August 2022 - Page 8 of 19

Spider’s sister sells for record €40 million

22/08/2022

A steel version of Louise Bourgeois’ iconic Spider, similar to the giant sculpture featured last year in the gardens of Monte-Carlo, has been sold by art gallery Hauser & Wirth for €40 million, the biggest sum ever paid for a work by the artist.

The all-steel 1996 version of artist Louise Bourgeois’ Spider went on the block at Art Basel’s first VIP day, selling for the enormous sum of €39.9 million. The massive piece, which matches its hefty price tag, is 3.35 metres long and towered over the Hauser & Wirth booth at the Art Basel Fair, which was held in June.

The sculpture came from the private collection of Ursula Hauser, mother of gallery co-founder Manuela Hauser, and was passed onto another private collection. As the Spider is made from steel not bronze like many of Bourgeois’ other works, it is an “indoor-only” piece.

The spider sculpture that featured in the Boulingrins Gardens as part of Hauser & Wirth’s Louise Bourgeois exhibition last year, was the bronze version. The art gallery confirmed to Monaco Life that this particular piece is still part of the private collection.

Louise Bourgeois has had huge success with her Spider sculptures. A 1997 bronze version sold in 2019, also at Art Basel, via auction house Christie’s for €31.9 million, and a smaller rendering, Spider IV, sold in April at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for €16.4 million, making it the most expensive sculpture ever sold in Asia.

The big sums being bandied about for the sales of these works is significant, as female artists usually don’t command the same as their male counterparts. Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) became the most expensive 20^th century artwork to sell at auction when it sold last month at Christie’s New York to Larry Gagosian for $195 million. The three most expensive sculptures to ever sell at auction are all by Alberto Giacometti, each going for more than $100 million, with L’Homme au doigt (1947) selling at Christie’s New York in 2015 for $141.3 million.

Though the €40 million is an impressive number, American modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe holds the record for the biggest sale by a woman artist. Her Juimson Weed/White Flower No. 41 sold for $44.4 million in 2014 at Sotheby’s in New York.

HAUSER AND WIRTH TO OPEN GALLERY IN MONACO

Photo above by Monaco Life

Monaco qualify for Rugby 7s final

by: Luke Entwistle

22/08/2022

Monaco Rugby 7s won the second round of the In Extenso Rugby Sevens on Saturday to qualify for the grand final, which will take place in Paris later this year.

The Principality side won the La Rochelle round of the competition, demolishing Pau 26-12 at the Stade Marcel Deflandre. Their success sees them qualify for the grand final, which takes place at the La Défense Arena on 19th November. The side will be hoping to go one better than last year, where they were defeated in the final by the Barbarians.

Monaco booked their place in the finals in convincing style. They outclassed Toulouse (40-7), Bordeaux-Bègles (34-19) and Stade Français (31-7) in order to reach the final against Pau.

Monaco swept Pau aside in the first-half, scoring 14 unreplied points. The onslaught continued into the second-half as Monaco eased to a 26-12 victory. Saturday’s win is particularly sweet given that Pau beat Monaco in the final of the first qualifying round the previous weekend.

The identities of Monaco’s rivals in that grand final in November will be known after the third and final round of qualifying, which takes place on 27th August. Having got a taste of lifting a trophy on Saturday, the objective will now be to replicate their dominance later this year and bring a more coveted piece of silverware back to the Principality.

Photo source: Supersevens – presseport

The deadly storm that Corsica never saw coming

by: Cassandra Tanti

21/08/2022

Prince Albert has sent his condolences after hurricane-strength winds and rain ripped across Corsica killing five people, including a 13-year-old girl.

As the south of France experienced more rain in just a few hours than in recent months combined, hail, heavy rain and winds reaching upto 225 km per hour hammered the island of Corsica Thursday morning, smashing boats and cars, uprooting trees and damaging houses.

“It’s such a paradox,” Gilles Simeoni, President of the Executive Council of Corsica, told franceinfo. “For weeks we had been living in fear of fires … and this rain which was supposed to be beneficial turned into a deadly windstorm.”

