For all you “Boomers” out there, I’m about to take you on a nostalgic trip back to the heady days of rock & roll.

Château d’Hérouville (France). Photo (carte postale). PD+70; PD-US. Wikimedia Commons.

Just one hour outside Paris stands the Château d’Hérouville. It was built in 1740 in the small village of Hérouville. The château replaced the original building that was constructed in the 1500s. It was used as a relay station for riders between Versailles and Beauvais and at its zenith, the château stabled more than 100 horses. Chopin used the chateau during the mid-19th century to carry on his affair with George Sand. During the 1970s it also stabled a “who’s who” of legendary rock bands and performers. Read More Honky Château

Self-portrait in a Straw Hat. Painting by Louise Élisabeth Vigée le Brun (c. 1782). PD-100+. National Gallery. Wikimedia Commons

I wish I had the money and time to hop on over to Europe every time I see an exhibit, event, or happening that grabs my attention. One such event that I would fly across the Pond to attend is the current art exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. This special exhibition is dedicated to one of France’s foremost artists, the self-taught portrait painter Louise Élisabeth Vigée le Brun (1755–1842).

The Grand Palais

Vigée le Brun or Madame le Brun as she was known, was a prolific artist painting more than 600 portraits and 200 landscapes. Madame le Brun commanded very high commissions—so naturally she was disliked by many of the male artists of the time (jealousy spilled over into some calling her “feeble and vulgar”). She also happened to be, at the age of 23, the official court painter for Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette. Read More The Court Painter Was A Woman

Category: Paris

Honky Château

The Court Painter Was A Woman

The Grand Palais

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