SelectionLike the Villa Medici, renovated castles, mansions and art foundations offer stays in the midst of works of art and their creators. For unique experiences in contrast to standardized residences.
Sleeping a few meters from an artist’s studio, discovering his first works is not the only privilege of visitors to the Villa Medici. In France, and more widely in Europe, it is possible to rent a room next to a plastic surgeon’s studio. A sign that the hotel industry has changed a lot.
The comfort of a room is no longer, if at all, reduced to aseptic and interchangeable furniture or a satellite package broadcasting a hundred television channels. Moreover, a television set no longer really needs to be to guarantee a good stay. Not even a minibar or a gym.
Their wish, to desecrate art, to show visitors for one evening the work necessary to make a sculpture or to show for one night how a place could inspire artists.
Authenticity is necessary. And the price, sometimes high, is that of a unique experience. Thus, for a few years now, hybrid addresses have been swarming, worn by aesthetes (very often women) who blur the boundaries with homes, often decorated by their owners. Hosts who take on the role of conveyors of art but also of the history of their city or region, in Naples, in Biarritz or in the Loire Valley. Their wish, to desecrate art, to show visitors for one evening the work necessary to make an album, to make a sculpture or simply to show for one night how a place could inspire artists.
In these places which combine an arty atmosphere and quality of the box spring, the surprise is that very often the passing guests are not necessarily keen on art, but simply curious to live an experience off the beaten track or to discover an environment usually hermetic. Moreover, Airbnb was not mistaken. Always on the lookout for travel trends, the rental site created a competition in September to sleep, among other places, in Milly-la-Forêt, in Essonne, at Jean Cocteau’s.
Le Pavillon Southway, a family home in Marseille
The historian and artist Emmanuelle Luciani wanted to shatter the image of the inaccessible plastic artist and took over a family home which she transformed into a meeting place. “In general, we only see the artist in cocktails where he is untouchable, almost deified, we wanted to bring him down from his pedestal and show that he was open to sincere discussions, even with non-specialists. I especially wanted to show that art is not always as snobbish as it is said. “ In his vast house where everyone can choose to live in isolation, stroll in their room, visit the city, read in the garden or chat with the residents, you can walk freely between the workshops and observe the manufacture of the pieces that will go. decorate the rooms.
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