“Les Nuits d’Été” par Pierre Yovanovitch

Pierre Yovanovitch will unveil a site-specific scenography celebrating the centennial anniversary of Villa Noailles. As a longtime collaborator of the Art Center, Pierre Yovanovitch was selected to reimagine the original summer residence of the late Villa Noailles founders Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, who built the property a century ago. Paying homage to the couple’s immense and eternal impact on the 20th century art scene, with a particular focus on Madame de Noailles’s storied spirit, Yovanovitch incorporated pieces from the de Noailles archives as well as commissioning contemporary artworks. The result is an series of immersive, narrative-based vignettes which takes visitors, room by room, through the creative minds and daily lives of the Center’s illustrious owners. The scenography will be on view at Villa Noailles from June 23, 2023 - January 14, 2023.

“I can’t think of a more apt way to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Villa Noailles with a scenographic commemoration of the lives of its’ founders, Charles and Marie-Laure,” states Pierre Yovanovitch. “Investing personally as well as monetarily, Marie-Laure de Noailles was the consummate patron, standing with modest grace behind artists such as Cocteau, Dalí, Ernst, and Picasso, whom she faithfully followed throughout their careers, unimpeded by the desire to cast her own shadow into posterity.Through reimagining her and Charles’s original home, and creating this imaginary design dialogue with them, we attempt to bring their creative influences to life, taking visitors behind the scenes of this visionary couple.”

Pierre Yovanovitch reimagined the 200 m2 space dividing it into staged scenes, starting with the entryway, moving into the reading room, dining room, boudoir of Marie-Laure, office of Charles, salon, dressing room and bedroom. Each room combines a selection of contemporary works as well as early 20th century decorative design and art works sourced from the couple’s own collection and original archival documents (letters, plans, photographs, films) from their lives. These works, which were compiled by Pierre Yovanovitch with insight from historic curator Éléa Legangneux, include artworks by Miquel Barcelo, Francesco Clemente, César, Bernard Buffet and Alicja Kwade, Josef Albers, Matthieu Cossé and Xie Lei, to name a few. Historic works included in the scenography include: furniture pieces by Pierre Chareau, Gilbert Poillerat et Sege Roche photography portraits of Marie-Laure de Naoilles taken by the legendary Man Ray, sculptural pieces by Alberto Giacometti, among others. Pierre Yovanovitch commissioned a selection of site-specific works, including: a portrait of Marie-Laure by artist Giulia Andreani, an in-situ intervention in the viscountess’s bedroom by painter Alexandre Rochegaussen and two works by artist
Porky Hefer.

The scenography pays homage not only to the couple’s exploration and patronage of modern-design and it’s Surrealist actors (which included regular visits from the likes of André Breton, poet Louis Aragon, fashion doyen Cecil Beaton, and Nobel Prize winner and self-professed pederast André Gide), it also nods to the architectural history of property originally called “Clos Saint-Bernard.”
Known for breathing new life into historic spaces, including his own Provençal property - Chateau de Fabregues - Pierre Yovanovitch took cues from his own design practice, incorporating vintage design elements and contemporary art to tell a story about the homeowner’s lives.

In addition to the set design created by Pierre Yovanovitch, Villa Noailles has planned a number of activations which bring this scenography further to life, including: a musical creation in partnership Toulon Opera (September 16, 17 and 18), reimagination of the wardrobe of Marie-Laure de Noailles by young fashion designers and major houses (October 12 to January 14, 2024): exhibitions outside the walls (Ronan Bouroullec’s drawings in Toulon and a tribute to Andrée Putman in Saint-Paul-de-Vence) is as dense as it is eclectic and original. Not to mention, of course, the international Design Parade Hyères festival (17th edition from June 23 to 25) and the fashion, photography and accessories festival (38th edition from October 12 to 15). These activations, and more, are overseen by Jean-Pierre Blanc, director of the Villa Noailles and Pascale Mussard, the Center’s president.

Exhibition produced with the support of :

LENDERS :

• Aspar Claudine
• Bröhan Museum
• Busuttil-Janssen Stéphanie (collection privée)
• Camille Chastang
• Carlo Peronne (collection privée)
• Centre Pompidou
• Eric Philippe
• Faye Jean-Claude (Collection privée)
• Fondation Alberto Giacometti
• Galerie Anne-Sophie Duval
• Galerie Chastel-Maréchal
• Galerie Helene Bailly
• Galerie Lefebvre
• Galerie Maruani Mercier
• Galerie Maxime Flatry
• Galerie Patrick Fourtin
• Galerie Romain Morandi
• Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
• Graziella Semerciyan Art, Craft & Design Gallery - Kamel Mennour
• Lesage Intérieurs
• Mobilier National et Manufactures ationales
• Mouvements Modernes
• Semiose
• Slocum Joshua (collection privée)
• Vitra Design Museum
• We Do Not work alone
• Yovanovitch Pierre

ARTISTS :

• Andreani Giulia
• Cossé Matthieu
• Hefer Porky
• Rochegaussen Alexandre

PARTNERS :

• Atelier Mériguet-Carrère - Casamance
• Poterie de Ravel
• Pierre Frey
• Lesage Intérieurs

COMPANIES :

• Apsara Créations - Dena France
• Degreane
• Chenue
• Conrad SPB
• Exhibit Group
• Gaillochon Joëlle
• Kleened
• SARL EIKON
• Staff Espaces Volumes - Galerie Maurice Garnier - Fondation Albers