Later, much later, I discovered Rumi. He became my hero because he represented an Islam vastly different from the Islam we are presented with these days. He was born in Afghanistan, in the city of Balkh, in the 13th century. His father was already a great mystic. One day, he took to the pulpit of…
The Court of the Great Moghol had indeed fallen, by the middle of the 19th century. No more money; no more power; no more territories. Shah Bahadur, last successor in a famous lineage, was a charming elderly man. A poet and musician, he was splendidly bejewelled despite a lack of funds, and he held Court…
It was just given back to the public recently, but Aimone, my son-in-law, had long known it as a Romanesque ruin through which he enjoyed taking strolls, as the palace is surrounded by a sumptuous park with water features, an island and a dock marked by marble sphinxes. In fact, the tsarina Catherine II the…
By Walter Frier This canvas is to be sold at Sotheby’s in London on December 7th 2017. In 1628, Captain John Henderson of Fordell, who had been travelling through Africa for many years, was captured by Barbarians and taken to the island of Zanzibar, where a Moorish king reigned. The king’s daughter fell madly in…
As usual, I was spending this Saturday morning in New York, going round auction halls. On Christie’s Park Avenue, one can find magnificent jewellery on display. My friend François, one of the world’s greatest experts in the field, invited me to follow him into his office. He knew that I was an enthusiast and handed…
Lucia di Lammermoor is Donizetti’s best-known opera. It’s the story of a young, aristocratic Scottish girl who is in love with with a noble and handsome, but poor young lord, whose parents are against their union. Lucy is forced to break up with him and he moves far away. Her parents make Lucy marry a…
Our time is stigmatized by a decline in education and culture. This is not exclusively the result of the State abandoning its responsibilities, it is also an unfortunate reflection of our present system. Each field and domain requires so much information that there remains practically no time for any other science or subject. In two…
I began keeping a journal when I was 17, since then it has become a companion of sorts. Risking that no one will find it interesting, I venture to publish a few excerpts. People and places, events and situations, all of which have their place. Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely were a legendary…