I want to sit beneath the sky, like astrologers,
And, dreaming, listen to the bells,
Their hymns carried by the wind.
-Baudelaire, Paysage | Landscape
Ever since discovering Les Fleurs du Mal in my early twenties, I’ve been under the spell of the language and culture of France. Today, as a writer and editor, I’ve had the gift of living and studying in Baudelaire’s city and of collaborating with some of its leading creatives.
It was while living near Église Saint Sulpice—site of Delacroix frescoes, Victor Hugo's marriage, and Baudelaire's christening—that I began Alcôve, a podcast exploring the nature of French artistic and sacred spaces, which are very often one and the same. To date, my guests include Claude d'Anthenaise, director of Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature; Martin Morillon, director of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud; Gaëlle Rio, director of Musée de la Vie Romantique; and artists Laurent Millet and François Réau.
As a journalist, I’ve covered Paris Photo, Maison et Objet, Déco Off, and Paris exhibitions, artists, and interiors. I’ve also been lucky to moderate conversations and panels with such inspirations as Jean-Louis Deniot, Pierre Frey, Emmanuel Lelièvre, Elliott Barnes, and Jerôme Benisty.
Assouline is the publisher of my second book, Art House (2016), a chronicle of the collaboration of global art collector Chara Schreyer and designer Gary Hutton. Now in its fourth printing, Art House is available at Assouline boutiques worldwide and has been featured in French Vogue, Ideat, Madame Figaro, and many other publications.
In 2020, I was honored to write the preface for Encounters, the first monograph on painter and sculptor Aude Herlédan,
Now living in San Francisco, I continue to produce and host Alcôve, and to spend part of each year in Paris.
