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Un Aprés-midi à Alexandrie
at Le Printemps Haussmann - Femme, floor 1 from the 16th of September to the 27th of October
Imagine… Cleopatra never lost at Actium, quite the opposite she won. Octavian never became Augustus. Together with Marcus-Anthony they become Emperors and Pharaos, they reign supreme, over the Roman Empire, in Alexandria. Cultures mingles, merges. Roman busts adorned by extravagant jewellry. Greek vase celebrating Cleopatra’s jubilee, a parallel universe where the West did meet the East.
Through 30 handpainted pieces, like a theater’s stage, Guillaume Sardin dreams of this past that never been. Ave Cleopatra qui adorant te salutant ❤
sketch and final piece - “ Children of Cleopatra”
Each of the pieces of the show is handpainted on cut wood panels at Guillaume’s Parisian atelier. The technique infuses an artepovera approach that gives a distant glimmer to this invented past.
The 30 pieces are the result of Guillaume’s passion for History and Anthropology. All the details are echoes of our shared past : here’s an earing found in a Greek tomb, there’s a famous Roman marble turned into an Egyptian statue.
Guillaume Sardin is fascinated by the fall of Cleopatra, the end of the Ptolemaic civilisation. Cleopatra was more than the femme fatale, she was a strong political leader, an edonist. Greek of origin, she immersed herself into lost ancient Egyptian rituals. Guillaume embarked on a journey : what if Cleopatra took over Rome. In our timeline, she almost succeeded.
With this in mind, he started researching , accumulating references and readings. He imagined how the Alexandrian τρυφή, a sense of abundance and luxury, would have evolved.
“ Have to admit, I’m more Cleopatra, than Augustus, he was really no fun, she was a real party animal and amazing leader ”
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Selected pieces from the exhibition
Dive into the creative process and the stories they tell
Three vases depicting the Jubilee of Cleopatra
This serie of three vases, in the shape of Greek kraters, is one of my favorite. They depicts an old Egyptian tradition, the Heb-Sed festival, the Pharaoh Jubilee. This time around, Egyptian and Greek influences fuse : a danse of Egyptians gods, like a Greek bacchanalia, and the errection of the Djed pillar by Markus-Anthony.
Cleopatra with the Hem-Hem crown
This bust is inspired by a, now lost, painting of Cleopatra found in Sorento, Italy. Guillaume reintrepreted the portrait into a bust, with the Hem-Hem crown, an ancient Egyptian headpiece, very fashionable during the Ptolemaic era.
Pair of Emperors-Pharaohs
This pair of busts is the true representation of Guillaume’s vision, an archetypal Roman bust embelished with the Egyptian crown Nemes. The nemes instegrates Roman and Greek elements, a trygliph fries, laurel warth and two hellenesitic figures wearing the Egyptian crowns from Lower and Upper Egypts. They are ready ot adorned a Palazzo or a Penthouse.
Greco-Roman Ouchebti
As a child, Guillaume Sardin was fascinated by Ouchebtis, ancient Egyptian figurines. They are messengers, helpers.
In this timeline where Cleopatra won, the figurines evolve into ex-voto. Guillaume found two real prayers from the 2nd century CE, one for Love, one for good sleep.
