Latest news with #Gauloises
Spectator
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The gloriously impure world of Edward Burra
Every few years the shade of Edward Burra is treated to a Major Retrospective. The pattern is long established: Edward who? Forgotten genius, sui generis, well known for being unknown save by beardy centenarians and art tarts with ginny voices. Why have I never heard of this man? LGBT-ish avant la lettre, Polari-ish. After the show inhumation beckons again and he will disappear into an obscurity that cannot be relieved until the curatocracy once more lets loose the dogs of hype. George Melly and Dan Farson are no longer around to peal his name and Jane Stevenson's impeccable and often funny biography suffers from its subject's being a forgotten genius, sui generis, unknown save… etc. In later years Burra was the very picture of a different neglect: physical. He gave a fine impression of being an embittered down-and-out: a seamy, slight invalid, reedy-voiced, equipped with a tramp flask, 40 Gauloises and a lag's hairdo. A perfect role for David Bradley. Although he was no Joë Bousquet – 'Ma blessure existait avant moi: je suis né pour l'incarner' ('My wound existed before me: I was born to embody it') – he was nonetheless a super-valetudinarian. He suffered an enlarged spleen, jaundice, anaemia, rheumatic fever, chilblains, crippling arthritis, more or less permanent pain, depression. His background was provincial upper-middle-class. His animosity towards Rye's tweeness fuelled him – and he knew it, he spent most of his life there. He was supported by his devoted family of local grandees. These circumstances might have been conferred on him so that he could devote his surprisingly long life to his art. He was no joiner, he loitered uncommitted, fag between his lips, on the fringes of the British Surrealist Group.
Daily Maverick
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
The rebellious girl from Brakpan, SA who unlocked Grace Jones's voice
In the fever-dream swirl of 1970s Paris – where the air reeked of Gauloises, champagne and possibility – a South African model named Esti Mellet-Mass was about to change music history. Herman Lategan uncovers the unlikely story of how a rebellious girl from Brakpan helped launch one of pop culture's most enigmatic and fearless figures: Grace Jones. Rebel glamour The 1970s were a time of glorious excess. Studio 54 ruled New York. The Factory pulsed in London. Paris shimmered with champagne-soaked soirées. Amid this glitzy chaos rose a woman who defied categorisation: Grace Jones. With her angular face, defiant stare and vocals that sounded like velvet on fire, she carved her name into the cultural firmament. Jones was more than a singer. She was a symbol – of sexual rebellion, racial power and androgynous style. In a world that boxed women into softness, she was all sharp edges and attitude. Her music, a volatile cocktail of disco, dub and danger, became anthems of the underground. And yet, once upon a time, she wasn't sure she could sing at all. Enter Esti Esti Mellet-Mass was born in Brakpan, a South African industrial mining town steeped in grit and conservative tradition. Her parents – an unusually liberal doctor and nurse – nurtured her curiosity. After a stint studying art at Stellenbosch and a crown as her university's RAG Queen, Esti fled the stifling parochialism of apartheid-era South Africa with a few friends and R500 in her pocket. London was the first stop. Catalogue modelling paid the bills. Then came Paris, the true catwalk of dreams. Brunettes were in demand. Esti signed with an agency and walked into a whirlwind of high fashion, late nights and global jet-setters. She crossed paths with a cadre of future icons: Jerry Hall, fresh from a beach discovery, a young Jessica Lange and Grace Jones – at the time, a fiercely stunning model with a secret weapon no one had truly unlocked. Grace, interrupted Esti and Grace hit the clubs hard. 'She loved singing 'Dirty Ol' Man' by The Three Degrees,' Esti recalls. 'She'd act like she was in the group. And she could really sing.' Grace was magnetic, wild and untouchable – but hesitant about her own voice. Esti wasn't having it. By then Esti was dating a dashing Bulgarian producer named Stephan Tabakov. When she told him Grace had the pipes, he wanted to hear them. Grace, eavesdropping, was livid. 'Oh, she was stubborn,' Esti says. 