy bacon. Dinner menu at E35; 7 rue du Conservatoire, 9e; Tel. 33/1-4483-83-60; hoteldenell.com. • Like Jeanne A, its sister establishment in the 11th arrondissement, Jeanne B is an épicerie-traiteurrôtisserie where you can eat in or carry out. If the weather’s nice, grab an outside table for that Améliein-Montmartre feeling. Best bets include pâté en croûte, roast chicken, gratin dauphinois and croqu’homard. Lunch from E15; dinner from E23; 61 rue Lepic, 18e; Tel. 33/1-42-51-17-53; jeanne-b-comestibles.com.

SPONSORING FOUNDATIONS

France Magazine and the French-American Cultural Foundation are honored to receive the support of these distinguished foundations.

For more than 35 years, the Florence Gould Foundation has been actively involved in a variety of projects that further Mrs. Gould’s desire to promote FrenchAmerican amity. Recent efforts include a grant to World Monuments Fund for the planning and documentation of the cloister restoration at the Church of St Trophime in Arles; a grant to The Frick Collection in New York for “Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting”; funding for several American Postdoctoral Fellows to study and work at Paris’s Institut Pasteur;

The Annenberg Foundation is a longtime supporter of L’Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris, which trains students from around the world.

and a partnership with the French Heritage Society to aid in repairing the Monumental Staircase of Auch, in Gascony. On a smaller scale, a gift was made to Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo for the acquisition of two Baudets de Poitou, an endangered variety of French donkey. At last report, Samuel and Balthazar had completely settled in and were enjoying their new surroundings as they help educate the public about rare breeds of farm animals.

The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that supports nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally. Its mission is to advance the public well-being through improved communication; as the principle means of achieving this goal, it encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. Since 1989, it has generously funded programs in education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community life; health and human services; animal services and the environment. The Foundation contributes to numerous programs that foster cultural exchange between the U.S. and France through its Paris-based initiative GRoW Annenberg. GRoW supports innovative projects in the arts, education and humanitarian efforts.

Samuel and Balthazar, two rare Baudet de Poitou donkeys donated to Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo by The Florence Gould Foundation.

The Foundation’s French grantees include the Institut Curie, which has created a research lab to further the understanding of the origin of neuroblastoma, one of the most common forms of childhood cancer. It is also supporting the development of educational tools at the Louvre and the operations of L’Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris, which offers American-style dance instruction to students from around the world. In the humanitarian sector, GRoW funds a wide range of programs by CARE France and Médecins du Monde, which work to improve the health and well-being of individuals worldwide. The Foundation continues to be a vital presence abroad and remains among the most generous American contributors to France. annenbergfoundation.org

Nouveautés

Shopping in Provence

BASICS INSTINCT AMERICAN VINTAGE is

neither American nor vintage—the Marseille-based boutique is known for cool, casual, lightweight basics in a wide range of colors. Its summer collection, now available at a handful of New York locations (see the company’s Web site), is a study in unpretentious chic. am-vintage.com

CRÈME DE LA CRÈME Redolent of lemon, artemisia and cypress, the delicate aroma of Panier des Sens’s “Soothing Provence” HAND CREAM will transport you to the Southern French countryside. The lotion is formulated with more than 20 percent shea butter, making it ultra-moisturizing and easily absorbed. $17; panierdessens.us.

EARTH WORKS Aix-en-Provence’s Atelier Buffile transforms clay from the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire into dishes, bowls, cups and pitchers; some 30 faience glazes give them their vivid hues. The studio’s HAND-PAINTED PLATTERS ($160 to $480)offer an extra pop. buffile-ceramiste.com

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After working with some of France’s major fashion labels—Hermès, Louis Vuitton—Philippe Le Noën opened his own boutique in Forcalquier, where he creates topof-the-line LEATHER GOODS. Along with custom pieces, he designs and produces luggage, saddles, home décor items, and men’s and women’s bags, including the covetable calfskin “Heidi” ($1,400). lenoen-sellier-maroquinier.com

A M E R I C A N V I N TA G E , L E N O Ë N S E L L I E R M A R O Q U I N I E R , PA N I E R D E S S E N S , AT E L I E R B U F F I L E

SKIN IN THE GAME

BUCKET LIST What do Champagne and LA VERRERIE DE BIOT have in common? They took a perceived flaw—bubbles—and turned it into a delightful asset. The glassmaker’s latest collection, “Les Coupes et Les Coupelles,” comes in eight colors. From $30; verreriebiot.com.

V E R R E R I E D E B I O T, L E S J A R D I N S A U B O U T D U M O N D E , B É R A R D / Q U E L O B J E C T, P O T E R I E R AV E L , C H A M B R E D E M É T I E R S E T D E L'A R T I S A N AT D E S B O U C H E S - D U - R H Ô N E

SHADY CHARACTERS At the beach, the glare can make it hard to concentrate on even the most riveting page-turners. No worries, designer Claude Robin’s adjustable SHADELINE VISOR for the Aixbased outdoor-furniture company Les Jardins au Bout du Monde has you covered. $199; haymanandsummers.com.

DAILY GRIND Nestled in the mountains of northern Provence, Bérard has been handcrafting artisanal kitchen tools and accessories since 1892. Their sustainably harvested olive-wood SALT AND PEPPER MILLS are now available stateside from Quel Objet. $160; quelobjet.com.

HOT POTS Poterie Ravel, north of Cannes, employs time-honored techniques to create both traditional and contemporary TERRA COTTA VESSELS. Its latest collection, “Uluru” (the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock), is the fruit of a collaboration with designer Jean-Marie Massaud. From $14 to $360; poterie-ravel.com.

Skill Sets Throughout Provence’s towns and villages, artisans continue to ply their trade, crafting traditional items and contemporary objects using age-old techniques. To visit their studios, simply consult LA ROUTE DES MÉTIERS D’ART ET DES ENTREPRISES DU PATRIMOINE VIVANT. It offers two

ways to plan a trip: by geographical region or by medium (ceramic, glass, wood and so on). A helpful app available from the Web site also helps travelers locate nearby ateliers and boutiques. provenceartisans.fr

à la carte

French food & drink in America

mille feuilles

By DOROTHY J. GAITER

• Craft Cocktails by Brian Van Flandern. If The Great Gatsby has you in the mood for white linen suits and swanky cocktails on the lawn, this book’s for you. OK, you’ll have to supply your own wardrobe, but Van Flandern, the famed mixologist, has you covered with the libations. The companion to Assouline’s Vintage Cocktails, it contains recipes for his original concoctions as well as some he’s collected. A few have French roots, most employ French spirits, and many are photographed in exquisite crystal barware from Baccarat and Lalique. Assouline, $50.

• The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese by Kathe Lison. Lison is an admitted “Cheesehead” whose great-greatgrandfather owned a dairy in Wisconsin. This witty little book traces her education from the industrial cheese of her youth through a wondrous journey across France, meeting cheese makers and absorbing their passion, history and traditions. Broadway Paperback Original, $15.

“

• French Lessons: Recipes and Techniques for a New Generation of Cooks by Justin North. This sumptuous book by the founder and chef of Bécasse restaurant in Sydney draws on the author’s years in French kitchens in Europe and his native Australia. Comprehensive and beautifully illustrated, it gives home cooks stepby-step instructions for more than 300 French dishes and 23 separate lessons on the techniques employed in their creation. And in a welcome improvement over the original edition, the new reprint features American measurements. Hardie Grant Books, $45.

• Into Wine: An Invitation to Pleasure by Olivier Magny. Magny founded Ô Chateau, a wine education center in Paris, a decade ago, and in 2011 added an award-winning wine bar. He’s a consultant to the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, an influential blogger, a TV personality and a best-selling author. This lively tutorial explores a wide range of topics including the meaning of terroir, the best regions for various wines, and which glasses are best with which wines. Gourmand Horizons, $19.99.

A PROPOS...

I like to consider oak for wine like make-up for women. Sometimes, it’s not needed; used sparingly, it can be quite lovely; when it’s the first thing you notice, it’s rarely a sign of elegance. 20

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”

— Olivier Magny, founder of Ô Chateau.

• The French Market Cookbook, Vegetarian Recipes from My Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier. This clever book is arranged by season and inspires pangs of longing in anyone who has ever gone to a produce market in Paris. Dusoulier, an author and blogger, includes a section called “produce to play with” for each season, providing a list of what’s fresh and recipes using those ingredients. Some of the 82 dishes are gluten free, others steer clear of dairy products. There’s something for everyone. Clarkson Potter, Random House, $23.

C H R I S T O P H E R S O U T H / T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S / R E D U X

Summer by the Sip Summer is for light, bright foods and equally sunny wines, from sparklers that dance on your tongue to reds—yes, reds— that can zig and zag with a wide variety of dishes. Nearly every winegrowing region of France offers delightful summer sippers, with styles varied enough to match every occasion, from picnics in the park to dinners on a yacht. Here are a few favorites along with pairing suggestions. Whether it’s January or July, you can never go wrong with Champagne. It’s delicious with most foods and can be served with appetizers or throughout a meal. Many of us have a favorite—Billecart-Salmon, Bollinger, Roederer, Gosset…. Buy it. It’ll be wonderful and you deserve it. But remember, as our friends at the Champagne Bureau tirelessly repeat, “Real Champagne comes only from Champagne.” Everything else is sparkling wine. One sparkler that’s growing in popularity is Crémant d’Alsace. After Champagne, it’s the most consumed sparkling wine in France. And it’s easy on the wallet, usually under $25. Albert Mann Crémant d’Alsace 2010 ($22) is a classy sip, nutty, fruity and nicely acidic, with lovely soft bubbles. Enjoy it alone or pair with salads, simple pastas, grilled seafood or chicken. Prefer pink? Look for Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace Rosé ($21); made of pinot noir, it stands up nicely to weightier dishes such as pasta in cream sauce or grilled fish with a spritely Dijon sauce. Whites from Alsace are also great warm weather options. For lovely aromatics and complexity, try a bottle from the vast, sustainably farmed Domaine Schlumberger in Alsace. Pick any one and you’ve got a winner: the versatile Pinot Blanc Les Princes Abbés ($17), great with spicy Thai dishes, or the rich but light Pinot Gris Les Princes Abbés ($20) or Pinot Gris Grand Cru Spiegel 2007 ($28). And of course the swoon-worthy Riesling Grand Cru Saering 2008 ($32). While all may be enjoyed year-round, their enticing acidity and minerality, not to mention the cool temperatures at which they are served, enliven and lift summer cuisine. They don’t shrink from vinaigrettes, the smokiness of

( ) Bottles that can take the heat

grilled foods, the brininess of chilled shellfish For more elegant dinners, consider whites or the fat in poached salmon and fried dishes. from the Graves appellation in Bordeaux. If it’s been a while since you’ve tried a They are stunning, full-bodied wines with true Chablis, this is a great time of year to do hints of toast, lemon zest and roasted peaches. so. Made from chardonnay grapes grown in These are weighty wines in a cerebral sense, northern Burgundy, the wines are flinty, with a splendid with oysters, butter-poached lobsters lovely minerality that beautifully complements and filet of sole. One of the most reliable is seafood. There are four appellations with strict Château Carbonnieux ($47), whose blend production standards. In ascending level of of sauvignon blanc and semillon is majestic; every sip demands attention. Many light reds also benefit from a slight chill and can be super-tasty with summer foods, among them Beaujolais—not Nouveau, but Beaujolais Villages or wines from the appellation’s 10 crus. Perennial summer faves are the three lightest of the bunch: Brouilly, Régnié and Chiroubles. Another cool red: Chinon from the Loire Valley. Earthy and lifeaffirming, these cabernet francbased wines are lean, sometimes a little herbal and pure delights with everything—including • Domaines Ott rosé, the ultimate in seaside chic. hamburgers from the grill. Try quality: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru those made by Bernard Baudry and Catherine and Grand Cru. Prices vary accordingly. Some & Pierre Breton, which begin at around $16 names to look for: the fruity Domaine des but taste much more expensive. And Olga Malandes 2010 Chablis ($20), the elegant Raffault “Les Picasses” ($24) is a steal. Domaine Seguinot-Bordet 2011 Premier Cru Can any wine beat the heat better than Fourchaume ($29), the celebrated Domaine rosé de Provence? With exports to the U.S. Christian Moreau Père et Fils “Clos des reportedly up 41 percent in volume from Hospices” 2010 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos November 2011 to November 2012, there ($105), and the classic Domaine William Fèvre are now many to choose from at prices 2009 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur ($99). ranging from $11 to more than $80 (for the For a taste of sunny Provence, you may cult Château d’Esclans Garrus; the Château’s want to try Marrenon wines, which are just Whispering Angel rosé is about $20). A now reaching the U.S. in good numbers. couple we’ve enjoyed lately: Château Beaulieu Marrenon is a cooperative of 1,200 ($14) from the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence winegrowers that makes about 80 percent of appellation, which can easily take on savory the wine produced in the Luberon, some of meats like short ribs, and Estandon Côtes it organically farmed, as well as wines from de Provence ($12), a juicy, exuberant wine the Ventoux and Pays de Vaucluse. They that was poured at the Cannes and Los are impressive values, generally from $14 to Angeles film festivals. And of course, nothing $50. The 2009 Grand Marrenon white ($18) quite says summer like a chilled magnum of is a charming floral blend of five different Domaines Ott, that de rigueur pink accessory varietals. Wonder what wine goes with fried for chic beach parties from St. Tropez to the f chicken? Check it out. Hamptons. Pairs well with fun.

