Auguste Rodin, 1880
Happy Bastille Day!
There are still plenty of people who assume that serious artists study in Paris, wear berets, and walk around with their thumbs stuck through those bean-shaped palettes. For artists who secretly harbor any of those romantic notions, today is your day! In honor of the 1789 storming of the Bastille, French folks celebrate the power of the people every year on this day.
Ugo Rondinone, dear sunset, 2013
Since Dallas has an interesting history of French connections (most notably La Réunion, the short-lived socialist utopian community formed in 1855 by French, Belgian, and Swiss colonists, later incorporated by the City of Dallas, and celebrated by Ugo Rondinone’s entry into last year’s Nasher XChange series of public sculptures), it is holding its fifth annual Bastille on Bishop Festival tonight from 6-10pm, where they take over 3 blocks of the historic Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts District. It’s a ticketed event, but includes all things French: wine, crepes, mussels, musique, and can-can dancers.