The storm claimed five victims: a 46-year-old man whose bungalow was crushed by a tree in a campsite in Sagone, a 13-year-old girl who was also killed by a falling tree in Corse-du-Sud, a woman aged 72, also in Corse-du-Sud, who was killed when a straw hut’s roof landed on her car, a 62-year-old fisherman whose cause of death has not been revealed, and a female British tourist, who clung to the side of a stricken kayak with her husband for two hours before dying.

A natural catastrophe decree is expected to be approved next week, which will help residents and businesses with insurance claims for damage caused by the storm.

“I was woken around 7:30am by a very huge storm that knocked out both electricity and mobile phone networks,” said Benjamin Roux, a 26-year-old tourist. He had planned to go scuba diving but found himself saving the passengers of a boat who were sleeping aboard when it was suddenly thrown onto the shore by waves.

“They managed to get out without injuries, but they’re just devastated,” he told AFP.

Monaco’s Head of State, Prince Albert, has sent his condolences to the people of Corsica. In a letter addressed to Gilles Simeoni, he says, “With my family and the population of the Principality of Monaco, I would like to express our deep sympathy for you with regard to the dramatic consequences of the violent storms which fell in Corsica.

“In this painful circumstance, I express my deepest condolences to you and express to the families of the victims, to the injured and to all those affected by this tragedy, my feelings of deep sympathy.”

Two people in Italy also died in Thursday’s storms.

The storm warning in Corsica was only upgraded to orange – the second highest alert level – just moments before the violent storm battered the island, making any emergency evacuation impossible.

During a press conference Thursday, Météo France called it an “exceptional” and unforeseen phenomenon, with extreme winds that had formed in a matter of minutes.

“We were a little surprised by the strength of the gusts, which were quite exceptional and had never been observed before,” admitted Christophe Morel, head of the forecasting office. The situation was “difficult to predict” because “we cannot observe the gusts as long as the storms are on the sea,” added forecaster François Gourand.

Monaco and mainland France bore less of the brunt of the storm than originally expected, although intense rains, which produced flash flooding and fierce hail, did hit much of southern France following weeks of punishing drought.

Photo above: credit Jules Jagger on Facebook

Lens hammer sorry Monaco

by: Luke Entwistle

21/08/2022

AS Monaco’s lengthy unbeaten run in Ligue 1 came to an end in emphatic style on Saturday, as RC Lens eased to a comfortable 4-1 victory at the Stade Louis II.

Lens had too much for Monaco from start to finish. Franck Haise set his side up with three midfielders to counter Monaco’s two, and that numerical advantage in the centre of the pack paid dividends.

Seko Fofana and David Costa had particularly impressive showings and they prevented Monaco from gaining a foothold in the match by essentially easing Eliot Matazo and Jean Lucas out of the game altogether.

Lens raced into an early lead thanks to a Loïs Openda tap in at the back post. Despite the scoreline, Monaco did, however, have chances, but they lacked the efficiency of their opponents in front of goal. Takumi Minamino, who is yet to get off the mark in Monaco colours, had a shot well saved by Brice Samba, whilst Jean Lucas should have done better with the rebound, but could only slice wide.

Monaco would pay for that miss. A long Fofana ball wasn’t sufficiently dealt with by Vanderson, who was robbed off possession by Deiver Machado. The latter then surged into the box and finished low past Alexander Nübel.

That goal stirred something in Monaco, and momentarily at least, there was a reaction. Benoît Badiashile headed in a Caio Henrique corner on his return from injury. Just seconds later, Monaco could have restored parity as Krépin Diatta and Wissam Ben Yedder broke at pace, but the latter’s shot within the box was easily blocked.

Despite the arrival of new signing Mohamed Camara at half-time, Monaco still lacked the ability to control the midfield battle, and for that they paid a heavy price. Lens were awarded a cheap penalty when Breel Embolo was adjudged to have fouled Florian Sotoca in the box, despite very limited contact.

