The courtyard of the Palais-Royal
Begun in 1629, the Palais-Royal was once the home of Cardinal Richilieu. At his death, he left it to Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne of Austria, Louis XIV's mother. It was looted during the French Revolution and served for a time as home to Napoleon's cousin and advisor, Joseph Charles Paul ("Prince") Napoléon. Now it houses several agencies of French government.
These ghastly columns were installed in 1986, under the watchful eye of French artist Daniel Buren, who titled his 280 columns Cour d'Honneur (Court of Honor). Frankly, I find them an atrocity, and so do a lot of French people. Buren is also known as "the stripe guy," for which reason I think his god-awful columns make evident.
There are two of these fountains, one at each end of the Orleans Gallery, which separates the courtyard from the gardens. They were created by Paul Bury and installed in 1988, I believe. Might have been 1986. They are themselves not that attractive, but certainly more than Buren's eyesore, as well as more interesting. I didn't take any pictures of the garden this time around, as I really didn't find them as pretty as they have been in the past. All I have is a picture from under the arbor arcade, and really, you stand under one long straight section of trees and take a picture into the sunlit part beyond, and you've done it for all. I have better pictures and will probably take more, so I'll post those when it happens.
A bientot!
Jenie
These ghastly columns were installed in 1986, under the watchful eye of French artist Daniel Buren, who titled his 280 columns Cour d'Honneur (Court of Honor). Frankly, I find them an atrocity, and so do a lot of French people. Buren is also known as "the stripe guy," for which reason I think his god-awful columns make evident.
There are two of these fountains, one at each end of the Orleans Gallery, which separates the courtyard from the gardens. They were created by Paul Bury and installed in 1988, I believe. Might have been 1986. They are themselves not that attractive, but certainly more than Buren's eyesore, as well as more interesting. I didn't take any pictures of the garden this time around, as I really didn't find them as pretty as they have been in the past. All I have is a picture from under the arbor arcade, and really, you stand under one long straight section of trees and take a picture into the sunlit part beyond, and you've done it for all. I have better pictures and will probably take more, so I'll post those when it happens.
A bientot!
Jenie
posted by Jenie at 4:29 AM
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