The three most sought-after letters in the world of French craftsmanship stand for ENTREPRISE DU PATRIMOINE VIVANT, a distinction that confers valuable recognition and benefits on the country’s most outstanding artisans. On the following pages, AMY SERAFIN looks at what it takes to become an EPV and profiles several of the companies in this exclusive club.

FRANCE • SUMMER 2013

Some 1,130 Living Heritage Companies perpetuate traditional French savoir-faire at its most refined; more than 340 of these have existed for at least a century, with the oldest dating back to 1309. Left to right, from top: crystal-blowing at Baccarat’s factory in Lorraine; gilded Baccarat glasses; translucent Bernardaud porcelain; an artisan hand-sculpts bisque porcelain at Bernardaud; colorful Beauvillé table linens; a lotus necklace from Augustine by Thierry Gripoix; applying a signature to a finished piece; a pâte de verre Lalique sculpture; a hammered bowl from Roland Daraspe; the celebrated Restaurant Taillevent; elegant pastry from Pierre Hermé.

FRANCE • S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

ELLY HANNON, A STURDY, SILVER-HAIRED WOMAN wearing a smudged apron, takes a gluesoaked sheet of recycled paper off a pile and places it on a plaster mold of a human torso, smoothing it with expert movements and making little rips in strategic places so that it lies perfectly flat. Her quick, confident gestures bear witness to 25 years of standing on her feet eight hours a day, crafting busts for Siegel & Stockman. Newspapers seem to be filled with stories of factory closings, yet in hundreds of companies like this one, talented artisans are forging on, using rare tools, materials and techniques to create everything from riding boots to silver

The oldest family-owned company on the list is Mellerio dits chalices. Producing extraordinary things is part of what has always made France special; this country can claim more than 300 com- Meller, makers of haute joaillerie. Founded in 1613, it has thrived for panies whose workers have passed their skills down through several an incredible 14 generations. Mellerio’s first royal client was Marie generations, keeping their businesses alive through revolution, in- Antoinette. The many exquisite pieces they crafted for her include dustrialization, war, recession, globalization and perhaps the biggest a cameo bracelet set with rubies; it survived the Revolution and was challenge of all: changing tastes. repurchased by the jeweler many years later. Now it is safely locked The government has come to realize how important it is to pro- away in a company vault. tect this unique heritage. Seven years ago it created a quality label, A number of EPV companies were born along with the French Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (EPV), roughly translated as Living Revolution—Antoine Courtois Paris has been creating brass musical Heritage Company. Awarded by the Ministry of Economy and Fi- instruments since 1789. Others took shape during the Empire; the nance, it recognizes French companies that have remarkable artisanal Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, awarded the EPV label for its restaurant, or industrial expertise. The brainchild of Renaud Dutreil, a former was built in 1854 as Empress Eugénie’s summer residence. But EPVs government minister, it is overseen by the Institut Supérieur des Mé- don’t have to be old, just old enough to have established themselves tiers (ISM), a state-supported agency devoted to artisans and small as outstanding. Among the 70 that originated during the current milbusiness. As ISM director Alexis Govciyan explains, “The Minister lennium is Feeling’s, founded by Sylvie Coquet, who crafts delicate knew that in every region of France there were beautiful companies and unusual Limoges porcelain objects. But she wasn’t new to her art with exceptional know-how, often passed down through generations, when she set up shop in 2001. Her father, Jean-Louis, launched J.L. and that it was important for the State to be there for them—to bring Coquet (also an EPV) half a century ago. Today his creative tablethem recognition but also to help them innovate and develop inter- ware is found in several three-star restaurants. national markets.” To earn the label, which is valid for five years, a company must EPVS ARE ORGANIZED INTO SEVEN CATEGORIES, THE LARGEST fulfill three criteria (beyond, obviously, making its goods in France). being Decoration—makers of furniture, clocks, passementerie and First, it must use uncommon machines, tools or models, or hold a the like. There’s also Fashion and Beauty; Building Heritage (such patent. Second, it must possess skills that are traditional as parquet or stonework); Culture and or highly specialized, either artisanal or industrial. In Leisure (piano makers, ship builders); ProEPVs run the gamut from practice, this often means that the company (or one of fessional Equipment (a more industrial catcowbell makers to medical instrument manufacturers. its employees) is among the last to master particular techegory including leather tanners and medical Opposite, clockwise from top niques, and that no schools teach them. Third, it must instruments); Tableware (porcelain, crysleft: A lacquered and engraved have an established reputation, either because it has been tal, knives); and Gastronomy, which was tenor saxophone from Henri in the same location for at least 50 years, occupies a site added in 2011 after UNESCO recognized Selmer Paris; an intricate ceiling ornament by Atelier Rouveureof historical interest, produces its goods in an area that is the French gastronomic meal as part of the Marquez; jewelry from Mellerio historically significant for its industry or has name recworld’s cultural heritage. In the two years dits Meller, purveyors to Marie ognition among professionals in its field. Export is not a since, dozens of food and beverage comAntoinette; filter papers from requirement, though it is a plus. panies have received the label, including Prat Dumas, the oldest French company still in operation. Today there are 1,130 EPVs, 341 of which have been legendary restaurant Taillevent, Pâtisserie around for a hundred years or more. One of these is Prat Pierre Hermé and an absinthe distiller. Dumas, the oldest French company still in operation. Its roots go Nearly half of the EPVs are in the Ile-de-France region; the reback to 1309, when a monastery owned by Pope Clement V crafted mainder are spread throughout the country and France’s overseas decrude writing paper. In the 1800s, the monks’ successors developed partments. Several are internationally renowned, employ thousands filter paper for a pharmacist in Bergerac, and it is this specialization of workers and are among the most successful brands in France— that permitted Prat Dumas to negotiate the tricky transition from Chanel, Guerlain, Louis Vuitton Malletier (trunks), Baccarat and the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Today their vast array of filter Hermès Sellier. Others consist of a single employee. Consider Roland papers includes such items as extraction thimbles, which analyze the Daraspe, a boilermaker and aeronautic mechanic with a creative bent who taught himself orfèvrerie, or silversmithing. Today he practices fat and protein contents of food. 24

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this ancient tradition in a totally contemporary spirit, designing and crafting unique pieces to order, such as a beautifully ridged silver wine carafe and a three-footed soup tureen that looks as if it landed from another (very chic) planet. Several EPVs are brave hold-outs in industries struggling to survive in the modern world. There are feather masters, who flourished in an era when people wore hats, and fan makers, from a time when this accessory was de rigueur for ladies. Heraldic engravers. Corset-makers. Gold-beaters (who pummel gold leaf). Even bell forgers. Since 1829, the Devouassoud family has been following a 51-step process to make the steel bells hanging from the necks of Alpine cows. “We’re not a multinational, that’s for sure,” says Martine Devouassoud. “We’re pretty local. But we’ve managed to hold on for six generations. And

if we shut down, our craft dies with us.” Speaking for all these fragile sectors, ISM’s Govciyan notes, “When they’re gone, they’re gone.” In general, though, EPVs seem to be doing very well, especially those that cater to high-end niches that resist economic downturns. Govciyan points out that one-third have an annual turnover of more than €1.7 million. “There was a major recession during our first five years, but when the original batch of companies applied to renew, we saw that many had not only maintained but had increased their sales during that period.” He attributes this growth to the fact that most no longer rely solely on the French market; three-quarters of EPVs export their products, and 16 percent make the bulk of their revenues from international clients. Typical is Breton furniture maker Ateliers Allot, a company FRANC E • S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

founded in 1812 and run by seven successive generations. Although the French market for high-end furniture is soft, Ateliers Allot says that it is doing just fine, thanks to exports, which now represent 85 percent of its turnover. “If sales aren’t strong enough in France, why not try the Middle East or India, where there are wealthy people looking for exceptional furniture?” asks Govciyan. “Gilding, marquetry—these are very rare skills.”

Don Quixote at the opera, a period movie such as Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. But there’s no one to fill Hoguet’s shoes once she’s gone. “I’m not really looking to invest in the company anymore,” she says. “What I care about most now is finding somebody to run it after me, to ensure it will live on.” Graduates from applied An artisan painstakingly arts programs are her ideal candidates, though applies gold leaf to they still need to train with her for three years a Baccarat glass. before mastering the craft. HE EPV VETTING PROCESS IS QUITE RIGOROUS In some cases, a large EPV buys out a smaller one, thereby ensur(see sidebar), but that is what gives the label its pres- ing its longevity. One example is Anthony Delos, a young shoemaker tige. Since its launch seven years ago, 2,508 com- who handcrafts luxurious custom footwear. In 2007 he received the panies have applied and 1,130 have been accepted. EPV label and the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France title. Five Govciyan expects the total to level off, now that years later, he sold his business to another, much bigger EPV, Berluti most of the potentially eligible firms have already sought admission. (owned by LVMH). His former competitor is now his boss. And to ensure that the distinction retains its aura of excellence, For others, the appeal of belonging to this exclusive club is that companies are required to re-apply every five years, going through the it helps grow their business. Nearly two years ago, Fabienne Saligue entire process all over again. You might ask why any business would bought Maison Fey, a small house that specializes in hand-tooled subject itself to this grind when there’s work to be done beating gold, leatherwork. Soon after, she applied for the EPV label. She says she hand-blowing crystal or distilling absinthe. Sometimes it’s simply for was attracted by the tax advantages but also by the image it affords, the thrill of recognition. S.T. Dupont has been around for 140 years, the guarantee of quality—she collaborates with a lot of other EPVs— making travel cases for the weddings of Queen Elizabeth and her and the support the Institut Supérieur des Métiers can offer her, espegrandson William, cigarette lighters for Marilyn Monroe and Pablo cially overseas. She cites its collaboration with Ubifrance, the French Picasso, pens for Jackie Kennedy and agency that helps companies develop their exKarl Lagerfeld. And yet the owner port activities. One agreement, for example, perMAKING THE GRADE was so pleased to receive the EPV mitted her and other EPVs to consult a detailed Applicants for the EPV quality label must fill out forms that label last year that he celebrated the study of the Chinese market free of charge. honor by teaming up with another they submit to a special committee at the ISM. Typical The ISM can also help EPVs secure loans, questions are: “Which technological or technical improveEPV, gunmaker Verney-Carron, to an invaluable boost when a company is having ments have you implemented to help traditional techniques create a one-of-a-kind rifle. With cash-flow problems. “Negotiating with banks evolve?” or “What percentage of your company’s turnover comes from a rare savoir-faire?” a mechanism as sophisticated as a can be difficult, especially in a recession. But The committee then asks for the opinion of the Chamber timepiece and a barrel coated in Chiwhen we intervene, they tend to treat EPVs difof Commerce or Chambre des Métiers (depending upon nese lacquer to resemble crocodile, it ferently,” says Govciyan. Along those same lines, whether the company is industrial or artisanal). It may consult is a true masterpiece. his agency has signed agreements with various the local government agency in charge of commerce to see if the company is well known. It also sends experts from the For many others, the leading inpartners, such as an association of accountants, same field to verify the company’s expertise and/or the tools centive to become an EPV is finanto offer EPVs additional assistance. and machines it uses to make its wares. cial. The government offers EPVs Given that small artisanal firms frequently Next, the application is studied by a national commission a 15 percent tax break for expenses have only a few employees, communications made up of experts in various fields (fashion, gastronomy, furniture and so on) as well as representatives from the related to creating new jobs or prodand marketing can also present enormous Ministry of Culture (since many applicants work on historical ucts (salaries, payroll taxes, protochallenges—every minute devoted to PR and buildings or objects), the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry types and so on). In addition, it gives sales is a minute not spent producing goods. The of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Ministry of a €2,200 tax credit for every new ISM is helpful here as well, publishing a guide of Handicraft, Commerce and Tourism. This commission meets seven or eight times a year to review applications. Those apprentice hired. This is key, says EPVs that it sends out to designers, architects and that pass this step are sent to the Minister of Economy and Govciyan. “Many companies need interior decorators. Last June, the ISM hosted Finance, who gives his or her final approval for the label. to train people in-house, as these an exhibition of French excellence with some skills are taught nowhere else.” The 30 EPVs at Harrods in London, and in 2011 it credit is especially important to companies that have neither fils nor presented a selection of EPVs to American professionals at LVMH fille waiting in the wings and are counting on apprentices to take over. headquarters in New York. This year, you will find EPVs—sometimes One of these is Atelier Anne Hoguet, located in Paris’s theater at a stand of their own—at trade shows and events such as Maison & district, where most fan-makers set up shop back in the day. Anne Objet, Made in France, Révélations, the France Production Expo, the Hoguet entered the family business at age 14 and is now nearing re- Salon du Patrimoine Culturel and the Fête de la Gastronomie. tirement age. Working alone, she performs the tasks once done by What does all this cost the government? Taken together, the EPVs 20 different artisans, among them embroiderers, lacemakers, decora- account for 53,000 jobs and a total turnover of €11.5 billion. Govcitive painters and wood carvers. It’s slow, fastidious labor, and she yan estimates that the tax credits cost the state less than €15 million still uses many of the same rudimentary wood and steel tools that a year. “When you consider what these companies represent—the have been in her family for more than a century. Business comes in revenue, the number of jobs, France’s place on the world stage—it’s f spurts—a ready-to-wear collection for Louis Vuitton, a rush order for not expensive at all.” 26

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Gastronomy CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER Founded in 1829, EPV since 2012

• When the producers of the James Bond movies set out to find a suitably sophisticated libation for 007, they chose Bollinger Champagne. In fact, author Ian Fleming first introduced Bond to Bollinger in Diamonds Are Forever (1956), and it was the secret agent’s Champagne of choice in movies from Live and Let Die to Skyfall. Bond’s taste is, of course, impeccable. Bollinger is powerful and complex, made using traditional, labor-intensive techniques and with a majority of its grapes (notably

pinot noir) grown in the house’s own vineyards, a rarity in Champagne. There are several reasons that this is the first—and for now, the only—Champagne house to be an EPV. It still practices ancestral methods such as hand riddling, matures its wines on the lees twice as long as required by the appellation, and employs the region’s last barrel maker. Also unique: its “library” of 650,000 corked magnums of reserve wines, used to blend non-vintage cuvées. Then there is the company’s impressive history. One of the last remaining independent Champagne houses, Bollinger is still owned by its founding family and occupies the same estate in Aÿ that the young nobleman Athanase de Villermont inherited in the early 1800s. His aristocratic title forbade him from being a tradesman, so he partnered with a local, Paul Renaudin, and a German who had come to France to learn the Champagne business, Joseph Bollinger. Together they created Renaudin-Bollinger & Co in 1829.

