Welcome to French Culture Now, America's leading independent English language news resource for all things French.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Win a free copy of the art book Monet: Water Lilies, The Complete Series, compliments of Rizzoli USA.
Click here to enter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
You are here: Home » Arts + Culture + Fashion » Archive » October 2007-1
October 2007-1
Archives Oct. 5-Oct. 10, 2007
Metropolitan Opera Double Header for French Tenor
New York Times. Oct. 10, 2007
French-Sicilian
tenor Roberto Alagna sang two challenging roles at the Metropolitan
Opera this autumn. As Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly the New
York Times found him "blunt and tough" and the New York Sun noted his
strained top notes. The AP called his singing as Romeo in Gounod's
Romeo et Juliette "ardent and ultimately winning." >More
American Fashion Needs French-Style Piracy Protection
Los Angeles Times. Oct. 10, 2007
In 1930, Coco Chanel sued a fashion copyist who was caught with 48
copied dress knockoffs. The French court case was a landmark that
recognized French design originals as "real works of art ... entitled
to the same protection accorded authors and copyright holders. Now
American fashion designers are clamoring for similar safeguards and the
US senate is working on a bill to ban counterfeit clothing knockoffs.
>More
French Assembly OK’s Abu Dhabi Louvre
Kuwait News Agency. October 10, 2007
The
French National Assembly has approved a project to build a branch of
the famous Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi under a 30-year cultural
agreement between the UAE and France. The project entails development
of the museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel on Al Sadiyat
island off Abu Dhabi. It is expected to be opened in 2012. The
agreement allows the Abu Dhabi Louvre to borrow masterpieces from major
French museums, including the Louvre, to be displayed for 6-18 months.
Critics complain that France's prized collections should not be put on
loan, saying it would deprive the Louvre's 7.3 million annual visitors
in Paris. >More
>More
Public Votes on France's New Monopoly Game
UPI. Oct. 10, 2007
The public is voting on the cities and towns for the new French edition
of Monopoly, but if the trend continues, Paris won't be on the board.
Twenty-two French communities will be placed on the board. So far,
jokers have voted the town of Montcuq (which phonetically translates as
"my bum") in the lead, followed by Dunkirk and Perpignan. The capital
trails a sad 31st. >More
Putin, Sarkozy agree to hold Year of Russia in France and vice versa
Interfax. Oct. 10, 2007
Russian
President Vladimir Putin and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have
agreed to a hold the Year of Russia in France in 2010, and the Year of
France in Russia. The event is described as an exchange of large-scale
events in the framework of cultural cooperation. >More
French Film "L'Ennemi Intime" (Intimate Enemy) Tackles Algerian War Taboos
AFP. Oct. 10, 2007
A
new film described as France's "Platoon" tackles the savagery of the
Algerian war, broaching a topic that until recently remained taboo and
helping France face the demons of its colonial past. "L'Ennemi Intime"
(Intimate Enemy) from director Florent-Emilio Siri addresses issues of
colonialism, torture and terrorism. Prime Minister Francois Fillon last
month announced the creation of a new Algerian war memorial foundation
that he said would "help bring peace to hearts and spirits." >More
French Piano Maker Pleyel Adapts to Survive
Bloomberg. Oct. 10, 2007
At the French Pleyel piano factory in Saint Denis, near Paris, the
200-year-old piano maker's battle for survival. To stem three decades
of losses and tackle the latest threat -- competition from China --
France's last piano maker is cutting annual production to 30 of the
