At the end of September, the Payne Whitney Mansion, at 972 Fifth Avenue, in New York, received a facelift. On the top floor of this splendid granite mansion overlooking Central Park, the Atelier was inaugurated. This modular space is intended to host exhibitions, receptions, dinners, conferences and to promote artistic crafts.
Either all these “artisanal manual trades” such as the Ministry of Culture defines them and which “mobilize traditional, high-tech, often exceptional know-how”. Luxury, fashion, architecture, interior decoration… There are many economic sectors that use it. And these crafts are popular in the United States.
“In New York, this ecosystem of French crafts is developing with strength and this project allows them to shine even more,” explains Gaëtan Bruel, a young state servant who arrived in 2019 as head of cultural services at the French embassy, which he left in October to join the office of the Minister of Education.
A functional showcase
The majestic building on Fifth Avenue in Italian neo-Renaissance style, built at the beginning of the 20th century and acquired by the French state in the 1950s, is accustomed to welcoming the public. Especially since September 26, 2014, the date of the opening on the ground floor of Albertine, an original French bookstore since books in French and especially French books translated into English are presented there. As for the name of the space, Albertine, it is a reference to the character in Marcel Proust’s novels. The place has continued to be dynamic.
The Payne Whitney Mansion is a majestic Italian Renaissance Revival building located on Fifth Avenue in New York.
“We present many French authors who come to sign books, participate in discussions or festivals, either in the bookstore or in the reception areas on the first floor,” explains François Bridey, attached to the cultural services of the French embassy. The building is also the headquarters of the Villa Albertine program, established at the beginning of 2021 under the leadership of Gaëtan Bruel, a program which allows French artists, young or established, from all fields of creation, to come in the United States to carry out a specific project.
L’Atelier located on the top floor of the Payne Whitney Mansion, in New York.
But not all spaces in the building were occupied. Particularly this top floor where one of the former owners, the wealthy Helen Hay Whitney, loved to write and entertain her friends. Of the past splendor of this warm shelter, only the tile floor with heraldic motifs and the painted wooden ceiling of medieval inspiration remained. “When I arrived, in 2019, I had the idea of restoring this room by bringing in a French touch and involving design and crafts to connect the hexagonal creation and the history of this place, confides Gaëtan Bruel. We therefore launched a consultation in July 2022, to transform it into a functional showcase of French talent. »
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2023-10-21 05:00:14
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