GrandPalais.fr : n° 26, September 2010

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The Grand Palais newsletter

	n° 26, September 2010
Front page Biennale des antiquaires For this summer issue of Quadriges, the Grand Palais handed over its editorial desk to students at the Lycée Jacques Feyder. For the last two years the Grand Palais has been actively committed to a partnership with this high school in Épinay-sur-Seine in the northern suburbs of Paris, as part of a project reflecting our attachment to the French Republican principle of equality of opportunity. This year the Grand Palais opened its doors to senior pupils taking either the Art History option or a certificate course for a career in the tourist industry. The goal of the project is to offer young people studying in a zone with high educational priority in the Seine Saint-Denis department an insight into the workings of a major cultural institution. The work in this issue is all theirs: they chose the angles, wrote the copy and took the photos. From describing a work of art to narrating anecdotes, via a description of the building's architecture: the Grand Palais has become something of a second home to these young people. Find out more Focus Highlights of the 2010 / 2011 season © Collection Grand Palais, Raphaël Gaillarde The Grand Palais kicks off its new season with two major events: the Biennale des antiquaires which celebrates its 25th anniversary, and the first retrospective to be devoted to the painter Claude Monet for nearly thirty years. Throughout the 2010/2011 season, the Grand Palais will be setting out to surprise, renew your appetite for culture, and draw in new audiences. Electro music will be followed by the world-famous jewellery of Bulgari, while sport will be represented through the fencing world championships and international show jumping. The work of influential painter Odilon Redon will take us back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, while the FIAC, ArtParis+Guests and Monumenta will be invitations to explore contemporary art. Eclectic and demanding, the new season aims to perpetuate the unbroken spirit of the Universal Exhibition, offering the broadest possible public a chance to discover all forms of culture and the art of living together. Art, sport and festivity have never shared the spotlight so successfully. The complete 2010 / 2011 season Event The reopening of the Mini Palais restaurant © D.R. The newly made over Grand Palais’ restaurant, the "Mini Palais”, will be reopening its doors on September 13. The kitchen has been redesigned and now caters to an enlarged dining area, with an elegant, uncluttered decor signed by interior designers Gilles and Boissier, and a new menu conjured up by Eric Frechon, the restaurant’s consultant chef, holder of three stars in the Michelin guide. In good weather, the terrace offers a terrific view over avenue Winston-Churchill, while its monumental columns and restored mosaic recreate its original cachet. Find out more Three questions for... Eric Frechon, Consultant chef at the Mini Palais Eric Frechon © D.R. Quadriges: What appealed to you in the idea of becoming consultant chef to the Grand Palais restaurant, the "Mini Palais”? For several years now I have been passing the Grand Palais every day and have always admired this impressive building that also has a rare elegance. I had already dined at the Mini Palais restaurant and was stunned by its potential: a magical location with a peristyle matched by few others in Paris, and a warm and elegant ambiance… So when I was offered the chance to work as consultant chef, I jumped at it! I have been working on the reopening of the Mini Palais for the last year. It has been a very exciting challenge because the cuisine must match the setting and be on a level with the stature of the building. Quadriges: How did you design your menu? My approach centred on the need to propose cuisine that firstly reflects my own personality, based above all on quality raw materials. Cooking that is simple, generous, authentic and friendly. However, I also wanted the food to match the building itself, with its elegance and authenticity. The Grand Palais and the Mini Palais are places where you feel a genuine atmosphere with no tinsel or trappings. So the menu had to reflect all this. We shall be working with very carefully selected products. As the Mini Palais is a place where people will want to combine pleasure and relaxation, we shall be offering not only lunches and dinners but a selection of snacks that will be available throughout the day. Quadriges: What are some of the dishes we can look forward to? Our starters will include a clafouti with lightly smoked boletus mushrooms from the Massif central, and pil pil squid, a traditional Spanish dish to which I have given a personal twist! For the main dishes we have gone for basically traditional French cuisine like calf sweetbread in a Comté cheese crust with vin jaune, and lighter suggestions like quickly fried (nacré) cod served with a coriander-flavoured broth. For the desserts, we will be offering sweets that can be shared like a giant rum baba. A fine pastry fig tart is also a tasty way to end the meal, as is the traditional Irish Coffee, to which I have again given a personal twist. So the menu will have something for everyone: light dishes, but also others that are more traditional, be they simple or sophisticated. Restoration work After the summer break it’s back to beauty! The Queen’s Rotunda © Coll. Grand Palais /François Tomasi True to its vocation as a "historic building”, the Grand Palais attaches great importance to preserving the full splendour of every corner of its building. Two rotundas have just been restored. Located