Bollinger remains the first and only Champagne maker to have acquired EPV status. Boasting an impressive history, the house still practices ageold techniques as well as sustainable wine-growing methods.

Joseph Bollinger married de Villermont’s daughter, and the house was passed down through the generations. One of the most unforgettable personalities in its history was a Scottish woman, Elizabeth, who wed the founder’s grandson, Jacques, then became a widow in 1942. She ran the house with passion and a sense of perfection. Locals still fondly remember her riding her bicycle through the vineyards. In 2008, the house was entrusted to Jérôme Philipon, who together with Jacques Bollinger Company, the family group holding, strives to preserve and enhance its unique heritage. One example: Bollinger now uses sustainable winegrowing techniques that have made it the first Champagne label to obtain the government’s “High Environmental Value” certification. Today Bollinger exports to more than a hundred countries— including England, of course, where Brits refer to it affectionately as “Bolly.” champagnebollinger.com

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• Parquets Romoli has its atelier in Pierrevert, a medieval village of some 4,000 souls in the Luberon, but its reputation stretches from Moscow to Doha. Founded in 1969 by Gino Romoli, it is now headed by his sons Yves and Gilles. The company specializes in decorative parquet: friezes, rosettes, checkerboards and original designs made to order. Many look more like carpets than floors, with intricate patterns resembling kaleidoscopes or exotic games of chance. (The company also offers more than 100

Building Heritage PARQUETS ROMOLI

models of ready-made flooring.) Romoli’s creations decorate the mansions, châteaux, yachts and government buildings of an extremely elite clientele, which has included Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, King Hassan II of Morocco and the Al Thani family of Qatar. You will also find their work in the Uzbek Parliament building, the Kremlin’s Red Salon and one of the Queen Mary 2’s restaurants. “Our products have nothing in common with basic floorboards,” says Yves Romoli, explaining that his family’s specialty is solid-wood marquetry that is one

centimeter thick. More than 15 different species of hardwood are carefully chosen for what he calls “an attractive vein, an attractive grain and a natural color that doesn’t fade in the sun.” They source materials from the very best sawmills, similar to the way top chefs use only the finest ingredients. The company’s highly trained workers measure the wood by hand, cut it using carbide blades and fit it into elaborate patterns like puzzles. The result, says Romoli, is “le beau pour durer”— beauty meant to last. parquets-romoli.com

Founded in 1969, EPV since 2010

Parquets Romoli’s solid-wood marquetry incorporates more than 15 species of hardwood; resembling a compass rose, Stella Cubeti is one of its decorative patterns. 28

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La Cornue’s ranges, such as the top-of-the-line model below, take more than two months to make by hand. Right: A scene from the workshop, located west of Paris.

Tableware LA CORNUE Founded in 1908, EPV since 2006 • George Clooney may or may not actually cook, but he owns a La Cornue, the Bentley of ranges. The company was born in 1908 in Paris, a city then buzzing with creativity and invention. At the Ritz, Auguste Escoffier was revolution-

izing gastronomy, but in their own homes, people still cooked in fireplaces or coal-fired ovens. Along came Albert Dupuy, a perfumer who decided to make a better oven. His design reduced the cooking area and added a vaulted top to minimize dehydration. It wasn’t self-heating but fit inside coal stoves. After WWI, gas came to affluent residences, and Dupuy produced an independent gas oven. Business boomed. Albert’s son André took over in 1951. He was an artist not a businessman, and he

focused on making extremely luxurious ranges to order. Dismayed by the minimalism of Scandinavian design in the 1960s, he responded by creating Le Château, a nostalgic design of colored enamel, solid brass burners and stainless steel knobs. It was a hit (and still is). Xavier Dupuy, the third generation to run La Cornue, is a businessman first and foremost. He expanded the company, and exports now represent 80 percent of sales. At the factory 20 miles west of Paris, wooden crates bear shipping labels for Cannes, California, Moscow and Amman. The

business employs 70 people, some of whom have worked here for decades. It takes about two months to make a Château by hand, cutting and folding sheets of steel, and the company produces about 800 each year. Last year it unveiled La Cornue W by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte—its first new design in almost half a century. Composed of an induction table and separate oven, it adds an exciting contemporary flair to La Cornue’s impeccable pedigree. La Cornue was one of the first companies selected to become an EPV. As Dupuy explains, “It was a positive thing for our team—working for a company that has a quality label makes our employees feel like they each have a label, too.” lacornue.com

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Left: Rinck is particularly celebrated for ultra-high-end period furniture, such as this marquetry commode inspired by the work of the great 18th-century ébéniste Riesener. Below, bottom: Decorative sycamore veneer; a saw used to cut intricate shapes.

Decoration

RINCK MEUBLES Founded in 1841, EPV since 2006

• A few years ago, Sotheby’s valued a shagreen-and-veneer cabinet from the 1930s at upwards of €100,000. The Art Deco treasure had been crafted by Rinck Meubles, still one of the greatest makers of fine furniture in France—or indeed, in the world. Jacques Rinck founded the company in 1841 and for most of its history, it had more competition than it does today. “Before the oil crisis of the ’70s, Paris’s Faubourg Saint-Antoine was the biggest exporter in France, ahead of Renault,” says Bruno Sachet, who runs Rinck Meubles. He notes that the Passage de la

Bonne Graine, where the company makes its wares, used to be home to 33 artisans in the furniture trade. Now there are barely a dozen in the entire neighborhood. Rinck’s glory days came between the two World Wars under Maurice Rinck, who interpreted the designs of Art Deco masters such as Ruhlmann. After the death of Gérard Rinck in 2003, a carpenter and businessman named Thierry Goux bought the company, saving it from closure. Goux created three divisions: one for project design, one for interior design and a third, Rinck Meubles, for high-end furniture design and manufacture. This is the division that carries the EPV label. Once again, Rinck is in fine form. “We have found our place,” says Sachet. “We don’t design products ourselves but work with designers, decorators and architects to execute their

ideas.” They are content to remain behind the scenes, not minding that when people buy furniture signed by Philippe Starck, they don’t know that it may have been crafted by Rinck. Though they collaborate with contemporary designers, Rinck’s specialty is ultra-high-end period furniture. One day this winter they were finishing up an order for a luxury yacht: 60 pieces of furniture representing six months of work, all in an elaborate Louis XVI style. Along with a pair of dining buffets in varnished walnut with Chinese lacquer scenes of birds and flowers, there were gilded his-and-

her bathroom cabinets and even an ormolumounted rosewood box for hiding electric plugs on a desk. Rinck’s artisans still use many of the same tools and practices they did 150 years ago, combined with modern techniques such as digital machining. When a piece of furniture requires a specialty they don’t practice, such as leatherwork or lacquer, they bring in outside collaborators—often other EPVs. “It’s thanks to quality that we exist,” Sachet says. And to the fact that they know how to tap into the global market, connecting with moneyed consumers who continue to crave French savoir-faire. rinck.fr

• The smell of skins is the first thing you notice when you walk through the door of Maison Fey, located in the Viaduc des Arts, an area of Paris dedicated to craftsmanship. Here, calfskin, goat, ostrich, beaver and shagreen of every shade hang from the ceiling and walls. Established in 1910,

Maison Fey specializes in leatherwork, including gainerie d’ameublement (upholstering furniture) and cuir de Cordoue, tooled Cordovan leather. Against one wall is a row of old woodenhandled implements; some have engraved wheels, others iron stamps. These are antique roulette and fleuron tools for embossing decorative gold or silver designs on customized desktop leathers, one of the house’s most popular items. Artisans heat the carved iron end, then run or stamp it against the back of a metallic ribbon, impressing the leather with flourishes and fancy

Professional Equipment MAISON FEY Founded in 1910, EPV since 2007

borders. Maison Fey also fixes old leather boxes, reupholsters leather furniture and makes leather trim. Two recent projects included re-covering some American weightlifting benches from the 1950s for a French gallery and crafting a leather headboard for the movie Taken with Liam Neeson. But the house’s

Cordovan leather embossed with a delicate floral motif designed by Sophie Bøhrt, a frequent Maison Fey collaborator.

greatest pride is cuir de Cordoue, a thick leather embossed with motifs or geometric patterns. The technique is practiced entirely in-house, from fabricating the metal plates to hand-painting the leather, centuries-old methods that require at least five years to learn. “There is no school for this,” says owner Fabienne Saligue. “We train our own people.” While preserving traditional techniques, Maison Fey keeps an eye on the future, frequently collaborating with Sophie Bøhrt, a young artist who creates exquisite floral and abstract motifs. And now that the company has a machine that digitally engraves plates, the design possibilities are endless. Ninety percent of its clients are professionals— architects or designers such as decorator Jacques Garcia. Nonprofessional customers typically come to them for desktop leathers sized to fit in the color and trim of their choice; orders can be turned around in 48 hours. Another popular item: storage boxes for archives or DVDs cleverly camouflaged as old books by Pierre de Ronsard and George Sand. maisonfey.com

Culture & Leisure ORGUES PASCAL QUOIRIN Founded in 1970, EPV since 2006 • It might be hard to believe that there is much of a market for organs (the musical kind), but there is, and Pascal Quoirin is proof of that. He created his eponymous company in 1970 in Saint-Didier, Provence, to repair old organs and make new 32

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ones. Since then, he has built some 75 new instruments throughout France and elsewhere, including the U.S., the site of his biggest project yet. In the spring of 2011, the sounds of the first French-built organ ever installed in New York floated through the Church of the Ascension on Fifth Avenue. It was a gift of the Manton Foundation, established by a couple of church-goers who loved the music of Olivier Messiaen. The church auditioned organ

makers throughout the U.S. and Europe before choosing Quoirin for the job. It took the company three years to handcraft this marvel fitted with 97 stops, 111 ranks, 6,183 pipes, two consoles and seven keyboards. The result is an extremely versatile instrument, able to play the entire repertory from Baroque to 20th-

century music and, of course, everything ever written by Messiaen. Quoirin employs many different specialized artisans for a project like this, including designers, woodworkers, pipemakers and sound engineers. And sculptors such as his wife, Babou, who carved the wooden peacocks decorating the pipes. atelier-quoirin.com

The versatile new Pascal Quoirin instrument at Manhattan’s Church of the Ascension, the organ maker’s first U.S. project.

Fashion & Beauty SIEGEL & STOCKMAN Founded in 1867, EPV since 2012

• Two factory fires have decimated the archives of Siegel & Stockman, so its history is sketchy. What is known is that Frédéric Stockman, a Belgian sculptor, moved to Paris in the mid-19th century and worked for Alexis Lavigne, a master tailor who founded the ESMOD fashion school (now the oldest in the world) and invented the tape measure. He is also credited with coming up with a standardized dressmaker’s form. Until that time, upper-class women had personal dressmakers and, often, personalized busts (originally made of wicker) upon which their dresses were fitted. Lavigne’s model was crafted from papier mâché and covered in fabric, making it simpler to pin clothing onto the form.

Stockman opened his own company in 1867 and came up with the idea of providing dressmakers with forms in different sizes—6, 8, 10 and so on. By the turn of the century, he was selling 30,000 busts a year to couture ateliers and department stores. He eventually joined forces with Siegel, whose specialty was mannequins (with limbs, heads and, in some cases, real hair and teeth) and metal structures for displaying accessories. Today Siegel & Stockman makes some 6,000 dress forms per year— about 60 percent for display, the rest for ateliers such as Zara or Chanel, which use them to create their collections. Thirtyfive percent of revenues come from sales to foreign buyers, and a U.S. branch supplies the American market. In all, the company has created 500 unique plaster molds, an encyclopedia of human shapes from the era when women had tiny, corsetbound waists and inflated “pigeon” chests until now. The newest model is the 497 bust, released in 2006 and based on

detailed studies of the contemporary European body. Destined mostly for couture houses, it has more realistic curves but is still crafted by hand of papier mâché and covered in cream-colored fabric. Model B406— dubbed the “haute couture”—dates back to the 1940s. Its slim, neutral shape with small hips and breasts is the standard in boutique windows, thanks to what company director Caroline Lapeyre calls its “timeless allure.” Today it is generally made of fiberglass and covered in anything from fabric to gold leaf—the company showroom on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré attests to the astounding variety on offer. In the 1950s, the Stockman factory employed some 1,500 workers to craft its legendary busts. Now its workshop in Gennevilliers, west of Paris, has only about 20. Yet the methods have barely

Siegel & Stockman crafts some 6,000 dress forms per year, many used by couture houses. Their plaster molds constitute a veritable encyclopedia of human shapes, from the days of corsets to the present.

changed. One worker stands at a table applying eight sheets of papier mâché to a plaster model. After drying in the oven for 24 hours, the bust is cut off the model, stapled back together and sanded. Upstairs, a group of women work with fabric—cutting patterns, sewing them and stretching the cloth and a thin layer of cotton padding over the busts until they fit like a second skin. The final touch: the bust is imprinted with the Stockman logo, the model number and the size. stockmanparis.fr

Brussels’s Ancienne Nonciature served as an elegant showcase for “Humeur Baroque,” a Maison Parisienne installation this past spring featuring furnishings, decorative objects and works of art.