'She didn't take orders. Especially from men. Or from me, for that matter.' Still, Esti coaxed her into singing that same club favourite. Stephan was intrigued. He invited her to the studio – but insisted she take lessons first. Grace stormed off. Esti offered to pay. Grace relented. A star, begrudgingly, was born. Grace would later write in her memoir, I'll Never Write My Memoirs: 'Esti told her boyfriend, 'Oh, Grace knows how to sing'. I was beating her up in a state of alarm.' But it worked. Her early sessions with Stephan led to the smoky seduction of La Vie en Rose, and the slow-burning fire of a global career. The afterlives of women Jones ascended – hula-hooping in latex before the Queen, slapping Russell Harty on live British TV and lighting joints on stage in Johannesburg. She was a hurricane in heels, and she made sure the world took notice. Esti, meanwhile, continued modelling in Europe before returning to South Africa, where she became one of the country's most sought-after interior designers. She lives in Cape Town, working on her memoirs. From Brakpan to the boulevards of Paris, Esti Mellet-Mass's story could have ended in the footnotes. But without her, the world might never have heard that voice. And Grace Jones might never have become, well, Grace Jones. On Monday, 16 May, it is her birthday: Happy 77th birthday, Grace. From South Africa, with a wink. DM
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Imperial Brands CEO departure spooks market, CFO to take reins
HighlightsStefan Bomhard, the CEO of Imperial Brands, announced his retirement after five years, leading to a more than 7 percent drop in the company's shares as investors reacted negatively to the unexpected news. Lukas Paravicini, the Chief Financial Officer, will succeed Bomhard as CEO on October 1, and is expected to continue the company's growth strategy targeting up to 5 percent annual profit growth until 2030. Under Bomhard's leadership, Imperial Brands experienced a significant turnaround, restoring market share and achieving nearly 90 percent share price growth during his tenure, despite challenges in expanding smoking alternatives. Imperial Brands said CEO Stefan Bomhard will retire after five years in the job, sending the British cigarette maker's shares down more than 7 per cent as investors lamented the unexpected loss of a leader credited with turning its performance around. Under Bomhard, the maker of Winston, Davidoff and Gauloises cigarettes has enjoyed a rebound in sales and returns as it focused on core markets and its tobacco business , while also looking to expand in smoking alternatives . Finance chief Lukas Paravicini will take over as CEO on October 1 and will be tasked with driving that growth strategy forward as the company targets up to 5 per cent annual profit growth until 2030. Shares in the company, which also owns e-cigarette brand blu, nicotine pouch brand Zone and heated tobacco device Pulze, were trading 7.9% lower at 0930 GMT on Wednesday, having gained nearly 90% during Bomhard's tenure. Prior to Bomhard's arrival Imperial had lost market share in its core tobacco business and failed to gain any real traction with new products like vapes, resulting in years of missed sales targets and a 2020 write-down. Bomhard restored that market share, sales growth and healthy investor returns by retreating to focus on traditional tobacco in Imperial's key markets. He also fine-tuned the company's strategy on smoking alternatives - a portfolio which delivered double-digit growth in the first half of this year. "There is no doubting the disappointment in Stefan Bomhard announcing his retirement... after an exceptional five-year run," Panmure Liberum analyst Rae Maile said in a note. While the departure of such a well-regarded CEO after a strong run always causes investor concern, CFO Paravicini's appointment as Bomhard's successor should give shareholders confidence, Barclays analyst Gaurav Jain said. CONTINUITY Paravicini told investors on an analysts' call he was committed to Imperial's five-year strategy set out in March and a capital allocation framework based around healthy returns for shareholders. Under that strategy, Paravicini is tasked with stepping up growth in smoking alternatives, where Imperial lags competitors, and compounding progress on tobacco in difficult markets like Germany, where Imperial has struggled to regain lost share amid stiff competition. Bomhard portrayed his departure as "a very personal decision" related to freeing up personal time for himself and his family after 11 years leading large UK companies. He was previously CEO of car distributor Inchcape and held senior roles at Unilever and Bacardi. Bomhard will remain on the board until December 31 and will be available until May 2026 to support the transition. Imperial Brands' Chief Strategy and Development Officer Murray McGowan will replace Paravicini as CFO. The company also reported a 1.8 per cent rise in first-half adjusted operating profit at constant currency, just shy of analysts' estimates of 2%, and reaffirmed its annual forecast.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paris Metro bans David Hockney exhibition poster due to artist's cigarette
