Rendezvous at Château de Versailles

Louis XIII built the Château at Versailles in fields he used for his hunting excursions. Later his son, Louis XIV expanded it into one of the largest palaces in the world. In 1661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun began a detailed renovation and expansion of the château. In 1682 the court and government was officially established in the castle and would stay for more than 100 years until the French Revolution.

Take a tour through Versailles and learn about the history behind this work of art and passion...

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Visit the Versailles website at http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Despite some local resistance, a unique exhibition took place in Versailles since October 2008 until April this year... the american artist Jeff Koons (born in Pennsylvania, 1955), best known for his giant reproductions of banal objects such as balloon animals... invaded the sacred place. It was as surrealistic as it could get, a time warp for sure. Visit the exhibition website at http://www.jeffkoonsversailles.com/en/ and also review the coverage by the New York Times, Art and Design at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/11/arts/design/20080911_KOONS_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Watch it in a video made by ART:21, a great art blog http://blog.art21.org/category/artists/jeff-koons/

You may also visit Koons studio in the TV special "Fantasy" by PBS http://video.pbs.org/video/1281753428/  That, to tell you the truth, left me quite disappointed... Great team, but I still prefer an artist to do the work by himself... well, maybe at least he does the first prototype, doesn't he? I love your Balloon Dog and your mashmellowy Balloon Tulips anyways, Jeff.

His website with all his production, can be found at http://www.jeffkoons.com/

The current exhibition at Versailles is from French contemporary artist, Xavier Veilhan. You may visit the website at http://www.veilhan-versailles.com/

Candies for the French Court and Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette, at the age of thirteen by Joseph Ducreux (1769)

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre (Vienna, 1755 – Paris, 1793). At the age of fourteen she married Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, and she became Dauphine de France.  In 1774, after the death of Louis XV, her husband ascended to the French throne as Louis XVI and she became Queen of France and Navarre. Her life of opulence, of exuberant hairdos and lush elaborated dresses, parties, lovers and excess ended by the guillotine during the French Revolution.

Have a piece of candy... 

Sofia Coppola master piece and her interpretation of Marie Antoinette in her film Visit the movie website and watch how the film gets done, behind the scenes and more.

Annie Leibovitz, renown celebrity photographer, shot Coppola's Marie Antoinette for the September Issue of Vogue 2006 (bellow). Watch the behind the scenes and more.

Take a look at these elaborated Louboutin shoes inspired by Marie Antoinette, they come in yellow, pink and blue.

Showgirl shoes for ladies, red soles of Louboutin

Back in the 17th century, Louis XIV used to wear red heals and soles to call attention and consequently all his court followed the fashion. Although he does not support this fact as inspiration, but more as a chance of luck in search of more impact on his shoes, Christian Louboutin French shoe designer, built an empire on red soles. Today his trade marked red soles are synonym to sexiness and status. He wanted to design shoes for show girls, so sexy and stylized that would be out of this world. His designs are all about technique servicing creativity and art. His shoes are almost ludic and target the most basic instinct in his consumers, impulse. Visit  www.christianlouboutin.com and don't forget to explore Louboutin World.

He would sneak out of school at 12 to watch shows at Paris nightclubs, he explains "The showgirls influenced me a lot. If you like high heels, it's really the ultimate high heel - it's all about the legs, how they carry themselves, the embellishment of the body. They are the ultimate icons." He brought back the stilettos en the 90's introducing heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. “I want to make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as I can.”  Let him explain it to you in this interview below.

Today most known followers are Angelina Jolie, Oprah, Tina Turner, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess Marie Chantal of Greece, Catherine Deneuve, Cameron Diaz, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Rihanna.

He designed a limited edition shoes for the champaign (founded in 1785) that was used to serve Marie Antoinette. The actual heals would work as flutes for champaign.

He recently designed, for Barbie's 50th Anniversary, a whole line of shoes for 4 limited Barbies that are sold through BarbieCollector.com and at Net-a-porter.com . See the shoes specially designed for Barbie runway youtube.com and watch the Barbies 50th Anniversary show below.

Shot by photographer Peter Lippmann, Louboutin current ad campaign recreates art master pieces, mixing dramatic elements with his shoes.