The New Patrons

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Ever since royal patronage went the way of powdered wigs, artisans have struggled with the challenge of juggling the demands of production and marketing. And now that potential clients are spread around the world, sales are more daunting than ever for these small operations. Recently, a few passionate supporters have stepped in, infusing capital and know-how to help artisans thrive in the global economy. On the following pages,

Tina Isaac & Roland Flamini

profile two initiatives that are revitalizing heritage companies.

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It sounds counterintuitive, but

contemporary French artisans owe a debt of gratitude to globalization: Had luxury brands not moved into markets worldwide, the Maison Parisienne concept may never have taken shape. In a previous life, Maison Parisienne co-founder Florence Guillier Bernard was a perfume and cosmetics executive whose travels took her around the globe. “From Paris to Moscow, Beijing to New York, I felt like I was always seeing the same things,” she recalls. “Or at least nothing that was very different, let alone unique.” This “shopping déjà vu” sparked her curiosity. “I knew that there were talented and energetic artisans making beautiful things; why wasn’t I seeing their work?” She eventually concluded that while big luxury companies are extremely well organized, with sophisticated marketing teams that can orchestrate lavish product launches, independent craftspeople struggle to make ends meet simply because they don’t know how to put themselves out there. “Their products By TINA ISAAC are wonderful, but they just don’t have the time and resources to promote themselves,” she says. “When I realized this, I knew that I wanted to help these artisans, to support craftsmanship that is astonishing, unique and exceptional.” Guillier Bernard decided to return to her roots. As the granddaughter of a saddler and leather-goods maker, she knew something about artisanal savoir-faire, and defending France’s rich tradition of craftsmanship resonated with her. “France has a long history of extraordinary artisans-créateurs. Even before Louis XIV, there were artisans who created remarkable pieces,” she says. “And there still are. But the difference is that today, most earn a living making copies or restoring antiques. They don’t know how to find a market for their new work, so sometimes their best pieces just wind up in a closet.” Together with her associate, art director JeanMarc Dimanche, Guillier Bernard resolved to open a new kind of luxury house for these gifted craftspeople—one without a collection, a catalogue or even a boutique, and that would be accessible by invitation only. The duo began by calling on artisans and artists they admired, who in turn introduced them to others. Talented students came to their attention through teachers at schools such as Paris’s prestigious Ecole Boulle, which offers training in more than a dozen crafts as well as design and architecture. “The idea was to develop a stable of artisanscréateurs, who craft only original pieces, as well as artisans d’art, who may make copies or do restoration work in addition to some original designs,” she says, delicately parsing a distinction Delicate ostrich-egg shells cover the exterior of Nathalie Fosse’s that is in fact rather fuzzy. “In my view, every award-winning “Origine” (2008), an egg-shaped curiosity cabinet. artisan is an artist. But sensitivities can run high, so we use different terms depending on individual preferences.” As Maison Parisienne’s network grew, Guillier

Maison Parisienne A new breed of luxury house connects singular French artisans with an international audience.

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interior décor magazine had sprung to life. The five-day event drew 500 visitors who snapped up some 30 items. “We hadn’t even begun to imagine that level of response,” says Guillier Bernard. “We quickly learned to schedule fewer appointments and to admit only individuals or small groups, in order to preserve the magic of the experience.” The Maison Parisienne pre-holiday rendezvous at the Plaza Athénée has been an annual tradition ever since.

F Alain Mailland’s extraordinary “Temple” (2012) was sculpted from the root of a strawberry tree.

Bernard had another insight: Connecting creators with potential clients was only one part of the picture. “Rather than open just another gallery where people would come and go and barely interact, I wanted to showcase these unique objects in a warm, livable environment,” she explains. In December 2008, Maison Parisienne finally made its début. The venue was the Plaza Athénée’s sumptuous Suite Royale, a natural fit given that the hotel is itself an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant and employs master craftspeople specializing in gilding, cabinetry, upholstery and other métiers. What visitors discovered at the “Magie Blanche” show was not so much an exhibition as a wondrous installation—nearly 200 pieces of art, decorative objects and furniture seemed to be in conversation. Like the artisans themselves, Dimanche played up the show’s two themes, the notions of light and preciousness, recasting the dining room and two bedrooms as a “chemin du paradis,” a “chambre des merveilles” and a “cabinet divin.” It was as if a fabulous spread from an

ive years and 24 installations later, Maison Parisienne

promotes 220 artisans working in media ranging from cabinet making, porcelain and glass to silver, sculpture, embroidery and painting. Each edition showcases about 150 works, with the mix varying according to theme, location and client requests (many pieces are custom made). In keeping with its general philosophy, Maison Parisienne has a preference for relatively unknown but historic locations such as Christofle’s upstairs salons on rue Royale and the Ancienne Nonciature in Brussels, once the embassy of the Vatican. Interest is generated almost entirely via word of mouth, and many clients and collectors now follow Maison Parisienne wherever it goes. Between shows, customers may schedule private appointments in Guillier Bernard’s own maison parisienne in the 17th arrondissement. While the venue is smaller in scale than a typical palace hotel suite, the hostess takes care to curate the décor for each client. As it turns out, the Maison Parisienne concept was prescient. “When we started out, no one was talking about artisans,” recalls Guillier Bernard. Since then, supporting traditional craftsmanship has become a talking point for luxury houses and a source of national pride. In 2011, the Journées des Métiers d’Art blossomed from a biannual fringe event into an annual spring happening backed by the ministries of education, of culture and communication, and of artisans, commerce and tourism. Attitudes toward luxury have evolved too, edging toward the more discreet, personal, even intangible. Whether they’re spending a few hundred euros or many thousands, customers are showing a newfound interest in artisanal techniques and, whenever possible, they want to meet the people who make the items they buy. Response has been so positive that Maison Parisienne is considering taking its show to London, with an eye to more distant locales such as the U.S., Brazil and Hong Kong. “People have come to realize that we have this treasure in France,” says Guillier Bernard. “Our job is to do everything we can to preserve it. Maison Parisienne exists because we believe the exceptional should be the rule.” maisonparisienne.fr

House Talents • Pierre Renard’s “Genèse” carbon-fiber armchair, his graduation project for Ecole Boulle, was so original that Maison Parisienne approached him about creating a dozen more. Renard opened his own atelier; Maison Parisienne supplied the tools. “He took a risk,” says Guillier Bernard. “Today, he’s making a name for himself. Not a bad start for someone who, two years ago, wasn’t really sure what he’d do after graduation!”

• The “organic, almost mineral” originality of Simone Pheulpin’s meticulously pleated and pinned textile sculptures made them one of Maison Parisienne’s first coups de cœur. The house brought Pheulpin’s work to the attention of a well-known collector, who bought a piece immediately and placed it in his home between two sculptures by Camille Claudel. Today, works by the 72-year-old artist can be found in noteworthy collections both public and private.

• Relying on both traditional and modern techniques, Nathalie Fosse turns out astonishing, sculptural and symbolic pieces such as her eggshaped tripod cabinets. The exterior of this model is lacquered with emu eggshells; the interior features ebony compartments and a python lining. Such sophistication has made the artist a favorite among collectors and garnered comparisons with the Lalannes. FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

Fort Royal

Jacques Bolelli launched his company with a simple concept: Let artisans do what they do best, we’ll take care of the rest. By ROLAND FLAMINI

////// THE NEW PATRONS \\\\\\

Jardins du Roi Soleil is

celebrating the 400th anniversary of the birth of André Le Nôtre, Louis XIV’s landscape architect, with a dramatic addition to its line of garden furnishings: a high-design planter named in his honor. It’s a fitting tribute, given that the company’s best-selling item has long been a tree box modeled after the sturdy caisses à orangers invented by Le Nôtre. It’s hard to imagine Versailles without the elegant simplicity of these handsome containers, which allow gardeners to move orange trees and other coldsensitive plants indoors in the winter without having to dig them out of the ground. Le Nôtre cleverly deJardins du Roi Soleil’s planters are based on the original signed the containers to have hinges so that the sides design created by André Le Nôtre for Versailles. Top: An artisan pours molten iron to form a frame for the can flip down, allowing gardeners to tend the root ball containers. Above: Slats are fashioned from the same durable without removing the plant from its box. And they are oak used by top winemakers for their barrels. built to last a century or longer; frames are constructed Opposite: The company is best known for supplying the of high-quality cast iron made in France, and slats are planters that dot Versailles’s Orangerie. fashioned from Tronçais oak—the wood coveted by top winemakers for their barrels. While the new “Caisse Le Nôtre LN013” is a direct descendant with Fort Royal, and things have since gone very, very well. It’s of this classic planter, it is more Richard Serra than Sun King, made given us the chance to develop our product line and increase our of the same Corten steel favored by the sculptor for his outsized output.” The company now offers Versailles-style planters in eight creations. For the Paris-based Jardins du Roi Soleil, rolling out this sizes and 12 colors, and earlier this year introduced three models of edgy new design is especially gratifying, given that less than three wooden garden benches, all copies of designs originally made for years ago, maintaining its artisanal ways had become so costly that the palace grounds. it was considering adopting more economical machine-based methA similar scenario played out in Reims at the Atelier Simon Marq, ods. Then Fort Royal stepped in. Founded in 2010, Fort Royal is a stained-glass workshop that has been in the same family since 1640. technically a holding company yet functions more as a collective In the early 20th century, its reputation for excellence made it a favordedicated to breathing new life into French craftsmanship and ite of Marc Chagall and other artists, but uncertainty set in when the attracting younger generations to rapidly disappearing skills. sons and heirs of the present owner decided to pursue other interests. After looking at dozens of companies, Fort Royal chose Jardins Fort Royal came to the rescue there too, offering a support package du Roi Soleil as its first acquisition. “My firm had been the official that would enable the owner to train a successor. The atelier recently supplier to Versailles for nearly four decades, and I was looking for completed its first assignment under the new management: three help so that we wouldn’t have to change the way we did things,” stained-glass windows for a Protestant church in Martigny, Switzerrecalls owner Jean-François Jiquel. “Then someone put me in touch land, based on designs by Swiss artist Hans Erni. 38

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very story has to begin somewhere, and Fort Royal’s

begins on a tiny island of the same name just off the coast of Brittany’s Saint-Malo. Here Sébastien le Prestre, Marquis de Vauban, the renowned 17th-century military architect, built a fort to protect the approaches to the harbor. The name was later changed to Fort National, and over the centuries, it fell into ruins. The current owner, business executive Jacques Bolelli, recounts that in 1920, his grandfather purchased and restored the property, only to see it bombed and burned during World War II. “He made repairs using contemporary materials, but the results weren’t as solid as the original construction. So we eventually decided to undo everything and start all over.” It was a long process, with work continuing for more than a decade. Along the way, Bolelli became impressed by the skill and dedication of the artisans working on the project—and by their dwindling numbers as young workers gravitated toward modern industry. So Bolelli quit his job as directeur général of Groupe Hersant Média and launched Fort Royal with a working capital of €800,000. His goal was “to become the leading creator of [objects] made from the best materials, with the finest French savoir-faire.” According to Bolelli’s partner, architect and landscape designer Christian Préaud, Fort Royal seeks out artisanal enterprises with 40

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Founded in 1640, the venerable Atelier Simon Marq has long snagged top commissions; in 1977, its craftsmen collaborated with artist Joan Miró on eight stained-glass windows for Senlis’s Collégiale Saint-Frambourg. Inset: Benoit Marq verifies that pieces of cut glass are a perfect color match.

reputations for high quality but dim prospects for the future, simply because their owners “are not good at doing anything other than what they already know how to do. When we buy a company, we centralize everything—management, marketing, distribution—which removes the psychological weight of having to cope with the modern problems of running a company. But each company remains a separate entity. We let them do their thing and train young people.” After purchasing the Jardins du Roi Soleil and Atelier Simon Marq, Fort Royal acquired Craman Lagarde, a family-owned cabinetmaker with a reputation for expert marquetry. Based in Revel, a town near Toulouse that was once a center for this craft, Craman Lagarde turns out styles ranging from Louis XIV to contemporary, all using the rare savoir-faire and quality materials that have earned it the distinction of Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant. Another recent addition to the Fort Royal portfolio is Darne, a well-known gun-maker established in 1881. “Originally Jacques Bolelli came to us because he wanted to buy one of our hunting guns,” says owner Hervé Bruchet, “but he ended up buying the company.”

Many of Darne’s guns feature intricate engravings; this special edition Modèle V displays a hunting scene. Inset: Owner Hervé Bruchet takes a hands-on approach.