David Hockney is about to have the largest exhibition he's ever had at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, with nearly 400 of his works taking over the entire building in the Bois de Boulogne. However, publicity for the upcoming exhibition which opens on 9 April has caused a bit of a stir, as a photograph of the 87-year-old artist holding a cigarette has been banned in the Parisian metro. This may seem at odds with the image of the French capital and the cliché of French people stylishly (or louchely, depending on how charitable you're feeling) chainsmoking Gauloises, but the Paris transport network's lawyers have reportedly contacted Hockney regarding the ban, citing the cigarette as the issue. All this despite the painting within the image also depicting him smoking. Indeed, the poster featuring the painting titled "Play within a Play within a Play and Me with a Cigarette" has fallen foul of the French law that states that any form of direct or indirect advertising of tobacco products (including electronic cigarettes) is prohibited. The Paris transport authorities shared that they have taken issue with the fact that Hockney is holding a cigarette in the photograph. However, they have no objection to the fact that the painting he is holding also depicts him smoking. The ban does not sit well with Britain's greatest living artist, who is a famous advocate of smoking. He described the situation as 'complete madness', telling The Independent: 'The bossiness of those in charge of our lives knows no limits. To hear from a lawyer from the Metro banning an image is bad enough but for them to cite a difference between a photograph and a painting seems, to me, complete madness. They only object to the photograph even though I am smoking also in the painting I am holding!' Emphasizing art's role in free expression, he added: 'I am used to the interfering bossiness of people stopping people making their own choices but this is petty. Art has always been a path to free expression and this is a dismal (decision).' Exhibition curator Sir Norman Rosenthal also chipped in and called the ban censorship. 'Madness reigns,' he told The Independent. 'To have censorship of this kind with a poster promoting one of the greatest exhibitions of a living artist for a generation is beyond comprehension. Paris is a city of freedom and revolution wrapped into its history – this flies in the face of that.' Hockney tirelessly campaigned against the 2005 smoking ban and even appeared at the Labour Party Conference that same year holding a sign that read: 'DEATH awaits you all even if you do smoke.' In an op-ed published after the smoking ban passed, the artist affirmed: 'I smoke for my mental health. I think it's good for it, and I certainly prefer its calming effects to the pharmaceutical ones (side effects unknown),' adding, 'Well, you say, smoking has dreadful side effects. Certainly on some people, but not on all'. Writing in The Times last year, Hockney responded to Rishi Sunak's attempts to restrict tobacco. He wrote: 'I have smoked for 70 years. I started when I was 16 and I'm now 86 and I'm reasonably fine, thank you'. He continued: 'I just love tobacco and I will go on smoking until I fall over. Like trees, we are all different, and I'm absolutely certain I am going to die. In fact, I'm 100 percent sure I'm going to die of a smoking-related illness or a non-smoking-related illness'. This is not the first time David Hockney and metros have not mixed well. In 2021, as part of a campaign to promote domestic tourism in the UK, Hockney was invited by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to design the new logo for the Piccadilly Circus tube station. His design for the 'Let's Do London' campaign provoked a wave of negative reactions. 'It looks like a contest entry from a toddler: 'Design a logo combining McDonalds and Burger King'' wrote one X user, while another commented: 'It looks awful, and I genuinely thought a child had done it. And to think of all the struggling local artists that could have really done something great with that commission.' The David Hockney exhibition opens on 9 April and runs until 31 August.
