aixcentric

A little rag-bag of info from the cultural world…

Remember the Picasso Museum planned for the ancient convent in the Place des Precheurs? And the various plans when that fell through?   Well the sale has taken place and the purchaser is the ‘Ministere de la Justice’ who will be using the site for expanding legal needs.

It’s a fabulous location with a potentially pretty garden and atmospheric cloisters. But it needs a ton of money spending on it and I guess the Aix authorities were happy to find a solution to this one.  The price? – 12.6m euros.

You will need a long memory for this one: the trompe-l’oeil staircase in the Hotel de Chateaurenard.  I’m guessing that it closed about 14 years ago for renovation.  A re-opening date has been given for 2024, which should happen as the 17th century Belgian artist, Jean Daret, is being celebrated with an expo at the Musée Granet.

La Madeleine church will re-open at the end of 2025  – it was closed in 2006 when it was in a terrible state with big cracks everywhere.  It had been destabilised by some proprietors of the little row of shops down the side of the church: some had burrowed into the wall for extra space.  The 60m long church was also found to lack foundations.  It has now been stabilised and the problems with drains and damp sorted. They also have had 120 items (paintings, furniture etc) to treat, including a painting by Jean Daret.

The bust of novelist Emile Zola is going back to its original site in Place Ganay  after a prolongued stay in the Parc Jourdan. It’s been renovated and will be back in place ‘dans les jours a venir’.

And finally, a Cezanne painting broke auction records when it sold at Christie’s NYC late last year. ‘La Montagne Sainte-Victoire 1888′ went for $138 million, including fees.  It was part of a collection by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.  Proceeds are going to philanthropic causes.  What a beautiful painting.