Although Bruchet doesn’t say so, the acquisition was a last-minute lifeline. During its heyday in the 1950s, Darne’s workshop in SaintEtienne produced 200 guns annually, all made, assembled and finished by hand at the company’s atelier. But sales had slumped in the face of competition from larger, better-organized gunsmiths. By 2010, Darne employed only three artisans, and its output averaged eight guns a year. “At Fort Royal, they have experience in communications, and they have a lot of good connections,” says Bruchet. In the past four months, Darne’s sales have increased 40 to 50 percent—which is to say to about 12 guns per year. But for Bruchet, expansion is not the top priority. What’s important is the freedom to maintain Darne’s reputation for high-quality workmanship. In return for its contributions to member companies, Fort Royal typically takes half the profits—assuming there are profits, which is not always the case. But Bolelli knows that turning these companies around can take time and is in it for the long haul. And while he hopes they will all thrive, he has no illusions of building another luxury conglomerate. Fort Royal had initially planned to make three acquisitions a year, but that target proved too ambitious. As Préaud explains, each “mating ritual” takes longer than either he or Bolelli had anticipated.

“It’s only after a year of cautiously circling each other and sniffing the air that we can get down to business and start discussing terms, which may take another year. But it’s not because the companies we are negotiating with want more money. What they really want is a guarantee that they will survive.” This year, Fort Royal raised additional capital from private investors and now has €2.6 million on hand. It is currently in the final stages of adding two more companies to its cooperative, including Rémi Crézé, a 114-year-old iron works in Brittany. Last year, the company completed a new altar in marble and stainless steel for the Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Rennes, using the same methods employed by craftsmen in the 13th century. Remarkably, Fort Royal, whose logo is a silhouette of Vauban’s structure, is seeing growth despite France’s economic problems. One explanation: 80 percent of its business now comes from exports. And, as Bolelli points out, “the wealthy are immune to financial crif ses, and they make up most of our clientele.” The Fort Royal showroom is located at 32 bd de la Bastille, 75012 Paris; Tel. 33/1-83-64-89-12; fort-royal.com. FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

object lessons Hermès’s fascinating private collection is as much secret weapon as secret garden, a place where its designers can channel centuries of inspired creativity from around the world.

Tina Isaac

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Emile Hermès in his office— now the heart of the company’s private museum—surrounded by objects he began collecting as a boy (c. 1930).

Inside Hermès’s flagship store at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré,

at the top of a winding staircase that detours through the jewelry department to hidden alcoves above, there is an office from a bygone era. Nearly a century ago, this was the spot that Hermès’s freshly anointed third-generation president, Emile-Maurice Hermès, chose for his desk. From here, amid oak-paneled walls and green velvet drapery, he would transform his family’s business from haute saddlery to luxury pioneer. Today, all the accoutrements and portraits that Emile loved are exactly where they were when he passed away in 1951. But it has been decades since this room served as an office. Now, Emile’s desk anchors what has been described variously as a treasure trove, a museum and a cabinet of curiosities. And while the Emile Hermès Collection is all of these things, none of these descriptions is quite adequate, says curator Ménéhould de Bazelaire du Chatelle, also Hermès’s longtime director of cultural patrimony. “The term ‘museum’ sounds so fixed, so static, like time has stopped,” she says. “What it lacks is the notion of transmission. We like to consider this collection more of a Noah’s Ark. As you know, from each pair of animals Noah saved, new creatures were born.” Indeed, while most museums belonging to French luxury houses tend to be monuments to their own history and achievements, the Hermès collection contains astonishingly few of its own creations. Instead, most of these pieces were amassed by the Hermès family during the past century, gathered not only from France but around the world. “One of the reasons our designers come here to seek inspiration is that this collection offers living proof that the past was filled with ideas that were incredibly modern and radical in their day,” says de Bazelaire. “These pieces represented inventions, breaks with the past, progress. There’s a joy in inventing new things; man’s whole purpose is to do that. It’s our obligation to convey that spirit from one generation to the next. This museum is not about us, not about the past. It’s about passing that creative spark on to future generations.” This unique way of approaching historical objects perhaps 44

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explains why Hermès never copies heritage items—where would be the creative joy in that?—and why it has never published a book about this remarkable place. Not surprisingly, many of the rare items displayed here relate directly to horses and the hunt—model carriages, saddles, bridles, stirrups and the like. But you’ll also find opera glasses, utensils, framed prints, toys and multiple-use knick-knacks. As eclectic as these pieces may seem, they are united by a kindred spirit: All were fashioned by talented artisans who possessed an exceptional

The collection also reflects a distinct taste for curiosities, oddities and anything that might have pushed the envelope in its time. ABOVE: A lady’s parasol that

can be concealed in a cane, the objet that launched Emile’s collection.

openness to the world, to modernity. And while an appreciation for extraordinary craftsmanship, detail and a certain way of life is a given, the collection also reflects a distinct taste for curiosities, oddities and anything that might have pushed the envelope in its time. “I often think that Emile Hermès acquired many of these things because he was waiting for them to reveal their secrets, to tell him their stories,” says de Bazelaire. “In some cases, we’re still waiting.” It is arguably for this reason as much as any other that these rooms are considered l’âme d’Hermès, the soul of Hermès.

LEFT: One of the new rooms added as part of a recent expansion that doubled the size of the museum.

ne thing that makes the Hermès collection

so unusual is that it did not come into being deliberately. Instead, it began with a young boy’s passion and grew organically. Born in 1871, just after the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune, Emile-Maurice Hermès, the grandson of company founder Thierry Hermès, grew up during the Belle Epoque. By the time he had reached the age of 12, he was involved in the family business, often working as a delivery boy on the weekends. FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

Items from the collection have directly inspired some of the company’s most famous creations. LEFT TO RIGHT:

‘

A carriage made of strips of handrolled paper gave rise to the “Paperole” scarf; a faux bookshelf concealing a door informed this wallpaper design; whips, reinterpreted in the “Fouet” necklace. OPPOSITE:

Emile Hermès based his company’s logo on “Le Duc Attelé, groom à l’attente” by Albert de Dreux, one of his favorite artists.

One Sunday Emile made a delivery to the hôtel particulier of a very wealthy family and received a generous tip, which he promptly spent on something that had caught his eye: a walking stick in lacquered wood and metal dating from 1801. It had a little loop so it could hang from a belt and a handle set with a small motherof-pearl square. His extravagance shocked the family and he was scolded; it was considered dangerous for such a young man to be squandering money on vieilleries when he should be thinking about saving his pennies. It wasn’t until later, while playing with his new acquisition, that Emile made a discovery: He could unscrew the handle. Hidden inside the gentleman’s walking stick was a lady’s parasol. Although in poor repair, it was fitted with an articulated handle that allowed whomever was carrying it to orient the umbrella as he or she wished, thus sparing the wrist any unnecessary strain. As it turned out, an 46

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inventor named Sanier had patented the object the year it was made. For the boy, its charm and ingenuity were a revelation. Emile continued to accumulate finds, which he stashed in his bedroom until he joined the company and made room for them at the office. But as compulsive as he was about collecting, it was his first purchase that would prove most essential to the house’s future. From a seemingly straightforward walking stick blossomed a philosophy about le luxe utile—discreet, utilitarian luxury. By the 1920s, when Emile Hermès and his elder brother Adolphe took over the company, the world was changing fast and moving faster. Unlike Adolphe, who felt that the rise of the automobile spelled the end of the business and urged the family to sell, Emile argued in favor of reinvesting in the house, embracing progress and expanding. He latched onto the notion of elegance in movement and became one of the first of his generation to glimpse the new

motorized vehicles, thanks to a friend he met during his military service who was smitten with them (as it happens, that friend’s name was Louis Renault). Emile eventually prevailed over his brother and took the helm. His natural curiosity made him quick to pick up English and led him to visit Russia (the Czar and the Imperial family had been loyal clients), the U.S. and Canada. During a trip to the U.S. in 1914-1915, Emile happened upon a fabulously modern invention: the zipper. He secured rights to the patent, brought it back to France and created the first zippered handbag for his wife, Julie. Introduced in 1923, the “sac pour l’auto,” later renamed “Bolide,” was made of black leather, with two handles and no superfluous details. It created a sensation when Julie first carried it, which she would continue to do for more than 40 years; today it remains one of the company’s signature designs. Always looking forward, Emile launched an entirely new product line tailored to society’s evolving lifestyles: luggage, travel accessories, dog collars, belts, jewelry, gloves, watchbands…. And of course the fabulous silk scarves that would become emblematic of the company. All bore the hallmarks that define Hermès to this day: the highest quality materials, expert craftsmanship, exquisite refinement balanced with clever innovation.

Of the thousands of objects Hermès displays at any given time, some

are inestimable for historical and cultural reasons, but many are not. Their value derives from the collector’s eye. Emile haunted the flea markets, antique shops and particularly the Drouot auction house, scooping up items that had unusual finishes, told a story or were revolutionary—or at the very least, unusual. Some were chosen for their exotic origins, such as a saddle from Turkmenistan that is so elaborately ornamented that it was considered highly unconventional to put it on display in one’s home, as Emile did. He did not keep a journal and left few records aside from the stories he told his children and grandchildren. De Bazelaire admits that the house knows next to nothing about some of the articles in its collection. One of these is a 19th-century cloth purse that hangs FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

on a wall near the entrance, which she notes may well be the first real handbag, yet it is unclear exactly when or where it was made, and by or for whom. The same goes for what appears to be a horse-drawn royal carriage made of paperole, tiny strips of hand-rolled paper, of unknown origin but whose delicate curlicues have since inspired several silk scarves. Ditto for the extravagant pheasant-feather parasol set in a quirky metal stand near Emile’s desk beside a marble fireplace. Above that fireplace hangs a gouache by one of Emile’s favorite artists, the Romantic painter Albert de Dreux. An early acquisition, “Le Duc Attelé, groom à l’attente” depicts a groom standing in front of two horses harnessed to an empty carriage; together they await its driver. The image is at once a symbol of time at a standstill, of imminent departure and of a world that vanished with the advent of the automobile. “The shape of the carriage resembles a question mark, which suits the scene,” observes de Bazelaire. “The scene is Balzacian, so the viewer sees where the carriage is coming from but not where it is going—that is up to the driver.” A gentle prompt from the curator leads to an Aha! moment: This is the image that inspired the house’s celebrated logo, created by Emile.

Someday, a young designer’s eye may settle on one of these pieces, and from the meeting of past and present a new creation will emerge. ABOVE: The Hermès collection is housed

in the company’s flagship store on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. LEFT: The many horse-themed items found throughout the collection hark back to the company’s origins as a saddle maker.

Among other items on view that relate directly to the house is a saddle commissioned in the early 19th century for an unknown lady; it bears the tag “E. Hermès, rue Basse du Rempart.” Emile came up with the idea for its decorative saddle stitching, a motif that has inspired Christophe Lemaire, Hermès’s head women’s wear designer. Then there’s a horse tricycle that once belonged to the son of Napoleon III; it is one of several pieces produced for the Imperial family that the company has since managed to recover. Emile Hermès collected a number of nécessaires, probably fascinated by their multiple uses, hidden features and inherent concern with private luxuries. The distinguished Maréchal de Bessières, once the wealthiest man in France, went to war for Napoleon armed with a nécessaire that incorporated a silver tea set, a shaving kit and a tool for cleaning the hooves of his steed; today one of the house’s prize possessions is amazingly similar to that historic object. Another is a shagreen-covered miniature telescope. De Bazelaire explains that this was no ordinary theater accessory: The piece allowed its owner to appear as if he or she were gazing in one direction, while inside a clever little mirror made it possible to observe whatever was happening at a 90-degree angle in either direction. The object’s true purpose, like the velvet lining of its case, was known to its owner alone. Small as it is, this piece embodies one of the house’s strongest beliefs: that luxury is very much about what doesn’t meet the eye. Emile Hermès continued to gather objects throughout his life, ever on the lookout for a trace of invention in function or design. His heirs followed suit, and today de Bazelaire curates a collection that numbers more than 11,000 pieces in all (when not on loan for traveling exhibitions, most are stored in a high-security storeroom outside Paris). For designers, the museum is a living library, a resource they can return to time and again. In 2010, Pierre Hardy, artistic director and designer of Hermès jewelry, borrowed freely from the house’s equestrian heritage for the launch of its haute bijouterie collection. A braided leather whip woven gracefully around a 19th-century carriage for children—one of the collection’s most charming objects, it was made to be drawn by goats—was the point of departure for his stunning “Fouet” necklace. In platinum set with 3,669 diamonds, the piece resembles a whip but, as the press release so aptly states, is “leavened with a lashing of wry humor.”   Given that the collection’s raison d’être is to provide inspiration for the company, it is not open to the public and may be visited by invitation only. The privilege is apparently rarely granted: On the late-April day we toured, the most recent signature in the guestbook dated from March 29. The name? Woody Allen. The director lingered for more than two hours, but one could easily spend days here; last year, Hermès more than doubled its exhibition space. And the collection continues to grow. Recent additions include a 2003 work by contemporary artist Yanos, a mounted wheel with illustrations of a horse that seems to gallop when it spins—an homage not only to the subject, but to movement in general and the cinema in particular. Also new is a small statue of a horse dating from several millennia BC; it was unearthed in a tomb located in what is now Afghanistan. Someday, a young designer’s eye may settle on one of these pieces, and from the meeting of past and present a new creation will emerge. “Emile used to tell his grandchildren that outdated objects are like extinct stars, they can illuminate and inspire even if they no longer exist,” notes de Bazelaire. “At Hermès, the masters who came before f us are like guiding lights—and we follow them.” FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

F R A NCE

Buying a fake Chanel may seem harmless enough to someone looking to pick up a little social status on the cheap. It’s not. Those faux fashion creds may support sweatshops, organized crime, even terrorism.