Euronews
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Paris Metro bans David Hockney exhibition poster due to artist's cigarette
ADVERTISEMENT David Hockney is about to have the largest exhibition he's ever had at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, with nearly 400 of his works taking over the entire building in the Bois de Boulogne. However, publicity for the upcoming exhibition which opens on 9 April has caused a bit of a stir, as a photograph of the 87-year-old artist holding a cigarette has been banned in the Parisian metro. This may seem at odds with the image of the French capital and the cliché of French people stylishly (or louchely, depending on how charitable you're feeling) chainsmoking Gauloises, but the Paris transport network's lawyers have reportedly contacted Hockney regarding the ban, citing the cigarette as the issue. All this despite the painting within the image also depicting him smoking. Indeed, the poster featuring the painting titled "Play within a Play within a Play and Me with a Cigarette" has fallen foul of the French law that states that any form of direct or indirect advertising of tobacco products (including electronic cigarettes) is prohibited. The Paris transport authorities shared that they have taken issue with the fact that Hockney is holding a cigarette in the photograph. However, they have no objection to the fact that the painting he is holding also depicts him smoking. The ban does not sit well with Britain's greatest living artist, who is a famous advocate of smoking. He described the situation as 'complete madness', telling The Independent : 'The bossiness of those in charge of our lives knows no limits. To hear from a lawyer from the Metro banning an image is bad enough but for them to cite a difference between a photograph and a painting seems, to me, complete madness. They only object to the photograph even though I am smoking also in the painting I am holding!' Emphasizing art's role in free expression, he added: 'I am used to the interfering bossiness of people stopping people making their own choices but this is petty. Art has always been a path to free expression and this is a dismal (decision).' Exhibition curator Sir Norman Rosenthal also chipped in and called the ban censorship. 'Madness reigns,' he told The Independent. 'To have censorship of this kind with a poster promoting one of the greatest exhibitions of a living artist for a generation is beyond comprehension. Paris is a city of freedom and revolution wrapped into its history – this flies in the face of that.' David Hockney who is pro smoking, is opposed by an anti tobacco protester during the Labour Party Conference, Brighton, England - 28 September 2005 AP Photo Hockney tirelessly campaigned against the 2005 smoking ban and even appeared at the Labour Party Conference that same year holding a sign that read: 'DEATH awaits you all even if you do smoke.' In an op-ed published after the smoking ban passed, the artist affirmed: 'I smoke for my mental health. I think it's good for it, and I certainly prefer its calming effects to the pharmaceutical ones (side effects unknown),' adding, 'Well, you say, smoking has dreadful side effects. Certainly on some people, but not on all'. Writing in The Times last year, Hockney responded to Rishi Sunak's attempts to restrict tobacco. He wrote: 'I have smoked for 70 years. I started when I was 16 and I'm now 86 and I'm reasonably fine, thank you'. He continued: 'I just love tobacco and I will go on smoking until I fall over. Like trees, we are all different, and I'm absolutely certain I am going to die. In fact, I'm 100 percent sure I'm going to die of a smoking-related illness or a non-smoking-related illness'. Hockney's Piccadilly Circus sign Mayor of London This is not the first time David Hockney and metros have not mixed well. In 2021, as part of a campaign to promote domestic tourism in the UK, Hockney was invited by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to design the new logo for the Piccadilly Circus tube station. ADVERTISEMENT His design for the 'Let's Do London' campaign provoked a wave of negative reactions. 'It looks like a contest entry from a toddler: 'Design a logo combining McDonalds and Burger King'' wrote one X user, while another commented: 'It looks awful, and I genuinely thought a child had done it. And to think of all the struggling local artists that could have really done something great with that commission.' The David Hockney exhibition opens on 9 April and runs until 31 August.
