Latest news with #AixenProvence
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Head to Aix-en-Provence to celebrate modernist painter Cézanne
Fans of painter Paul Cézanne heading to the south of France can now visit his family estate where he lived for more than four decades. Work is still under way at Jas de Bouffan but it has been renovated extensively, says Elodie L'Huillier, the cultural officer in charge. When he was not in Paris, post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne lived here for over 40 years and the house was one of his most important places of work. Cézanne, known as the "father of modern art," is celebrated for his innovative use of colour, geometric forms, and his bridge between Impressionism and Cubism, particularly his exploration of how we perceive and represent the world. Fans willbe excited to hear that further fragments of his wall paintings were discovered in the Grand Salon during the renovation work. A "big surprise," says L'Huillier, though it was already known that Cézanne painted the living room walls when he was 20 years old. Perspectives from the past Some of his works were created in the spacious garden of the country house. "You can still see his perspectives from back then," says L'Huillier, showing pictures depicting the house surrounded by greenery. Work is still needed before the extensive park is fully restored horticulturally. But if you squint, you can almost imagine Cézanne holding his brush beside an easel beneath the plane trees. Aix-en-Provence, the home of the painter, is still very popular today. "I moved to Provence because of Cézanne," says Mara McKillen, an Irishwoman who runs Château La Coste, a nearby family vineyard that is also a centre for the arts. In its extensive grounds, art fans make pilgrimages to sculptures by greats including Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois. "The name Cézanne attracts artists like a magnet," says McKillen. That applies to architects too, who have added structures to the 200-hectare grounds. While the original country house dates back to 1682, you can also see buildings by modern architects including Oscar Niemeyer, Norman Foster, and Tadao Ando. Cézanne's original tools Aix is celebrating this year, not only because of the restored Jas de Bouffan, as Cézanne Year. You can also see a further Cézanne site that has been thoroughly overhauled: His last permanent place of work, the Atelier des Lauves in the north of the city. He worked there tirelessly until his death. You can see his original tools, from easels to paint pots, brushes and palettes, as though they are still waiting for the artist to return. In the old town of Aix-en-Provence, with its magnificent palaces and elegant facades, visitors can discover traces of the artist everywhere. "We walk through the same streets that Cézanne also used," says Elodie Marie, a city guide, as she turns into Rue Cardinale and stops in front of a school. "Cézanne attended the Collège Bourbon with his friend Émile Zola, the later writer." Zola is one of France's great novelists and was also a companion of Guy de Maupassant. Cézanne created a portrait of Zola, and the work now hangs in the Musée Granet, which has curated a major exhibition with international loans for Cézanne Year, with a focus on Cézanne in Jas de Bouffan. On the Boulevard Cours Mirabeau, there is a bustling market. Cézanne was fond of visiting Café Les Deux Garçons, later frequented by painter Pablo Picasso. The venue, which enjoys legendary status among artists and creatives, is being restored following a fire. Amidst the lively atmosphere of the many street cafés, it is easy to imagine how Cézanne and his colleagues used to meet up for a drink and to enjoy life - with scenes that recall his famous painting "The Card Players." Walking in Cézanne's footsteps Next door is the site where the painter's father worked as a hatter before becoming a wealthy banker and acquiring the Jas de Bouffan estate. The space is now a bank branch. At the beginning of his career, Aix-en-Provence did not appreciate the city's most famous son and pioneer of modernity. "Cézanne was uncompromising, often difficult to deal with, and had a rough manner," says L'Huillier. Now, though, he is honoured by a bronze statue near the La Rotonde fountain that shows him with a hat, walking stick, and knapsack on his back. In this attire, the plein air painter wandered out to the Carrières de Bibémus, the quarries outside the city gates. During guided tours, art lovers follow Cézanne's paths to cubist-like rock formations. "In the past, stone blocks were hewn from the landscape and used in the city," says tour guide Marie, looking at the almost mystical ochre rock world. Here, the painter rented a solitary little house, which you can still see. In this seclusion, Cézanne created masterpieces. His brushstrokes married rocks with trees in a way never seen before. Here, in his paintings of the quarry, hints of Cubism emerged. Obsessed with the mountain But Cézanne's most famous motif is the mythical Sainte-Victoire east of Aix. The view of the rugged table mountain from the Jardin des Peintres viewpoint is particularly impressive. The painter often came here to work. The mountain became an obsession for him, leading to the Mont Sainte-Victoire series. Museums around the world count at least 44 oil paintings and 43 watercolours with this motif. You can also attend painting workshops to depict the mountain and other motifs. "Cézanne's images in mind inspire creativity," says one participant, dipping her brush into the watercolour and letting it glide over the paper. "The process of losing yourself is more important than what comes out of it." Cézanne meanwhile was wholly obsessed with his work. He died after working for hours in the rain. You can visit his grave in the Saint-Pierre cemetery, where metal plaques with a large C lead you to his final resting place. The touching simplicity of his grave stands in stark contrast to the dizzying millions that his works now cost. But the fragments of the murals found in his former family estate, Jas de Bouffan, are not likely ever to be sold. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Pierre Audi's Last Act: A Dreamer's Ambition on the Opera Stage