By Roland Flamini ILLUSTRATION by FLORENCE GENDRE

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The Comité Colbert luxury association worked with French government agencies to produce this eye-catching anti-counterfeit ad campaign in 2012.

you arrive in France with a fake Louis Vuitton handbag,

there’s a good chance that it will be seized by French customs officials. After dumping its contents on the inspection counter, they will probably slash it to shreds. Which is why faux Vuittons should be accessorized with a large plastic bag, so you can carry away their remains. And why it’s not wise to buy knockoffs in the first place. Not that a buyer always knows that he or she is not getting the real thing. Most everyone knows that the logo-adorned items peddled by street vendors are counterfeits. But today, the point of sale is increasingly the Internet, where a $2,800 Louis Vuitton bag selling for a fraction of that price will look like a bargain to the gullible shopper—or to anyone looking for status symbols that are normally beyond their reach. And there are many such people, judging by the numbers. It’s estimated that fake goods accounted for $512 billion in sales worldwide in 2011; according to one report, that was 7 percent of global trade. Luxury goods—designer fashions, shoes, handbags, watches, 52

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perfume, sunglasses—are the main items, along with electronics and cigarettes. But there’s also an increasingly scary side to the counterfeit business. In Knockoff: The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods, business journalist Tim Phillips writes: “The next fake you encounter might be the pills you are about to take for your heart condition, the brake pads the mechanic just fitted to your car, or the engine parts on the plane you will be boarding this afternoon.” For now, however, the main challenge for France is defending its justifiably famous luxe brands—Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermès and the other Paris houses that have historically dominated the fashion world. Counterfeiting in this sector has grown exponentially; globalization, modern technology and cheap labor all make it possible for factories in distant lands to make inferior versions of these goods at low cost. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but trademark infringement is as much a theft as breaking into a store and stealing its contents. Moreover, says Laurent Guiraud-Le Maresquier, a Parisbased lawyer specializing in counterfeit cases, “A trademark owner has a legal obligation to protect that trademark, otherwise it might be used by someone else.” In other words, if Chanel doesn’t pursue those who make fake Coco, it may become OK for someone else to make the perfume legitimately. According to experts, about 75 percent of all goods on the counterfeit market are made in China, where the global economic crisis has left many factories idle and looking for goods—any goods—to produce to avoid having to close down. “But it’s not just China,” says Guiraud-Le Maresquier. “Quite a lot of luxury knockoffs are also made in Italy and North Africa.”

As this activity expands, manufacturers have to come up with new ways to fight back. Last year, the Comité Colbert, an association of 75 French luxury companies, launched an eye-catching ad campaign at airports in France and other European countries. Tag lines declared: “Buy a fake Cartier, get a genuine criminal record,” and “Real ladies don’t like fake.” One showed an ersatz Chanel mobile phone and warned, “With this phone you’d better be ready to call your lawyer.” According to the Comité Colbert, the number of counterfeit goods seized by French customs rose from 200,000 in 1994 to 8.9 million in 2011. The group also claims that “counterfeiting costs the French economy between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs a year and €6 billion in losses.” Fighting this trend is necessary to safeguard French jobs and businesses, says Elizabeth Ponsolle des Portes, the Comité Colbert’s chief executive, FAUX and “to protect our know-how and FIGHTERS creativity.” In 1954, Paris perfume Selling fakes obviously jeoparmaker Jean-Jacques Guerdizes the livelihoods of the highly lain created an association skilled artisans employed to handof 15 French luxury firms. craft luxury goods as well as those His aim was to ensure that of the designers who dream up as France recovered from these coveted items. Unauthorized World War II, French style and workmanship would be copies may look similar to the origrestored to its pre-war repuinals, but the quality of workmantation for superb quality. He ship and materials are light-years named it the Comité Colbert away, all of which devalues the after Louis XIV’s powerful real thing. And defending the integminister, an early champion rity of these products is an expenof high-level craftsmanship. Today there are 75 memsive proposition, says Marc Mossé, bers, including fashion, secretary general of UNIFAB, the fragrance, cosmetics and French manufacturers’ union. “A accessory houses such as company is forced to spend money Dior, YSL, Hermès, Louis fighting counterfeiters; if it doesn’t, Vuitton and Chanel, as well jobs are at risk. But the money it as leading vintners. Together they have a domestic spends on protective measures is work force of 115,000 and money it doesn’t have to employ total revenues of $3.5 billion, more people, for example. So it’s a and all pledge to adhere to double-edged sword.” Guerlain’s original five criteria: strong brand identity, activity in international

Counterfeit items discovered at a postal sorting center are seized and destroyed.

iven France’s long history of high-end artisanat,

it’s not surprising that it has the toughest anticounterfeit legislation in the world and the most effective mechanisms in place to stop the sale of bogus goods. In the U.S., for example, brands can take action only against sellers; there is nothing that bars consumers from buying counterfeit products. Not so in France. A law introduced in 1994 makes it a crime for French citizens to own counterfeit goods, with possible fines of up to €300,000 and three years in jail. This applies to visitors as well, although they are more likely to simply have their fakes confiscated. When it comes to going after makers and sellers, the first line of defense is the French Customs Service. “Customs officers have typically focused on seizing counterfeit goods in containers at the entry point, most often the port of Le Havre or international airports such as Paris – Charles de Gaulle,” says François Richard, the French Customs representative at the Embassy of France in Washington, DC. “But now that counterfeiters are increasingly marketing directly to customers on the Internet, we’ve also set up a special unit called Cyber Douane.” It tracks online sales, raids mail-sorting offices and express delivery companies to confiscate knockoffs, and pressures Internet service providers to take down copycat sites that can markets, quality manufacfool consumers into thinking that ture, ethics and what he they are purchasing from the real charmingly termed “the company. poetry of the object.” At the root of this activity is But widespread countera strong relationship between feiting has posed serious challenges to their reputaFrench customs and the country’s tion for near perfection. manufacturers. When suspected Fake goods, says Comité knockoffs are seized, the company president Michel Bernaris contacted to examine the goods daud, undermine French and confirm that they are fakes. It “savoir-faire d’excellence.” is then up to the manufacturer to For years the group has successfully lobbied for decide whether to proceed with lestrict laws, not only against gal action. making and selling bogus Last year, for example, a dozen goods but also against members of an international orgaowning them. The Comité nization were arrested in Paris and has close links with French Lyon and charged with producCustoms to block entry of shipments of knockoffs, and ing and selling some €18 million abroad, it deploys armies of worth of counterfeit Hermès goods. lawyers to fight counterfeitThe group included the ringleaders in the courts. ers, manufacturers and distributors. Recently, the Comité According to court documents, they opened its membership to were marketing knockoffs worlda handful of other European luxury firms, including the wide, then laundering the money German makers of Montthrough accounts in Hong Kong blanc pens. The group and Cyprus. claims that 22 percent of When targeting counterfeiters all Europeans have bought operating outside France, firms are counterfeit goods, often forced to take matters into their unknowingly and mainly online. With that in mind, it own hands and file civil suits in lois now lobbying credit card cal courts. “There’s a huge cost infirms and PayPal to block volved in civil proceedings,” explains payment to known counterGuiraud-Le Maresquier. “Criminal feiters. But progress is slow. proceedings are much less expensive “The banks are too timid,” complains Bernardaud. –RF and less complicated.” FRANC E • SU M M E R 2 0 1 3

In December, a combined operation by U.S. and EU customs officers closed down 32 Internet sites selling knockoffs of products by—among others—Chanel, Gucci, Lacoste, Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, Versace and YSL. The fact that the operation involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its counterparts in France, the U.K., Romania, Belgium and Denmark is an indication of its global scope. John Morton, head of ICE, called the operation “an excellent example of the cooperation between ICE and our international partners.” He said fighting counterfeit goods was an important challenge “not only for American industries but for legitimate industries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.” Morton also made a point not often heard in the European context. “We also think of the lost tax revenue.” While going after makers, sellers and buyers has been the focus to date, the future of fighting counterfeiting may well be the ability to incorporate security devices and unique identification codes into the goods themselves. The high-end wine industry has been doing this for several years (see sidebar), and Swedish researchers recently announced that they have developed a high-tech thread that can be woven into handbags and clothing but is detectable only with a polarized filter. While this could be a boon to luxury companies, it could also, as Jason Bittel writes on Slate, help protect children forced to work in foreign sweatshops producing knockoff merchandise. Another sinister reason the counterfeit market has become the focus of international law enforcement is the claim by officials on both sides of the Atlantic that organized crime has moved into the business along with terrorist groups looking for sources of income that can easily be disguised. “Organized crime is trying to diversify its activities, and the counterfeit trade is very tempting,” says François Richard. “It’s The future less risky than drugs, and there is of fighting less likelihood of going to jail.” counterfeiting may Guiraud-Le Maresquier recalls well be the ability working on several cases where it to incorporate turned out that those responsible security devices were terrorists. “After 9/11, terand unique rorists became more careful about identification hiding their financial transactions; codes into the between 2002 and 2004, for example, I worked on a case that ingoods themselves. volved a Middle Eastern terrorist group selling fake jeans.” Critics say one reason counterfeiting continues to expand on the Internet is that attempts to organize international action to screen online sales have run into strong opposition on the grounds that the Internet is, and should remain, free of controls. In 2012, the U.S. Congress backed away from passing the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) after Google and others denounced the measure as censorship. A similar fate befell ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) in the European Union. Several countries signed the agreement, but it has been thwarted by protests from many civil rights organizations claiming that the accord would give governments the tools to block content. Meanwhile, China—the so-called factory of the world—remains the number-one target of protests lodged by governments and of lawsuits filed by luxury goods firms. In 2010, the European Union pressed the Chinese government to put more muscle into its fight 54

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Château Palmer is one of many high-end French wines to have adopted special technology to foil counterfeiters.

VINTAGE STRATEGIES “The apex of the wine market, where a case of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990 can sell for $160,000 and a jeroboam of Mouton Rothschild 1945 fetches more than $300,000, is infiltrated with counterfeits.” This warning came from Wine Spectator, the bible of wine aficionados, in 2009. Since then, that infiltration has, if anything, gone even deeper. As demand for quality French wines has soared in Asia and elsewhere, so have the prices—and the number of fake Romanée-Contis and Mouton Rothschilds. China is widely regarded as the leading producer of fake wines, French and otherwise. Recently, representatives from Bordeaux have started visiting Chinese supermarkets and wine outlets and compiling a database of faux French wines on the shelves. Their findings are given to the Chinese authorities for action against the counterfeiters. But China is also a burgeoning wine market, so Bordeaux winemakers have launched an awareness campaign to educate Chinese consumers, teaching them how to tell the difference between genuine wines and fakes. Château Mouton Rothschild, for example, gives

information about its wines and answers questions via an account on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter (which is banned in China). Winemakers are also aggressively protecting their brands by adding a variety of security devices to the bottle, label, capsule or all three. Château Brane-Cantenac, a Margaux second growth, was among the first to take preventive measures, using lasers to mark its bottles back in the late 1990s; it has since incorporated new technologies as they came on the market. Holograms, watermarking and other techniques not visible to the naked eye are now becoming standard among top châteaux. Several, including Château Margaux, have recently adopted the “bubble seal” product identification technology developed by the Montauban-based firm Prooftag. It consists of a strip of plastic that incorporates a unique code that can be read by a smart phone or by entering the URL printed above the code on a computer. If the security code on the bottle doesn’t match the one in the database, the wine is a fake. Another high-tech method of authentication uses DNA extracted from a botanical source (a grape, say, or a leaf). The sample is applied to the label, bottle or cork. Then a hand-held device is used to scan the bottle, verifying its authenticity. Or not. –RF

Witty taglines on anti-counterfeit posters proclaim “Real ladies don’t like fake” and warn buyers of bogus goods that they’ll be doing the perp walk rather than strutting down the catwalk.

against fakes. China does have anti-counterfeit laws and regulations, but enforcement is judged to be weak, an assessment that Chinese authorities dispute. In principle, the EU and China are supposed to exchange information about knockoff activities to help intercept shipments and target counterfeiting rings. But Algirdas Semeta, EU commissioner for taxes, customs and anti-fraud, complained after a recent meeting in Beijing, “We presented 55 cases to the Chinese authorities, while we received just five from them. That means that implementation requires additional effort.” One major lawsuit brought by French luxury houses against Chinese counterfeiters was settled in June 2012, when Hermès was awarded $100 million in damages by a New York court against a counterfeiter of the company’s products. Cartier and LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton filed similar suits in China in recent months. ˆ

an ironic twist, French and other luxury companies

have a new motivation for confronting the Chinese counterfeit industry: the lure of the Chinese market. During the past few years, the country that used to be the main source of the problem now also offers an enormous business opportunity. Newly wealthy Chinese are on a buying spree, turning China into the world’s second-largest consumer of luxury goods. “The cult of Mao is quickly being supplanted by that of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Armani,” observed the New York Times in a recent article. In 2009,

Chinese demand for luxury goods was $10.3 billion, overtaking the U.S., and analysts predict that China will also sprint past Japan by 2015. European Business Review called China “the biggest opportunity for luxury brands in a generation.” With Europe still unraveling its economic problems and the U.S. recovering slowly, this is sheer poetry to the ears of French manufacturers of luxury goods. Louis Vuitton, which has opened its largest Chinese maison in Shanghai, complete with a gilded spiral staircase and steel statuary, is courting China’s wealthy with one-of-a-kind shoes and bags. “The made-to-order concept is the ultimate luxury,” says LV chief executive Yves Carcelle. But wherever luxury items are sought, so are knockoffs, and the Chinese are also buying their own counterfeits. Western consumergoods firms are seeing their heavy investment in building their brands undermined by cheap imitations sold throughout the country. The owner of one counterfeit goods store in Guangzhou, for example, told the Guardian newspaper that he could sell 200 fake red Birkin bags a month at $320, if he could get them from the supplier. For Hermès, the maker of the real thing, this is a threat to sales and a cheapening of their brand in the eyes of the consumer. Genuine Birkin bags are made only in France, are crafted entirely by hand, take at least 48 hours to produce and can cost as much as $10,000. With so much at stake, why is a vendor on Main Street often allowed to sell his goods without hindrance from the law? Because, says lawyer Guiraud-Le Maresquier, he is the last link in the chain, so his arrest will have little impact on the operation. “Investigators target the primary links, for example, the manufacturer. They want to f uncover the person behind the person behind the person.”

