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...
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/
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