A Visual Journey Into The SURREAL World!

Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 currently on view at the Philadelphia Art Museum features approximately two hundred works by more than seventy artists associated with the international Surrealist movement. We recently toured this exhibition and it can only be described as an unforgettable visual journey of the mind that can be alternately strange, haunting, disturbing and captivating.

The world "surreal" is tossed about a lot this days but until your've studied the surrealist movement of the art world, you haven't a clue as to what the word really means, how it came about and how it's been popularized. 

The Philadelphia Art Museum is be the only U.S. venue for this show following distinct iterations at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which launched this project to celebrate Surrealism’s centenary, and three other European museums. Philadelphia Art Museum highlights  include works by Miro, Dali, Magritte and other masters of the genre. 

We took some photos, featured below. The show continues through February 16.

An Important Message From President Trump . . .

 

DISSGRACEFUL: Olympics' Disgusting Scene!

The opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics included a reenactment of The Last Supper by trans people and drag queens.

Why is it ok to openly hate and mock Christians?

pic.twitter.com/aRrtVMtsdy

— Luke (@luke_brocks) July 26, 2024

A Message From Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, my thoughts on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. #Olimpiadas2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/xU1ljFMZft

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 27, 2024

This Definitely Seems Worthy Of Our Attention!

It Gets More Harrowing By The Day!

Muslims show France who is in Control!

Despite the government banning pro-terror demonstrations, Hamas supporters humiliated the French by gathering at the Place de la République in a massive show of force.

The French have imported so many terrorists they now can go above the… pic.twitter.com/Ln5WnQTjtr

— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) October 12, 2023

It Happens To All Of Us - Eventually . . .

 

Getting Coffee? The French Know How To Do It!

Getting coffee in America (top) vs getting coffee in Paris (bottom).

 

Lagerfeld At The Met . . . Positively Dazzling!

Karl Lagerfeld felt that fashion should be functional and wearable. The great designer for the House of Chanel boldly declared: "Fashion does not belong in a museum!"

But if you go to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art now through July 16 you will find many of Lagerfeld's finest creations on view in just a such a setting. And the exhibition ("A Line of Beauty") is nothing short of dazzling. Every single creation started in the mind of Lagerfeld and took shape in his original drawings. 

The exacting detail of Lagerfeld's designs will take your breath away. Lagerfeld celebrated women in clothes that accented the shoulder and the line from the there to the waist. He called this line (literally translated in French) "the fall to the liver." To call attention to this "fall" Lagerfeld placed the waist of his creations either higher or lower than you would expect it to appear. 

His designs were influenced by uniforms, military clothing, history, the monarchy, pageantry, costumes, romance, Chanel herself and his own sense of whimsy. Here are some photos we took presenting highlights of the extraordinary collection on view. 

All photos copyright 2023, Dan Cirucci.

Nice Years Later: Recalling One Of Our Best Trips!

Brigitte Bardot. Maurice Chevalier. Charles deGalulle. Jean-Paul Belmondo. Edith Piaf. Charles Aznavour. Juliette Binoche. Napoleon. Capucine. Gerard Depardieu. Jeanne Moreau. Jacques Cousteau. Louis XIV. Yves St. Laurent. Jean Genet. Isabelle Huppert. Renoir. Degas. Matisse. Gauguin. Rodin. Cezanne. Fanny Ardant. Charles Boyer. Louis Jourdan. Leslie Caron. Catherine Deneuve.

Shall we go on?
Surely you understand where we're going here.
Yes, before we ever step foot on French soil each and every one of us brings our own set of built-in notions, perceptions and images to all things French.
And no place is more French than Paris.
It's the heart and soul of Gaul.
From an early age we are inundated with the very idea of Paris: opulent, romantic, stylish, trend-setting, life-affirming, beautiful, extravagant, intoxicating, charming, irresistible, even decadent but never dull, never ordinary and light years beyond the everyday and common place.
From the Eiffel Tower to the banks of the Seine to the Paris Opera House to Notre Dame, The Louvre, The Champs Elysées and The Arch de Triomphe, we see it, we think we know it, we absorb it all. Through so many movies photos, songs, ads, paintings and vivid enumerations and depictions Paris is imbedded in us way before we ever actually experience it live and in person -- if we're lucky enough.
But can it really be as we imagine it?
Is the real Paris anything like what we and so many others have come to expect?
Does it live up to its lofty expectations?
Does it even come close? Oui, oui, et OUI!

If you've ever dreamed of going to Paris, we have two words of advice for you: "Do it!"

And do it as soon as you can.
Our trip to Paris was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
So, why did it take us so long to make that dream come true? We're not quite sure. We'd been to London, Florence, Venice, Rome and every major city in the USA. But for one reason or another, Paris remained a "someday" adventure.
Until two weeks ago when that day came. And yes, we loved Paris right from the getgo. But we didn't stop there. We ventured beyond to Versailles, the French countryside, the champagne region and the Normandy beaches gobbling up huge portions of French life, food, customs and history along the way.
We've shown you some of the pictures.
But we've saved the very best for last.
So now -- take a look at the Very Best of Paris and Beyond and start planning your very own trip today:

The Seine.

Chagall ceiling, Paris Opera House.

Gilded ballroom, Paris Opera House.

The Grand Hotel.

Multi-flavored macaroons.

Sacre Coeur.

The Montmarte.

Arc de Triomphe. 

Steps, Napoleon's Tomb.

Napoleon's Tomb.

Always, ornamentation/

Eiffel.

From the Eiffel.

Eiffel, straight up.

Le Louvre.

Venus di Milo. 

Light show. Every night, every hour.

Sorbonne. 

Indoor shopping arcade.

Quintessential Paris.

Where Mumm stores its champagne.

Omaha Beach.

American cemetery, Normandy.

Oh, those details . . . .

Pointe du Hoc.

Pointe du Hoc.

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles. 

At a Paris street market.

Notre Dame, buttressed.

Luxembourg Gardens.

Pompidou Center.

Street scene, Chartres.

The vineyards, champagne region.

Mont Saint-Michel.

Versailles Gardens.