Calendrier French Cultural Events in North America

July-September 2013

NOTA BENE The genre and portrait painter Pauline Auzou, author of the drawing shown here, was one of the rare female artists of her time to enjoy a successful career, regularly exhibiting at the Salon even after marrying and having children. Painting was held to be a masculine profession at the powerful Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which forbade the handful of women it admitted from working with nude models. Tracing the history of the Academy from its founding in 1648 through the Revolution and the subsequent reforms of the 1800s, T he E pic and the I ntimate : F rench D rawings from the J ohn D. R eilly C ollection examines the institution’s profound influence on artistic activity in France. On view are some 60 works ranging from quick sketches to elaborate historical scenes and executed by such masters as Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard and David. Through Sept. 29 at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento; crockerartmuseum.org. 56

F R A N C E • S U M M E R 2 013

S N I T E M U S E U M O F A R T / M R . J O H N D . R E I L LY

of her time, Pauline Auzou is represented in “The Epic and the • One of the few successful female artists Intimate” by the expressive “Portrait of a Girl, Bust Length” (c. 1790).

EXHIBITS Los Angeles CYPRIEN GAILLARD

Born in Paris in 1980, the multimedia artist Cyprien Gaillard was the 2010 recipient of France’s prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp, which includes a show at the Centre Pompidou. Fascinated by entropy and resistant to nostalgia, he frequently probes the tension between nature and architecture, destruction and preservation; landscape-blighting buildings become “unauthorized ruins.” Hammer Projects: Cyprien Gaillard presents an installation of recent sculpture and a series of photographs inspired by remnants of California’s recent past. Through Aug. 4; hammer.ucla.edu.

Washington, DC

GEORGES BRAQUE

Georges Braque and the Cubist Still Life, 1928-1945 presents 40 paintings from a little-known period of the artist’s career. The exhibition sheds light both on Braque’s artistic process, thanks to technical analyses of several pieces, and on the place of these ostensibly inwardlooking works in the historical and political context of World War II and the years leading up to it. Through Sept. 1 at The Phillips Collection; phillipscollection.org.

Washington, DC LES BALLETS RUSSES

Perhaps best known for its commotioncausing premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” 100 years ago, the Parisbased Ballets Russes revolutionized the dance world by combining the talents of contemporary choreographers, dancers, composers, artists and fashion designers now recognized as among the greatest of the day: Picasso, Matisse, Prokofiev, Satie, Nijinsky, Balanchine, Chanel…. Spanning the company’s brief history, Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 19091929: When Art Danced with Music brings together some 135 original costumes, set designs, paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs, posters and film clips. Through Sept. 2 at the National Gallery of Art; nga.gov.

• Georges Braque’s “The Crystal Vase” (1929) is one of the Cubist still lifes on view at the Phillips Collection. Using the latest digital technology, the interactive multimedia exhibition Scenes from the Stone Age: The Cave Paintings of Lascaux offers a virtual tour of this fragile World Heritage Site, with highly accurate, full-size replicas of the ancient images. Through Sept. 8 at the Field Museum; field.org.

Portland, OR GASTON LACHAISE

The sculptor Gaston Lachaise left his native city of Paris at the age of 23 for the love of a married American woman 10 years his senior. His passion for her inspired the works for which he is best known, voluminous female nudes whose sinuous lines may be traced to an apprenticeship with René Lalique. Through more than 50 bronze and marble sculptures, Man / Woman: Gaston Lachaise examines the theme of universal human forms in the artist’s work and highlights his pioneering role in the rise of American Modernism. Through Sept. 8 at the Portland Art Museum; portlandartmuseum.org.

New York FASHION JEWELRY

The New York-born daughter of a diamond merchant, Barbara Berger discovered young that her own interest in jewelry lay not in the value of the stones but in “extraordinary, unique designs imbued

Chicago LASCAUX

Executed some 20,000 years ago and discovered by a group of teenagers in 1940, the Lascaux cave paintings in southwestern France are among the world’s finest examples of prehistoric art; after viewing them, Pablo Picasso reportedly said, “We have invented nothing.” Although the caves were closed to the public in 1963 for purposes of preservation, they have unfortunately been under assault by fungi for the past decade.

Roger’s • Pierre floral brooch (c. 1950-69), part of the Barbara Berger collection.

with fantasy and a sense of humor.” After purchasing a pair of Chanel earrings at a Paris flea market at age 13, she amassed more than 4,000 pieces over the next five decades. Some 450 of these—many made to be worn with haute couture garments by the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Dior—appear in Fashion Jewelry: The Collection of Barbara Berger. The show illuminates both the history and the artistry of costume jewelry, which came into its own after World War II thanks to the increased availability of crystals and synthetic gemstones; starved for glamour after years of wartime austerity, women snapped up these relatively affordable pieces. Gripoix, Balenciaga and Lanvin are among the 60 designers showcased. Through Sept. 22 at the Museum of Arts and Design; madmuseum.org.

Chicago IMPRESSIONISM, FASHION, AND MODERNITY

Exploring the dynamic between art and la mode from the 1860s to the 1890s, when Paris became the style capital of the world, Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity combines 80-odd figure paintings by such masters as Monet, Renoir and Seurat with period accessories, fashion plates, photographs, popular prints and clothing. In contrast to this study of clothing as public statement, the pendant exhibition Undressed: The Fashion of Privacy presents 130 late 18th- to mid-20th-century works on paper depicting informal dress and nudity in personal settings. Artists represented—many the same as in the main show—include Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Daumier. Through Sept. 22 and Sept. 29 respectively at the Art Institute of Chicago, artic.edu.

New York LE CORBUSIER

Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes reveals the role of locations both real and imagined in the vast and varied œuvre of the pioneering

Swiss-born French architect. Holding that functional buildings and urban planning could improve people’s lives, he famously defined a house as a machine à habiter in his seminal 1923 book Vers une architecture. The show includes samples of his work as an architect, interior designer, artist, city planner, writer and photographer, ranging from early watercolors of Italy, Greece and Turkey to models of large-scale projects. Through Sept. 23 at the Museum of Modern Art; moma.org.

San Francisco IMPRESSIONISTS ON THE WATER

In honor of San Francisco’s hosting of the America’s Cup this summer, Impressionists on the Water presents some 85 paintings and works on paper by Monet, Caillebotte, Renoir, Pissarro, Signac and others drawn to boating both as an activity and as a source of artistic inspiration perfectly suited to their fondness for plein air painting and the play of light on water. The show traces the development of the then-new sport and offers insight into the role of the sea and waterways in the evolution of French art, culture and commerce. Through Oct. 3 at the Legion of Honor; legionofhonor.famsf.org.

New York DAVID D’ANGERS

The 19th-century sculptor David d’Angers executed numerous monumental commissions, notably the reliefs on the pediment of the Panthéon in Paris, as well as hundreds of busts and portrait medallions of the leading literary, political and artistic figures of his time. Having studied in Italy after winning the Prix de Rome, he was well versed in Neoclassicism but invested his work with a forward-looking Romantic sensibility. David d’Angers (1788– 1856): Making the Modern Monument presents some 45 works on paper and sculptures in marble, bronze and other materials, many never before exhibited. Sept. 17 through Dec. 8 at The Frick Collection; thefrick.org. F R A N C E • S U M M E R 2 013

Milwaukee

Becket, MA

BASTILLE DAY MIDWEST

3E ÉTAGE

The Bastille Days Festival attracts a quarter of a million revelers annually with four stages of live music; chef demos and wine tastings; a marketplace selling French and Cajun food, wine and gifts; and hourly light shows beamed out from a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower. Saturday is Kid’s Day, which kicks off with a French-themed breakfast and continues with ballet lessons, soccer drills and other activities. July 11 through 14 at Cathedral Square Park; easttown.com/events/ bastille-days.

Known for combining humor and irreverence with flawless technique, the Paris Opera Ballet offshoot 3e étage takes its name from the third floor of the Palais Garnier, where newcomers to the illustrious company earn their stripes. At the 2013 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the troupe will perform the world premiere of the specially commissioned Le Pillow Thirteen, as well as older works including me2, inspired by a bilingual poem by French-American author Raymond Federman, and Quatre, in which four male dancers try to outshine one another. July 31 through Aug. 4 at the Ted Shawn Theatre; jacobspillow.org.

New York MURMURS

troupe, performing at Jacob’s Pillow.

PERFORMING ARTS New York PHILIPPE KATERINE

Dubbed “the undisputed king of offkilter French pop” by The Guardian, the flamboyant Philippe Katerine makes his New York debut this summer with the group Francis et ses Peintres, with whom he teamed up to make his most recent album, “52 reprises dans l’espace” (2011). July 12 at Florence Gould Hall; fiaf.org.

New York DANGEROUS LIAISONS

More than 20 years after his memorable turn as the Vicomte de Valmont in Stephen Frears’s film Dangerous Liaisons, John Malkovich tackles the same script from behind the scenes. Originally presented in Paris in 2012, his starkly staged French-language revival of the play on which the film was based— Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Laclos’s 1782 epistolary novel—puts a modern spin on the tale. Wearing costumes that summon up the 18th century without being true period reproductions, the characters in Les Liaisons Dangereuses exchange electronic missives rather than letters. In French with English surtitles. July 9 through 14 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater; lincolncenterfestival.org.

New York and Philadelphia BASTILLE DAY EAST

Now in its 19th year, the Eastern State

F R A N C E • S U M M E R 2 013

Penitentiary Historic Site’s Bastille Day Festival features a wacky reenactment of the storming of the Bastille, during which Marie Antoinette declares, “Let them eat Tastykake!” and snack cakes rain down on the crowd from the prison towers. Spectators are encouraged to dress as either “revolting peasants” or “exquisite aristocrats.” This year’s edition kicks off with a free hour-long cabaret rendering of the French Revolution (July 13; easternstate.org/bastille-day). Bastille Day on 60th Street is a threeblock fête complete with live entertainment; beer, wine, cocktail and cheese tastings at the French Institute Alliance Française’s elegant Beaux-Arts building (and plenty of macarons, canelés and other treats outside); market stalls; and children’s activities (July 14 between Fifth Ave. and Lexington Ave.; bastilledaynyc.com).

FILMS ON THE GREEN

Pack a picnic and watch a film under the stars during the Films on the Green festival. This year’s edition features classic and contemporary pictures about the various aspects of love. Fridays through Aug. 2 at various city parks, with a final screening at Columbia University on Sept. 5; facebook.com/ FilmsontheGreen.

New York LE TASTE OF FRANCE

Boston FRENCH FILMS

Recent releases slated for the 18thannual Boston French Film Festival include Aliyah, about a small-time Paris drug dealer trying to raise enough cash to emigrate to Israel, and the lighterhearted Fly Me to the Moon, in which Isabelle (Diane Kruger) tries to break the family curse of having an unhappy first marriage by wedding and divorcing a man in whom she has no interest (Dany Boon, director and star of the 2008 hit Welcome to the Sticks) before heading to the altar with her beloved. July 11 through 28 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; mfa.org.

New Orleans Los Angeles and Santa Barbara

MORE FRENCH FILMS

BASTILLE DAY WEST

The schedule for the 16th annual New Orleans French Film Festival includes Something in the Air, the latest offering from Olivier Assayas, one of France’s leading contemporary directors. Set in the early 1970s, the semi-autobiographical film shows a teenage boy navigating a path between his personal interests and the activist currents of that post-May ’68 period. Those in the mood for a classic can catch Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. July 26 through Aug. 1 at the Prytania Theatre; neworleansfilmsociety.org.

The Bastille Day Los Angeles Festival combines comedians, singers and artists; French fare and wares; a Provençal pétanque tournament; and a waiters’ race (July 14 at the Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Area; bastilledaylosangeles.com). Along with its signature poodle parade, the 25th annual Santa Barbara French Festival serves up pâté, escargots, crêpes and all sorts of other Gallic edibles as well as three stages’ worth of non-stop live entertainment including cancan dancing and a Piaf tribute (July 13 and 14 at Oak Park; frenchfestival.com).