most expensive instruments from 600, and is eliminating upright pianos
from its repertoire. >More
Art Lover on Trial
AP. Oct. 10, 2007
A woman who kissed a painting by American artist Cy Twombly went on
trial in Avignon, telling the court she had committed an "act of love"
— not a crime. Rindy Sam, a 30-year-old French artist, faced charges of
"voluntarily damaging a work of art." The painting is worth an
estimated $2,830,000 and restorers have tried to remove the lipstick
smudge from canvas using nearly 30 products — to no avail. >More
BHL attacks 'racist' Sarkozy speechwriter
Expatica. October 9, 2007
F
rench
public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy continues his attacks on the
Sarkozy regime. The millionaire socialist author blasted presidential
advisor Henri Guiano over the contents of a speech delivered by Sarkozy
in the Senegalese capital Dakar in July 2007, which sparked an uproar
on the continent. "Guaino, he's a racist.... saying that if Africa
wasn't developed it was because Africans were not part of history,"
Henri-Levy charged. "To say such a thing, completely forgetting
colonisation, the destruction of the country by this shameful period of
colonialism, that is pure Guaino, and it is racism," he said. >More
How Jean-Luc Godard made history when French intellectuals ruled the world
Village Voice. Oct. 9, 2007
There's
a cineaste myth that Jean-Luc Godard's La Chinoise, which opened in New
York on April 3, 1968, inspired the Columbia students who later began
occupying campus buildings. Godard had recently toured Ameri- can
colleges with a print of La Chinoise — initially considered
unreleasable — but he never got any closer to New York than SUNY Albany
and, if reviews in the press are any indication, student radicals took
La Chinoise as more snarky satire than glamorous model for action. >more
Charles Aznavour's long goodbye -- 83 and still singing
AFP. Oct. 8, 2007
Charles
Aznavour, uncontested star of French song, is once again on tour, a
seemingly gruelling affair for an 83-year-old -- 20 Paris concerts
followed by 28 in France, Belgium and Switzerland. After announcing his
retirement in 1999, then again in 2000, and crooning through a farewell
foreign tour in 2006, the French press reckoned the concerts kicking
off next week were the singer's last good-bye. >More
Eurotrash Moliere Delights and Vexes New York Critics
Various Sources. Oct. 8, 2007
Flemish
bad boy director Ivo van Hove offers a violent, slicky modernised
version of Moliere’s "The Misanthrope" at the East Village's New York
Theater Workshop. Critics find it "bold, gripping" (NY Daily News), "a
throwback to the experimental theater of the 1960s" (NY Times),
tiresome (Newsday), desperately gimmicky (AMNY), stimulating (Village
Voice), trashy (NJ Star), and "startlingly imaginative … exactly right”
(AP).
French Rubik Cube Record is Safe
AP. Oct. 8, 2007
A
16-year-old Japanese took the top prize at the Rubik's Cube world
championship in Hungary on Oct. 7, 2007 , solving the puzzle five times
in an average of 12.46 seconds. But the current world record for a
single solve of the cube still stands at 9.86 seconds, set by French
youth Thibaut Jacquinot at the Spanish Open 2007 competition in May
2007).
France's Artistic Glory is Past, Says Curator
Artforum. Oct. 8, 2007
Paris
has little chance of becoming a contemporary art centre, says Werner
Spies, former director of the Musee National d'Art Moderne at the
Centre Pompidou. In an interview with Die Welt, Spies notes that the
international scene long ago moved to New York and London because
France lacks exhibition opportunities for artists and also lacks
private collectors. The overinvolvement by the French state in
subsidizing creation has not lead to great art. The market-driven
forces in the USA and Britain have produced most of the stars of
contemporary art.
