The Alsatian community of Wintzenheim, near Colmar, had made the news sadly a few months ago in devastating the exterior sculptures of the Hertzog chapel (see article). A Neo-Gothic construction built between 1860 and 1862, it was in fact listed as a Monument historique…in no way troubling the DRAC of Alsace (see article)!  continue

A meeting involving various ministries was held last 15 September with the purpose of determining the “Valorization of the Hôtel de la Marine”. In the minds of our political leaders, this monument built by Gabriel is now in fact only an asset to be exploited for maximum profit. But this is not an easy task as its dual aspect of historical monument and public property belonging to the state implies a certain number of restrictions which seem to strongly hamper the government’s projects.  continue

During the night of 28 August 2009, after several years of quiet fighting, fate finally struck and the Villa Aghion built by the Perret brothers in Alexandria in 1926-1927 was gutted by bulldozers, in total disregard of Egyptian law  continue

This summer the Hôtel Lambert case took a surprising legal turn. The authorization permit issued by the Ministry of Culture (see news item of 23/6/09) was appealed before the Tribunal Administratif of Paris by the Association Paris-Historique. After hearing the various sides and requested further information, a decision has been postponed until a new hearing on 8 September at 15h has taken place. The subject is a complicated one and all the ensuing ins and outs are difficult to understand. (...)  continue

The Herzog chapel in the Logelbach district of Zintzenheim, near Colmar, bears the name of its commissioners, an industrialist family headed by Antoine Herzog (1786-1861) and his sons Antoine (1816-1892) and Eugène (1819-1858)  continue

Among the more delicate cases awaiting the attention of the new Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterand, one has not yet been talked about but should soon make the headlines in the world of French cultural heritage. It concerns the claim by the ministry of an element of a rood screen from the Chartres cathedral belonging to an art dealer.
In 2002, the Parisian gallery Brimo de Laroussilhe, specialized in Medieval art, acquired a fragment of sculpted stone on the French market which was (...)   continue

Visitors to the château de Versailles who arrive at the Rive-Droite train station walk by a superb 18th century monument, the Hôpital Richaud.  continue

True, in this case the buildings do not concern Victor Baltard, but his father Louis-Pierre. However, the parallel is overwhelming : almost forty years after the Halles were massacred in the heart of Paris, France is now getting ready to attack another major construction by a Baltard, the Saint Joseph prison in Lyon for which the Ministry of Justice filed a request for a demolition permit in February. In the great patrimonial sell-off organized by the French ministries, with the (...)  continue

The Saint Joseph prison in Lyon by Louis-Pierre Baltard is doubly important in the history of architecture. First of all, along with the palace of justice by the same Baltard, this is one of the most important 19th century monuments in this city. Although it occupies a discreet place on the banks of the Rhône river, and hidden by its very nature by large walls, this prison, then called Perrache, is of a monumental character well adapted to its purpose. At the time, prison architecture was (...)  continue

We know that the French government, desperately in need of money, is selling off whatever it can. After the Hôtel de la Marine, it was obvious that this full-scale garage sale was not going to end there. The current economic crisis has only speeded things up. Now, one of France’s most emblematic monuments will be turned over to a private firm which, according to our sources, would be a leading hotel chain.
This company apparently has big plans in the works: the idea is to install, in the (...)   continue

In this very discreet fiftieth anniversary of the Ministry of Culture, French citizens should feel the duty to gather support in defense of their national heritage, in this case the Hôtel de l’Etat-Major de la Marine and those projects which the ministry seems powerless to prevent. Alas, it would appear that our leaders need to be reminded of the history of the Hôtel de l’Etat-Major de la Marine since they seem determined to divest of it, when they are in fact supposed to protect and maintain (...)  continue

On Monday 9 March, during a four-hour marathon session, the Commission supérieure des monuments historiques validated, with extensive reservations, the restoration project for the Hôtel Lambert. According to our sources, Michel Clément, director of Patrimoine, fulfilled his role by resisting whatever was unacceptable, notably the installation of bathrooms on top of the Galerie d’Hercule, something which we had overlooked and which had been widely criticized, and justifiably so, these last few (...)  continue

Try to imagine one of the most beautiful historical monuments, on one of the most majestic squares in the world, in the capital of a major industrialized country at the outset of the 21st century. Again, imagine that this building houses rooms decorated in wood paneling and with a wealth of its original furniture commissioned from the finest cabinetmakers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Imagine that these stately salons have just been restored at great cost thanks to funding from (...)  continue