New York

The second annual Taste of France showcases both traditional and cuttingedge French contributions to fields ranging from fashion and culture to education, tourism and technology. More than 50 of the country’s finest chefs present scores of regional specialties paired with wine and other beverages. Billed as “The world’s largest event dedicated to France,” the show includes market stalls, live entertainment, a “Promenade of the Arts” and pétanque fields. Sept. 28 and 29 at Bryant Park; letasteoffrance.com.

New York CROSSING THE LINE

Now in its seventh year, Crossing the Line is a critically acclaimed monthlong festival celebrating the talents of innovative visual and performing artists based in France and New York City. The 2013 edition includes “Systema,” a collaboration between the 81-year-old electronic music composer Eliane Radigue and the prominent contemporary artist Xavier Veilhan; “La Bibliothèque,” an interactive project by the conceptual artist Fanny de Chaillé; and playwright, theater director and choreographer Pascal Rambert’s “Une (micro) histoire économique du monde, dansée.” Mid-Sept. through mid-Oct. at various venues; fiaf.org. —Tracy Kendrick Visit us on Facebook for additional announcements of cultural events.

STEVE MUREZ

from Paris’s • Dancers celebrated 3e étage

Making its North American premiere at this year’s Lincoln Center Festival, Murmurs was created by nouveau cirque pioneer Victoria Thierrée Chaplin (daughter of Charlie) and stars her daughter, Aurélia. In this 80-minute, nearly wordless work of visual theater, the multitalented performer occupies a dreamlike world in which everyday items such as bubble wrap, bellows, umbrellas and cardboard boxes take on lives of their own. July 24 through 28 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater; lincolncenterfestival.org.

Be A Friend!

American organizations dedicated to supporting French culture offer members and donors fabulous opportunities to enjoy truly unique experiences. Here’s a calendar of events planned for the following months. Sign up soon to save your place!

Calendar 2013-14 September 9, 2013

October 14-18, 2013

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE PARIS OPERA & BALLET

FRENCH HERITAGE SOCIETY

Fall gala chaired by Benjamin Millepied, AFPOB Trustee and newly appointed Director of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, featuring cocktails, dinner and dancing at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. laure.vienot@afpob.org or Tel. 212/439-1426 September 25-October 1, 2013

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BLÉRANCOURT

“Prestige Tour: Brittany, Land of Legends,” a seven-day trip including visits to medieval châteaux, beautiful villages, gardens and islands. SOLD OUT; waitlist only. blerancourt@rcn.com or Tel. 212/725-5380 September 28

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CHARTRES

Open Air Artists Day with dozens of artists gathering at the cathedral in the morning to create works inspired by its beauty; exhibition and sale to follow in the afternoon. friendsofchartres@yahoo.com September 28-October 6, 2013

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CHANTILLY

“French Châteaux and Gardens Tour: Walking in the Footsteps of André Le Nôtre,” including visits to Versailles, Vaux le Vicomte, Fontainebleau and Le Nôtre’s favorite, Chantilly. Learn from the curators and enjoy private meals at each location. Tour ends with a gala evening in Chantilly. Book immediately, few spaces left. afchantilly.org or Tel. 615/383-7473

Chairman’s Circle Member’s Trip: “Timeless Treasures of Paris and the Ile-de-France.” fhs@frenchheritagesociety.org or Tel. 212/759-6846 October 25-27, 2013

AMERICAN FRIENDS MUSÉE D’ORSAY

Fall event featuring private visits to Paris homes, collections and gardens and an exclusive dinner at the Musée d’Orsay. kristina.tencic@musee-orsay.fr or Tel. 33-1/4049-47-80 or 212/508-1614 (New York office) November 11, 2013

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BLÉRANCOURT

Annual dinner at New York’s beautiful Harold Pratt House. Fine food and wine, along with the presentation of a special “Blérancourt Award for French-American Relations.” blerancourt@rcn.com or Tel. 212/725-5380 November 13, 2013

FRENCH HERITAGE SOCIETY

Annual Fall Dinner Dance at The Metropolitan Club in New York. fhs@frenchheritagesociety.org or Tel. 212/759-6846 December 6, 2013 French Senate committee hearing on “New Funding Options for Patrimony.” friendsofchartres@yahoo.com January 2014

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LOUVRE

October 2013

Special events and programs to celebrate the reopening of the Louvre’s spectacular decorative arts galleries. awilliams@aflouvre.org or Tel. 212/367-2645

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE PARIS OPERA & BALLET

May 2014

Debut of a lecture series on the work of famous American artists involved with the Paris Opera & Ballet, complete with panel discussions and cocktails; hosted by the French Cultural Services in New York. laure.vienot@afpob.org or Tel. 212/439-1426

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE PARIS OPERA & BALLET

Patrons’ Trip to Paris centered around the opening night of Benjamin Millepied’s new creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, “Daphnis and Chloé.” laure.vienot@afpob.org or Tel. 212/439-1426

October 2013

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LOUVRE

Annual fall art trip, this year to Bentonville, AR, to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, one of the Louvre’s museum partners in America. awilliams@aflouvre.org or Tel. 212/367-2645

September 2014

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF VERSAILLES

“Voyage Spectaculaire” to Florence and Lucca, Italy, with tours—many including luncheons or dinners—of grand private residences. info@americanfriendsofversailles.org

FRENCH HERITAGE SOCIETY FHS raises funds to preserve the French architectural legacy both in France and the U.S, fosters French-American friendship and cultural exchange, and organizes transatlantic educational opportunities for students and architects. Its 13 chapters in the U.S. and one in Paris have supported the restoration of over 500 historic buildings and gardens and organized over 300 internships and 85 member trips to date. frenchheritagesociety.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LOUVRE AFL was founded in 2002 to strengthen ties between the Louvre and its American public. AFL supports the Louvre’s efforts to improve educational tools and visiting conditions, particularly for Englishspeakers, and promotes collaborations between the Louvre and U.S. institutions. AFL also sponsors Louvre projects such as gallery renovations, restorations and fellowships. aflouvre.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE PARIS OPERA & BALLET AFPOB seeks to share the treasures of the Opéra National de Paris with the American public. Since its establishment in 1984, it has become a leading promoter of French-American cultural exchange and has organized or funded hundreds of tours, guest appearances, productions, exhibitions, trips and special events. afpob.org

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BLÉRANCOURT The AFB was established in 1985 to support the Franco-American Museum at the Château de Blérancourt in Picardy. Founded by J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne following World War I, the museum documents the two nations’ political, social and cultural contacts. Now under renovation, it will reopen in 2015. americanfriendsofblerancourt.org

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF VERSAILLES The official U.S. representative for Versailles since 1998, the AFV raises funds for specific restoration projects in the palace and its gardens, and supports cultural interchange between France and the United States in the fields of education, architecture, fine and decorative arts, garden architecture and music. americanfriendsofversailles.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CHANTILLY Celebrating its 10th anniversary, AFC helps to fund the restoration and preservation of paintings, sculptures, books and historic manuscripts at the Château de Chantilly; to refurbish the château’s grounds; to encourage Americans to visit this beautiful and historic site; and to provide tours and educational exchange opportunities with the Domaine de Chantilly. afchantilly.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CHARTRES Founded in 2005, AFC works in association with Chartres, Sanctuaire du Monde in France to provide support to the French Government for the restoration of Chartres Cathedral. It has completed its Inaugural Project and is now launching its second project, the restoration of the three-part “Baker’s Window” on the south side of the nave. friendsofchartres.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS MUSÉE D’ORSAY Created in 2010, AFMO increases public awareness and financial support for the Musée d’Orsay and its sister institution, the Musée de l’Orangerie, and encourages gifts of art to the museums. Funds raised support conservation projects, education, building renovations and exhibitions in both France and the United States. aforsay.org

Lou Bercail Patrick and Dany Hauselmann are your gracious hosts at this charming 19th-century chambre d’hôtes set among the great Médoc châteaux. Comfortable rooms, private parking, pool. 26 Grande Rue - Saint Lambert - 33250 Pauillac - Tel 06 82 01 22 97 - loubercail@wanadoo.fr

PHOTO CREDITS

bernardaud,

©manuel bougot, courtesy of ©lalique, roland daraspe, © taillevent, ©pierrehermé /socrepa; p. 25: henri selmer paris, atelier rouveuremarquez, prat dumas, mellerio dits meller ; pp. 26-27: © baccarat, © eric zeziola , champagne bollinger ; pp. 28-29: parquets romoli, © l a cornue ; pp. 30-31: rinck meubles , maison fey ; pp. 32-33: courtesy of liz norman /orgues pascal quoirin, siegel & stockman. The New Patrons pp. 34-37: courtesy of maison parisienne, 199698 accusoft inc., all rights reserved ; pp. 38-39: courtesy of fort royal /les jardins du roi soleil, © philippe halle ; pp. 40-41: atelier simon marq, darne. Object Lessons p. 43: d. r./archives hermès ; pp. 44-45: thibault breton, studio des fleurs ; pp. 46-47: dider massard, ©lbproduction 2010, studio des fleurs , d . r . / archives hermès , guy lucas de peslouan ; pp. 48-49: thibault breton, d. r./archives hermès. Not the Real Thing p. 50: illustration by florence gendre /agence caroline maréchal; pp. 52-53: centralfab, estlmprlm ; pp. 54-55: ©château palmer, estlmprlm, centralfab. augustine by thierry gripoix,

CORRECTION some of the information given for the new frac provence-alpescôte d’azur in

“a

very cool year in provence ”

( spring 2013)

was

erroneous. cirva did work on the glass panels for two years, but the architect ultimately chose glass artisan emmanuel barrois for the job, which involved

1,600 panels.

Temps Modernes

Coming of Age? You have to admit that France has seen happier

days. The Belle Epoque, for example, when our grandfathers hummed tunes from Offenbach operettas; the postwar period, when our fathers sang Trenet’s “y a d’la joie”; the yé-yé years when we baby-boomers did the twist to “Dactylo Rock” by the peerless Chaussettes Noires. We had fun, the future was ours and our elders were building Europe. As students, we could choose from among several careers: beatnik, rock star, tax auditor.... But times change. You’ve probably noticed that things aren’t going so well in Europe at the moment, and the French have the blues. Each day, new studies reveal that we no longer see la vie en rose, and our melancholy has even sparked gentle concern in other countries. “Glad to Be Unhappy: The French Case,” was the title of a recent New Yorker article analyzing our “pleasure in displeasure.” Reading this piece by Richard Brody, I could feel the author’s hand on my shoulder, ready to offer me a comforting pat on the back. It didn’t really help my morale. I think I preferred it when you were renaming pommes frites “freedom fries.” We may not be very good at happiness, but we have zero tolerance for pity. Then the Brits chimed in. “French are ‘taught to be gloomy by their culture,’” trumpeted The Observer last March, in an article illustrated by a photo of Edith Piaf wringing her hands like a virgin martyr, with the caption: “The haunted face of singer Edith Piaf represents an archetypal image of Gallic gloom.” Good grief. And best of all, it’s our own fault. “The French have only themselves to blame for their malaise,” proclaims The Observer. That publication and The New Yorker both quoted French economist Claudia Senik, who has discovered a new French paradox that has nothing to do with the foie-gras-red-wine diet that keeps us in such good health. It’s that we have everything it takes to be happy—a social safety net, a 35-hour work week, universal health care and public education— and yet we’re still freaking out. So yes, I’ve been feeling a little glum—Gallic Gloom, my friends, is a contagious disease. Or at least I was until I read a marvelous little book, La France adolescente (Lattès), which immediately restored my optimism and joie de vivre. It was written by free-market thinker Mathieu Laine and psychiatrist Patrice Huerre, who has treated a number of insecure adolescents. And that, say the two authors, is 64

F R A N C E • S U M M E R 2 013

exactly what France is right now: an insecure adolescent. Despite what you might think, given our long history, our country isn’t a tottering old lady but a promising young girl whose parents—not just politicians but regular citizens as well—are a little too loving and attentive. They keep a close eye on who she hangs out with, treat the occasional fever as a medical emergency and wish they could shelter her from anything unpleasant. But this beloved child is now a charming young lady who wants only to realize her potential, although like any teenager on the cusp of adulthood and independence, she’s a little anxious about what lies ahead. And like all parents, we’re not quite ready to let go. Yet rather than hovering over her and smothering her with our protection, we should be giving her confidence and encouraging her to spread her wings. Otherwise, like any good teenager, she’ll rebel. According to Laine and Huerre, France has today reached that delicate point when it’s time to bid farewell to the dreamy world of childhood and enter the real world of adult responsibilities, joys and risks. We have to move out of the house our parents built after the war, founded on the illusion of an eternally efficient social model and the pleasant but inflexible protection of a powerful, benevolent state. Those were the years known as les trente glorieuses, and they were glorious indeed. But our house has become old-fashioned and expensive to maintain, and it’s no longer quite so comfortable. Modernity has come knocking at our door, and we’d better open it if we don’t want to suffocate. With globalization, the Arab Spring on our doorstep and a European Union that needs to be both preserved and redefined, France—perhaps even all of Europe—is leaving the cocoon of the protective nation state. It’s a soft revolution, wistful but full of hope, as farewells to childhood always are. France and its neighbors are now headed toward expanded horizons. It’s still hard to discern the future off in the distance, but it feels rich in promise and full of uncertainty. The young girl is worried, of course, and so are we. Adolescent France suddenly feels more exposed, more vulnerable but also stronger. With her many talents and abilities, she’s starting to realize that she’s ready for “real” life, with its risks, its freedom and its interactions, ready to exercise that blend of audacity f and wisdom that are essential to the pursuit of happiness.

by MICHEL FAURE

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