News
The Eiffel Tower Gets a Facelift
“I ought to be jealous,” engineer Gustave Eiffel said, after his 1,070-foot iron lattice tower was erected in late-19th-century Paris. “She is more famous than I am.”
France
In Brief
Town Paints Sculpture Blue, to Artist's Horror
French municipalities are mistreating the public works they commission under a national "1% for art" program, with one going so far as to recently repaint a sculpture without the artist's approval, Libération reported.
In Brief
French Food Blogger Fined $3,400 for Bad Review
A French court has ordered a blogger to pay €2,500 (~$3,380) for writing a negative review of a restaurant, Eater reported.
Art
Celebrating 19th-Century Chaos and Calamity with Le Petit Journal
No calamity was too chaotic or crime too grotesque for Le Petit Journal to illustrate.
Art
Gimme Shelter: A French Artist Retreat Crowdsources
It seems idyllic: a cluster of artist-designed shelters lining a river by an old flour mill in pastoral Brittany, France. This vision of a creative retreat is one that is close to being realized, although they're angling for an extra push to get them there.
News
Is a Tax on iDevices a Savior of French Culture?
André Malraux, the prolific French critic and Minister of Culture under Charles de Gaulle, once wrote that art is an "anti-destin," a revolt against destiny. And by that measure, the country's recently-released report calling for a tax on internet-connected devices to fund cultural production qualif
Opinion
A Kinetic Echo in a Chapel
BERKELEY, California — Remember Ernesto Neto's jaw-dropping installation "Leviathan Thot," at the Panthéon in Paris in 2006? As much as I loved "Leviathan Thot" it could have easily been made in the 1970s or 80s. Recently however, I stumbled across another artist in who has made an equally powerful
Interview
Peeking Behind the Veil: Princess Hijab
I sit down with my laptop in a quiet, central Brooklyn café, not far from Prospect Park on a slightly overcast day in August to interview the mysterious Parisian street artist Princess Hijab. I order a San Pellegrino with lime; she abstains from any snacks or beverages. Despite the time difference f