aixcentric

 

Adorning the facade of the Art Déco store built by Georges Vuitton in 1912 are Yayoi Kusama’s signature colored polka dots complete with a giant sculpture of the Japanese artist busy finishing her painting. At ground level there are floating metal balloons over the entry hall and more colourful circles decorating the display windows. What a great promotion for the brand which has concurrent splashes in New York and Tokyo.

For recent followers of Aixcentric….you may not know how lucky we were in 2013, the European Year of Culture for Marseile-Provence, to have our very own Cours Mirabeau transformed by Kusama.

It was splendid, especially as it brightened up some very chilly February days.

Looking again at this photo reminds us of just how many plane trees there were lining the cours. And yesterday another three were felled because of ‘chancre coloré’, a destructive fungus which eats away at the core of trunk and branches.  Just before the pandemic, I walked down and back up and counted, I think, just 29 original trees. We’ll probably not see that iconic tunnel of welcome green shade again in our lifetimes…but the new trees seem to be doing fine, and I have often thought the cours seems lighter and brighter.  Maybe it’s lovely either way?

BTW….The mairie says that three new trees will be planted next month (good news)

…………. Louis Vuitton bags complete with dots are upwards of 2,000 euros (hmmm).