The lady herself: 'Charlotte Perriand en Savoie, vers 1930'
©AChP

If you are in or around Paris this summer, take a moment to see  Charlotte Perriand: Photography to Interior Design, at the Petit Palais. This fascinating perspective on her work takes you to the core of her inspirations as a designer by looking at the role that photography played in her creative process. Her use of photography shaped ideas about the "laws of nature", cataloguing components of both our natural environments and man-made urban environments. This meditation on the shape of things directly flowed into her thought process informing much of her furniture design, experimentation with spatial arrangements, forms and materials use during her time at the Le Corbusier/Pierre Jeanneret studio. Many of the photographs document objects found on her numerous walks. 'The most important thing to realise is that what drives the modern movement is a spirit of enquiry,' she once said. 'It's a process of analysis and not a style.' This exhibition definitely exposes us to her sense of curiosity. 

The inspiration photograph: 'Art Brut Grès plage Normandie vers' by Charlotte Perriand, 1935...
©AChP_ADAGP, Paris 2011... and the final product: 'Table Basse' by Charlotte Perriand, 1984
Collection Musée des Arts décoratifs. Photograph: Pernette Perriand-Barsac, ©AChP_ADAGP,
Paris 2011

The inspiration photograph:'Immeuble de l’Armée du Salut en construction, vers' by Charlotte
Perriand, 1931... ©AChP_ADAGP, Paris 2011... and the final product: 'Meuble de séparation'
by Charlotte Perriand, 1954 ©AChP_ADAGP, Paris 2011

The exhibition runs until 11 September 2011 at the Petit Palais, Paris.

I had the pleasure of spending early April in Paris, which lived up to all of Springtime's expectations. We were advised by good friend and Chariots fan, Alice, to visit the fairly secret Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. The museum beautifully reflects on the relationship of humans and our environment through the tradition and practice of the hunt. It is a wonderfully curated mix of  old and new representations centered thematically around: the instruments of the hunt, the products of the hunt– trophies and naturalized animals of Europe, Africa, Asia and America along with representations of wildlife and the hunt through the ages. Don't expect anything like a natural history museum; this is a completely contemporary approach to the subject. Below the Basset Hound head is actually a collaboration between Chaumet and Baccarat and the old dog collars...I think all Hermés fans will know what those have inspired!