Established 1961 Lifestyle

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019

People visit an immersive exhibition about Vincent van Gogh in Beijing.—AFP

seduction scene that some feminists critics now say raises questions of consent. They argue that the woman in the scene appears to be resisting the young man as he bolts shut the bedroom door.

‘No limit on budgets’ Touhami told AFP that he wanted to gather the very best noses for the job. “It is about adding an olfactory dimension to a visual experience. I chose eight par- fumeurs, all stars and gave them 100-percent freedom, he was one of the great beauties of antiquity, and with no limit on their budgets,” he added. Dorothee Piot, soon we are going to find out what the “Venus de who works for Robertet house in the French perfume capi- S tal of Grasse, chose Gainsborough’s 1745 masterpiece. “I Milo” smells like. The in has asked two of France’s top “noses”-otherwise known as perfume cre- wanted to create something fresh and delicate to go with ators-to come up with fragrances to go with some of its their bucolic exterior scene,” she said of the self-portrait greatest treasures. Ramdane Touhami and Victoire de of the artist with his wife Margaret in a Elysian English Taillac roped in some of the biggest stars of the olfactory landscape. universe to help them find the right notes to go with stat- “I loved the candour and the grace of the two of them, ues of the goddess of love as well as the “Winged Victory so I came up with a perfume inspired by roses that have of Samothrace”. The pair, founders of the Officine just come out surrounded by greenery,” she told AFP. Universelle Buly perfumerie, were also asked to pair fra- Museum spokesman Adel Ziane said the idea of the per- grances with Ingres’ two most sensual works, the “Grande fumes was “to help wake all the senses of visitors as they Odalisque” and “The Valpincon Bather” as well as view the work at the Louvre. “I think that the scents have Gainsborough’s “Conversation in a Park”. a lot to say on the collections, particular the ancient But for now there will be no perfume for “”- works,” he said. The eight different fragrances will be the museum’s most famous work-who will guard her fra- uncorked and will also go on sale at the pop-up shop from grance, like so much else, secret. Controversially, among July 3 until January next year. — AFP the paintings chosen is Fragonard’s “The Bolt”, the famous

In this file photo a rescue dog from the Mexican Navy, Frida, A rescue dog from the Mexican Navy, Frida, takes a break and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas, take a break during a during a training session in Mexico City. training session in Mexico City. — AFP photos rida the rescue dog, a labrador retriever who gained and rescue dog, the navy said. The emergency response Fworldwide fame for her heroics after the earthquake efforts she took part in included earthquakes in Haiti and that devastated Mexico on September 19, 2017, offi- Ecuador in 2010 and 2016, respectively, and an explosion cially retired from duty Monday. Frida, who adorably at the headquarters of Mexican state oil company Pemex sniffed through the rubble in her protective goggles and in 2013. booties in the hours after the tragedy, was sent into doggy Her job after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that shook retirement at 10 years old in a ceremony at the canine unit Mexico City was to look for survivors in the rubble of the of the Mexican marines. “Our dear labrador Frida is start- Rebsamen elementary school, where 19 children and seven ing a new era,” said Deputy Naval Minister Eduardo adults were killed. Frida’s handlers removed her famous Redondo. mask and booties at the ceremony, and she received a “Frida stole the heart of all Mexico and thousands more chew toy as a symbol of her new life in retirement. “Frida, abroad... Her bark always gave hope, and in moments of mission accomplished, with honor,” said Redondo. — AFP pain and uncertainty she brought relief.” Frida saved 12 people’s lives across her decade-long career as a search In this file photo tourists look at the “” sculpture as they visit the Louvre museum in Paris. — AFP

painting thought to be a “lost masterpiece” by to be auctioned in Toulouse tomorrow. But before bidding was by the volatile and violent genius, who created it while Italian painter Caravaggio has been bought two could start a foreign buyer “close to a major museum” he was on the run from a death sentence for murder. “Not Adays before it was due to go under the hammer in stepped in, said Marc Labarbe, the local auctioneer who only is it a Caravaggio, but of all the Caravaggios that are France. “Judith and Holofernes”, which was found under an discovered the painting when he was asked to value some known today, this is one of the great pictures,” he insisted. old mattress in the attic of a house in the French city of “old things in the attic” five years ago. “The fact that the “The painting is in an extraordinarily good state, much Toulouse, was snapped up by a foreign buyer, the auction offer comes from a collector close to a major museum better than the Caravaggios I have seen in Naples,” he house selling it said on Tuesday. Art expert Eric Turquin- convinced the seller to accept (the offer),” he said. added. But although experts are united in hailing the who authenticated the painting-said it was worth between quality of the work, a minority of specialists-particularly 100 and 150 million euros (up to $170 million), although Price kept secret in Italy-have their doubts. They believe it is a copy made several Italian specialists have doubts about the canvas. Labarbe said he could not reveal the name of the buyer by the Flemish artist Louis Finson, who worked alongside But Turquin, France’s leading authority on Old Masters or the price paid because of a confidentiality agreement. Caravaggio as he painted. But Turquin is adamant it is the paintings, had staked his reputation on the work being the But he confirmed that the painting-dated to 1606 — will original from 1606 whose existence was first noted in In this file photo a painting believed by some experts to be fiery artist’s lost “Judith and Holofernes”. The painting leave France after an export bar, which classed the canvas letters between Italian dukes and art dealers four cen- depicting a grisly biblical scene of the beautiful Jewish as a “national treasure”, was not renewed in November. turies ago.—AFP Caravaggio’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes” is pictured at widow Judith beheading a sleeping Assyrian general was Turquin had earlier told AFP that he was sure the painting the Marc Labarbe auction house in Toulouse.—AFP