As a small, invited audience trickled into the Grand Théâtre de Provence on Sunday morning, they were greeted with a large portrait of Pierre Audi projected above the stage. It was a solemn photograph, black and white, with Audi staring directly into the camera. But on closer inspection, it was surprisingly casual: His collar was imperfect, as was the lapel of his jacket, and a slight smile hinted at a deeper warmth. The crowd, made up of his friends, colleagues and family, had gathered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France to memorialize Audi, a mighty force in the performing arts, who died in May at 67. As the festival's general director, he had already finished plans for this year's edition, which began last week. But Audi was never really done with a show until opening night. He was known to visit the rehearsals for each Aix production, gently offering what help he could. 'When I think of Pierre,' the opera director Claus Guth said in a speech at the memorial, 'I always have immediately one image of him in front of me: Pierre sitting in the audience like a rock, listening.' Guth paused, then added that 'pierre' is French for 'rock,' and that 'audi' suggests listening. 'He was watching the actors, he was listening, but there was something parallel, as if he would look through what was happening onstage,' he said. 'He would look into the soul of a composer, the soul of the artist performing, of the person inventing. He had deep knowledge and intuition, and could look beyond.' What did Audi see in those moments? Having spent his career as an impresario and director restlessly seeking new ways to present the performing arts, he might have been seeing possibility. He looked at a building in London that had fallen on hard times and pictured the groundbreaking Almeida Theater; he looked at an abandoned, graffiti-covered stadium off a Provençal highway and saw a cavernous new stage for Aix. In his last decade, he programmed the Park Avenue Armory, whose enormous drill hall he filled with the kind of shows found almost nowhere else in New York. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Casino launches new generation SPAR store in Luynes, France
Casino Group, the licensed operator of SPAR in France, has launched the first new generation SPAR supermarket in Luynes, Aix-en-Provence. The updated SPAR store design enables retailers to modify their shops to align with customer requirements. The Luynes supermarket was developed in collaboration with Casino Group and SPAR France's independent retailers, who operate 95% of SPAR stores nationwide. The concept is adaptable to rural, urban, tourist and coastal areas, with a focus on meeting diverse customer needs through food-to-go, local produce and convenience offerings. The store features a modern design with a bright façade, clear signage, digital screens and enhanced merchandising. Its product range includes 2,300 items, with an emphasis on local, organic, international, non-food and snacking options. More than 400 products are locally sourced, and a weekly fish market held on weekends provides additional fresh produce. The food-to-go section has been redesigned to cater to customer demand, complemented by other departments such as a wine cellar. Services such as home delivery further enhance the customer experience. SPAR has been present in France since 1955, with Casino Group holding the licence to operate the brand since the 1990s. Casino Group CEO Phillipe Palazzi stated: 'Through this new SPAR concept, we are affirming a strong conviction: proximity is a structural response to the expectations of French consumers. 'With this new generation of SPAR, we want to build a proximity store that is based on the regions, on our partner retailers and on an offering adapted to new modes of consumption.' In early July 2025, SPAR Austria announced that it is trialling Simbe Robotics' Tally inventory robot at a Eurospar in Vienna and an Interspar in Eisenstadt in a five-month pilot. "Casino launches new generation SPAR store in Luynes, France" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ECB's Makhlouf Says Euro Not Ready to Challenge Dollar's Role
(Bloomberg) -- The euro cannot quickly supplant the dollar as the anchor of the world's financial system as countries using it still have far to go in their financial and economic integration, European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said. Foreign Buyers Swoop on Cape Town Homes, Pricing Out Locals Massachusetts to Follow NYC in Making Landlords Pay Broker Fees NYC Commutes Resume After Midtown Bus Terminal Crash Chaos Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds What Gothenburg Got Out of Congestion Pricing The Central Bank of Ireland Governor said dollar dominance will decline over the long-term, but for now Europe lacks a single fiscal capacity of a safe asset like Treasuries that would mirror the US system. 'Frankly, Europe's economic system is still not formed,' Makhlouf said at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, France. Currency movements in recent months, which have seen the euro appreciate against the dollar, are more attributable to investor concerns about the rule of law in the US, he added. 'It's a bit far to say that's suddenly going to lead to the euro replacing the dollar because the euro is not ready to do that,' Makhlouf said. Still, he echoed the calls of his colleagues at the ECB for Europe to use the current environment of global uncertainty as an opportunity to bolster its own security, lift barriers within its single market and increase joint-financing for shared objectives. 'These opportunities to actually increase the standing of the EU, to strengthen its sovereignty and autonomy matter, and they need to be taken,' Makhlouf said. --With assistance from Alan Katz. SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ECB's Makhlouf Says Euro Not Ready to Challenge Dollar's Role
(Bloomberg) -- The euro cannot quickly supplant the dollar as the anchor of the world's financial system as countries using it still have far to go in their financial and economic integration, European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said. Foreign Buyers Swoop on Cape Town Homes, Pricing Out Locals Massachusetts to Follow NYC in Making Landlords Pay Broker Fees NYC Commutes Resume After Midtown Bus Terminal Crash Chaos Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds What Gothenburg Got Out of Congestion Pricing The Central Bank of Ireland Governor said dollar dominance will decline over the long-term, but for now Europe lacks a single fiscal capacity of a safe asset like Treasuries that would mirror the US system. 'Frankly, Europe's economic system is still not formed,' Makhlouf said at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, France. Currency movements in recent months, which have seen the euro appreciate against the dollar, are more attributable to investor concerns about the rule of law in the US, he added. 'It's a bit far to say that's suddenly going to lead to the euro replacing the dollar because the euro is not ready to do that,' Makhlouf said. Still, he echoed the calls of his colleagues at the ECB for Europe to use the current environment of global uncertainty as an opportunity to bolster its own security, lift barriers within its single market and increase joint-financing for shared objectives. 'These opportunities to actually increase the standing of the EU, to strengthen its sovereignty and autonomy matter, and they need to be taken,' Makhlouf said. --With assistance from Alan Katz. SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
