Jean-Michel Othoniel adds his flower arrangements to The Louvre
Artist Jean-Michel Othoniel once worked as a night watchman at the Louvre: As a student, he wandered the museum’s empty rooms and loved the flowers—painted, sculpted, drawn, embroidered, enameled—depicted throughout the institution’s eight different departments. Now, the artist has presented “La Rose du Louvre,” a set of six paintings, in the Puget courtyard. (He also presented a work co-edited by the Louvre and Actes Sud, “L’Herbier Merveilleux,” and he also has an exhibition at Galerie Perrotin, on view on rue de Turenne, until June 8th.) Inspired by a detail in Rubens’ “Le Mariage de Marie de Médicis et d’Henri IV,” Jean-Michel Othoniel produced six ink paintings on gold leaf, which have been placed among the masterpieces of 17th and 18th century garden statuary. The exhibition opening was followed by a cocktail reception at Café Richelieu. Jean Luc-Martinez, President of the Louvre Museum, and Jean-Michel Othoniel greeted Johan Creten, Sophie Calle, Bernard Frize, Jérôme Sans and Marie Agnès Gillot. The exhibition, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Louvre Pyramid, is on view until February 24, 2019.