Fofana then blasted home to give Monaco a mountain to climb. The summit of that mountain then became even more distant when Vanderson was shown a second yellow, and a subsequent red card.

From there on in, it was an exercise of damage limitation. When Wesley Saïd cut inside Diatta to make it 4-1, there was an impression that things could have turned ugly. However, the score remained at four.

The comprehensive defeat is Monaco’s first since mid-March, whilst Lens’ long unbeaten run, which stretches back to the beginning of April, continues,

Post-match, Philippe Clement told Monaco Life, “The team didn’t stop, but we didn’t play with the same conviction as we have had in the past months. We were less stable, less collective, less compact and we must once again create this base for the next match.”

Things don’t get any easier for Monaco. Bouncing back against PSG at the Parc des Princes will be a very tall order, and although they have a slight respite against Troyes the following Wednesday, they then face local rivals OGC Nice and Lyon.

Photo above by Monaco Life

Water restrictions eased slightly

by: Stephanie Horsman

19/08/2022

The Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes is now allowing people to water their vegetable patches, but refilling swimming pools is still banned in some regions.

Drought conditions in the Alpes-Maritimes region have been dramatic this year, with a rainfall deficit of between 40% and 60% compared to normal. The area has not experienced such terrible drought since 1959, and the situation has compelled the authorities to place numerous restrictions on water usage in an effort to keep the taps flowing for general use by businesses and residents.

The vast majority of rules will remain in effect until 18^th September, but a few have been lifted. In a decree dated 17^th August, the prefecture is allowing people to once again water their vegetable gardens, provided that water saving techniques are applied. Examples include using micro-sprinklers or drip systems, and using them exclusively between the hours of 7pm and 9am.

“With the aim of encouraging local food production and preserving the purchasing power of our fellow citizens, the Prefect has decided that the vegetable gardens can continue to be watered even at the crisis stage,” explains the prefecture in its press release.

Whilst this is great news for gardeners, plenty of other measures are remaining in effect until 18^th September, at least.

In places like Biot and Antibes, where there is a high alert situation, no sport stadiums can be watered, and only the “greens” areas of golf courses are allowed. This has angered farmers, who have been forced to reduce water consumption by a massive 40%.

Additionally, it is forbidden to top up swimming pools and ponds, to water lawns, to power wash terraces or to play games involving water.

For the areas on “enhanced alert”, such as Villeneuve-Loubet or Nice, the measures are a little more permissive. Sports grounds may be watered between 7pm and 9am, with a 40% reduction in use of water, for example. Swimming pools may be levelled “for health reasons”.

For those places lucky enough to be on simple “alert”, pleasure gardens are once again on the list of things that can be watered, but only from 7pm to 9am. Lawns can be watered as well if the water use is reduced by at least 20% and done during the aforementioned night-time hours.

The prefecture can slap fines up to €1,500 on those those who do not comply, showing just how serious they are taking the situation. For more information, the decree in its entirety can be found here.

Photo credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Enjoy the last days of Mada Lounge

by: Stephanie Horsman

19/08/2022

Jardins des Boulingrins near Casino Square has been hosting the Mada Lounge pop-up bar since the start of July. Now, it is in its last days, so get out and enjoy an al fresco drink under the stars before it ends with the summer breeze.

Mada One’s summertime pop-up, nestled in the Jardins des Boulingrins, has been a hit since it first started serving refreshing cocktails on 1^st July. Now, the lounge is wrapping up the season, with the last day set for Sunday 28^th August, so guests have a few last chances to enjoy the beautiful setting with an unparalleled view onto the Casino de Monte Carlo.

The Mada Lounge has made a name for itself not only for the beverages served, but also for the cool vibe set to the backdrop of live music or DJs.

For its last week, the performances will be by Pab Emsen or London Harlem accompanied by live music and a DJ on Wednesday evening. Thursday features a local DJ and Friday evening chilled out musician Sylow Music will play for the crowd. The summer at Mada Lounge winds up Saturday and Sunday with more live music.

The lounge is open from 4pm to 10pm. No reservations are required.

Photo by Monaco Life