on the south side of the building they overlook the Seine river. The restoration work has been based on documentary archives, even though it is uncertain whether all the plans in the original blueprint were ever actually completed. The floor is now adorned with a magnificent mosaic. The walls now feature a material that fully preserves the historic character of the building: stucco made from a mixture of powdered stone and plaster. Safety has also been improved: access to the rotunda has been simplified and the paintwork reinforces fire stability. We suggest that you admire the magnificent restoration work that has been done on the Alexandre-III Rotunda by calling in at the Mini Palais restaurant due to reopen its doors on September 13. Find out more about the craftsmanship that goes into restoration work Appointment Jérôme Neutres Jérôme Neutres © D.R. On July 30, Jérôme Neutres, adviser to the President of the Grand Palais, was officially appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Communication to the Board of Directors of the Établissement public du musée des arts asiatiques Guimet (the Paris Oriental arts museum) as one of a number of personalities selected for their knowledge in the museum’s field or for the functions that they hold. A former cultural attaché in India, he has notably written on Indian art and been involved in organizing a number of exhibitions in this field. Tuesdays at the Grand Palais Back soon... Many of you took the time to fill in the audience satisfaction forms for our Tuesdays at the Grand Palais. The Grand Palais is always keen to hear what you have to say and looks forward to seeing you again for a third season of Tuesdays starting on October 12. On the programme are a number of original topics, some of them suggested by you! The new programme will be posted soon on www.grandpalais.fr, and because it’s never wise to change a winning team, the Tuesdays will still be organized in partnership with publishers Presses universitaires de France, and moderated by Arnaud Laporte, journalist, producer and anchor of the "Tout arrive !” radio programme on France Culture. Information and registration	A word from the president This summer, Frédéric Mitterrand, French Minister of Culture and Communication, reiterated his desire for the Établissement public du Grand Palais, the body responsible for the running of the historic building, to join up with the Réunion des musées nationaux, which oversees a number of French museums, to create a new cultural operator of international stature. The move will take effect as from January 1 2011. This autumn, we shall thus be putting the final touches to a reorganisation that promises to be mutually beneficial. Our united spirit of excellence will be brilliantly demonstrated by two flagship events that open our season: the 25th Biennale des antiquaires in the Nave, and the "Monet” exhibition in the Galeries Nationales. Meanwhile, the restoration work is making great progress with the reopening of the Queen’s Rotunda and the Alexandre III Rotunda. It is through the latter that you will now access the newly decorated Mini Palais restaurant that, in mid-September, will be reopening its doors and serving a menu conceived by chef Éric Frechon. This autumn, the Grand Palais is proud to display fine canvases and welcome top stars … Jean-Paul Cluzel President of the Grand Palais 2009 Business report The 2009 Business Report is now available on line at www.grandpalais.fr. You can consult the version on line and/or download the document in pdf format. A chance to look back over a year of popular, high-quality events. Consult the business report (in French) Don’t miss this The Biennale des antiquaires September 16-22 2010 Nave of the Grand Palais For a quarter of a century art lovers and buyers of fine antiques, art works and jewellery have visited the Biennale des antiquaires from all over the world. Monet September 22 2010-January 24 2011 Galeries nationales du Grand Palais A wealth of exhibits retrace the artistic trajectory of one of the most illustrious fathers of Impressionism. The first major retrospective to be devoted to Monet in thirty years. Marine alliances Palais de la Découverte Till January 23 2011 Living together really is possible. This is what this exhibition will be setting out to prove, showing that very different animal species can form more or less intimate alliances that may be lasting or simply occasional. The full programme Agenda France 1500. Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance From October 6 Galeries nationales du Grand Palais Delving back into the history of France, this is the first major exhibition to be devoted to a period that saw out the Middle Ages and ushered in the Renaissance. 2nd electro night at the Grand Palais / SFR live concerts October 9 2010 Nave of the Grand Palais After last year’s successful first edition, the Nave welcomes back electronic culture and grooves. FIAC October 21-24 2010 Nave of the Grand Palais A highlight on the international cultural calendar, the Grand Palais stages the 37th edition of one of the leading Paris art shows. The full programme Practical information Métro : lignes 1, 9, 13 / stations : Franklin-D.-Roosevelt, Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau RER : ligne C / station Invalides Bus : lignes 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93 Vélib : Station n° 8029, 1 av. Franklin-D.-Roosevelt / n° 8001, av. Dutuit Parkings : Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, place de la Concorde, parc François-Ier, Alma Georges-V, Champs-Élysées Lincoln, Matignon. Personnes à mobilité réduite : accès avenue Winston-Churchill

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