In 1954 Picasso met 19-year-old Sylvette David while on holiday in France. That year he produced over forty paintings, drawings and sculptures depicting David with her famously long, scruffy ponytail, which then became the subject of a much buzzed about exhibition in Paris. When Brigitte Bardot saw Picasso’s images of David she began wearing her hair in the style making it a fashionable favourite. Ponytails below by Bardot, Bianca Brandolini d’Adda and more …
Air is a music duo from Versailles, France consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel. Nicolas Godin studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles whereas Jean-Benoît Dunckel studied mathematics before forming a band in 1995.
One of the greatest crimes of the twentieth century took place in 1911…
For centuries Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has lived in France. Napoleon had her in his bedroom, Louis XIV brought her to Versailles, and eventually she graced the walls of the Louvre. An Italian Louvre employee was resentful of the fact that this painting wasn’t in its homeland. To restore the Mona Lisa to Italy, Vincenzo Peruggia hid her under his coat when the museum closed for the day and took her to Florence. Two years later, Peruggia was caught and the Mona Lisa was returned to Paris. Peruggia, unlike most robbers, was hailed as a patriotic hero and given a mere 7 months in jail.