Built between 1757 and 1774, the Hôtel de la Marine, former Garde-meuble (furniture storage house for the Crown) is one of the most important historical monuments in Paris, not only for its façade by Jacques-Ange Gabriel, but also for its décor inside as well as its furniture which has remained in place. Just when its future is now being threatened (see our second article), a remarkable restoration is being completed with financing under a patronage called “de compétence”, or skilled, from (...)  continue

A year ago, we had denounced on this same site the ongoing scandal at the chateau de Fontainebleau where the Chief Architect for Monuments Historiques (ACMH), Jacques Moulin, “was restoring” in his own manner the Quartier Henri IV, notably by entirely covering up the sandstone facades with yellow paint.  continue

Las July, with relatively little fanfare, the Bath of Apollo group was finally brought inside the Petite Ecurie. A longtime Versailles lover, Claude Rozier, was there and took several photographs of the removal. We had pointed out the danger to the group, a masterpiece of 17th century French statuary, and the need of sheltering it from the elements, from vandalism and from the Grandes Eaux shows which have increased and now threatened its condition.  continue

Versailles is currently in the spotlight : the reconstitution of the Grille Royale, a controversial exhibition of Jeff Koons, the restoration of the Petit Trianon…We had written a very critical in 2006 about the management of the Domain which had set off a good deal of reaction. A year and a half later, we thought it would be interesting, following the appointment of Jean-Jacques Aillagon as head of the Etablissement public, to take stock of current as well as future projects.  continue

On 25 June 2008, Christie’s London will auction off a cycle of decorative paintings by Henri Martin. The seller is the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Béziers. This set had been commissioned from the artist in 1932 to decorate the Salle des Délibérations on the first floor of the building. To make matters worse, the décor will be sold separately, one painting at a time!
A native of Toulouse, Henri Martin entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts there in 1877 before moving up to Paris where he (...)   continue

Next May 30th the Hôtel Drouot auction house will put up a major portion of the furnishings of the château de Sassenage, in Isère (ill. 1), for sale unless something is done to stop it. The seller is no other than the Fondation de France to whom the Marquise de Béranger bequeathed it in 1971 specifying that it keep it all together, via the Conseil international de la langue française, and open it to the public. The Conseil Général de l’Isère, which since then and with the help of the government, has (...)  continue

Six months after his appointment as president of the public establishment of Versailles, Jean-Jacques Aillagon organized a press conference on December 11 (ill. 1) to present the projects already underway and those planned for the future.
Among the announcements, there are some positive and not so positive news. Let us start with the good news first: the excellent decision to bring indoors, finally, the group of the Baths of Apollo, for which we had recently pointed out their worrisome (...)   continue

Alexandre Gady, Doctor in Art History, “maître de conférence" at Paris IV-Sorbonne, is a specialist in architecture of Temps Modernes and author of numerous works, including the recent monographic study on Jacques Lemercier
This university professor is also vice-president of a French association for the protection of national heritage, called Momus. He does not pay lip service to prevailing opinions, a rare quality in our field and one he demonstrates in the following interview.
You are the (...)   continue

A section of the château of Fontainebleau, known as the “Quartier Henri IV” which runs around the "Cour des Offices", is currently being restored. The work had become imperative as the building had been deteriorating for a long time. It is supposed to house the "Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre" within the next two years. In 1999, a preliminary study had been submitted by Jacques Moulin, Chief Architect for Monuments Historiques (ACMH), the contractor in charge of the project. The study, (...)  continue

Today, August 29, the excavation site for the château de Blérancourt saw a flurry of activity. This morning, the representatives of The American Friends of Blérancourt came to check progress on the digging and see the ruins that had already been unearthed.  continue

The château of Blérancourt was built from 1612 to 1619 by Salomon de Brosse, one of the most important architects in France at the beginning of the XVIIth C. who had designed notably the Luxembourg Palace (today it houses the Senate). It is the first example of a ‘château massé’(i.e. without wings on each side turning in on the courtyard), a model which was to be used more often later on and which can be found, for example, at Vaux-le-Vicomte.
As one can see in the engraving by Israel Silvestre (...)   continue

In November 2006, we spoke out against the demolition of the church in Saint-Georges-des Gardes, in Maine-et-Loire. An article in Le Figaro May 18, 2007 informs us that two other religious buildings are to be destroyed just a few kilometres away from the village, or rather, not destroyed  continue