Book Review: Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, and Joseph Epstein’s Democracy’s Guide
Claremont Review of Books. Oct. 8, 2007
Joseph
Epstein, in his new biography of Tocqueville, points out that it is
impossible nowadays to think about America, about democracy, about
liberty, about bureaucracy, about equality, about almost any aspect of
politics, or for that matter about large stretches of human nature
without reference to Tocqueville. >More
Dior and the Birth of Haute Couture
UK Herald. Oct. 8, 2007
Sixty
years ago Christian Dior unveiled his first collection to an
electrified audience. It was dubbed The New Look and it launched a
golden age of design, causing a revolution in fashion design whose
influence would be felt well into the 1960s. Out went the functional
austerity of the war years, in came the luxury and elegance that had
always fuelled couture but which was allied now to a thrilling
modernity. This story is revealed in the exhibition "The Golden Age Of
Couture: Paris And London 1947-1957 " at the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London until January 20, 2008. >More
Vandals at Paris' Musee d'Orsay Damage a Monet
AP. Oct. 7, 2007
Intruders
thought to be drunk, entered the Musee d'Orsay early on Oct. 7, 2007
and punched a hole in "Le Pont d'Argenteuil," a renowned work by
Impressionist painter Claude Monet. The break-in occurred during
Paris's annual "Nuit Blanche" all-night festival which brings thousands
of people into the streets for concerts and exhibits. The French
culture minister described the damage as an attack on "our memory, our
patrimony," and called for tougher penalties for art vandals. >More
Suicide Letters are French Best-Seller
Observer. Oct. 7, 2007
A
75 page letter of love and despair written by renowned French
philosopher André Gorz to his wife, Doreen, has become a bestseller in
France after the couple comitted suicide in Paris. Gorz first published
his “Lettre a D. Histoire d'un Amour” (Letter to D. Story of a Love)
last fall when his wife fell ill. A rush in demand has led publishers
Galilee to order further print runs of the book in the months following
their deaths. >More
Madame Tussaud's Opens in Washington
Press Release. Oct. 7, 2007
The
once-French waxwork museum Madame Tussauds has opened a new branch in
Washington D.C. The 27,000 square foot, $16 million attraction is
located downtown in the historic Woodies building at the corner of 10th
and F Streets. Madame Tussaud's was founded in revolutionary Paris but
the private company Tussaud's Group was purchased for $1.5 billion in
May 2005 by Dubai International Capital.
It is now managed by the British Merlin Group.
>More
Monet Exhibition Visits Ohio
Columbus Dispatch. October 7, 2007
The
exhibition "In Monet's Garden: The Lure of Giverny” at the Columbus
Museum of Art tells the story of the colors and tranquillity that
French Impressionist Claude Monet and others found at his rural retreat
Giverny north of Paris. Twelve paintings by Monet are included, but 44
other artworks, the most recent created in 2004, show the extensive
influence of Monet, his gardens and the village. >More
Linda Nochlin: Courbet and Me
Art Newspaper. Oct. 7, 2007
American art historian Linda Nochlin is a leading expert on French
painter Gustave Courbet. In "Courbet" (Thames and Hudson) eleven of her
essays, originally written between 1967 and 2006, have been gathered
together, constituting an important new monograph on the artist and the
personal record of a scholar's passion. >More
New York Critic Pans French Dance
New York Times. Oct. 6, 2007
New York Times critic Gia Kourlas panned the New York performance of
DanceOff! — rechristened "FranceOff!" as part of the French Institute
Alliance Française’s Crossing the Line festival. The mixed bill
subsidized by French taxpayer money included "underdeveloped or
unchallenging dances" performed to French music, but the results were
"flawed" and "banal." >More
Art Review: Renoir Landscapes in Philadelphia
New York Times. Oct. 5, 2007
Pierre-Auguste
Renoir may be the last numbingly famous Impressionist painter whose
achievements can still be fought over. Despite Renoir’s immense
popularity, his art doesn’t get nearly the respect, nor the scholarly
attention, given that other Impressionist idol. The Philadelphia Museum
of Art isn’t expecting fights at “Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883,” at
least not beyond the usual jockeying for space among adoring fans.
Billed as the first large display of landscape paintings by an artist
best known for portraits, figures and nudes — albeit often in natural
settings — the show is tantamount to revisionist. 61 paintings here, 14
have never been shown in the United States. >More
Depardieu Croons in "The Singer"
Bloomberg. Oct. 5, 2007
Fans will find a satisfying appetizer in Xavier Giannoli's first
feature, The Singer,'' which brings Gerard Depardieu's best lead outing
in years. Depardieu gives a warm and vulnerable perfor
|
 |
|
|
More
