Now at the head of Pierre Cardin's empire, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin will pay tribute to his great-uncle on December 2, by celebrating, at Maxim's, the 30th anniversary of his reception under the Dome.
An illustrated book entitled
Pierre Cardin and the Institute
will be published on this occasion
“
The most beautiful day of my life?
That of my consecration, and the recognition of my profession
»!
This is how Pierre Cardin evoked this December 2, 1992 when, under the Dome, he officially became an Academician of Fine Arts.
That afternoon, dressed in a green coat embroidered with olive leaves, which he left to no one to make, he was installed by the Perpetual Secretary, Marcel Landowski, and pronounced the eulogy of his predecessor, Pierre Dux.
He does not hide his emotion.
By becoming the first fashion designer to join immortals, he at the same time allows haute couture to be recognized as an art in its own right.
Read alsoCan the metaverse save Pierre Cardin?
At the end of the ceremony, before a gala dinner at Maxim's with his new colleagues, he made a detour to Espace Cardin to receive the traditional sword.
He chose and designed the symbols that should appear on it: a white gold thimble, a Venetian mask recalling his Venetian origins and his love of the theatre, as well as an M evoking Maxim's, bought in 1976 to prevent this sign from becoming American property.
As usual, a committee has been set up to finance the construction of this jewel.
Cardin thanked each of the donors, before paying the entire sum collected to the Claude Pompidou Foundation and to Research against AIDS.
“
Do you see me accepting money?
“, simply declared the one who, on his passport,
profession
”: patron.
When he mentioned, in particular, the cost and the losses of the Espace Cardin during the 45 years that he directed it, he exclaimed, smiling: "
with this sum, I could have bought myself 50 castles, but I preferred to invest in culture!
".
Read alsoRodrigo Basilicati Cardin, a legacy that flows naturally
As soon as he arrived at the Institute, he assured that he was not there to do extras and would commit financially to support young artists, in multiple disciplines.
He kept his word and created, in 1993, the Pierre Cardin prizes intended to help a painter, a sculptor, an architect, an engraver and a composer each year.
The day after his death, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin decided that this endowment would be maintained.
Jeanne Moreau, academician and
"ex-fiancée of Cardin"
Until the last months of its long existence, the Wednesday meetings at the Institute were its secret garden.
Anxious to move the lines, to play the card of modernity, he has not ceased to participate in the debates and to launch ideas which have often been retained.
Thus in 2001, the election of Jeanne Moreau, of which he was the initiator, was hailed as a “
tremendous event
”.
A few months later, receiving her under the Dome, he began his speech thus:
"I did not think, thirty years ago, when I was dressing her for
Eva
, the film directed by Joseph Losey, that a day, I will cut her academician costume for my ex-fiancée!
»
In three decades, he has created such bonds of friendship with the other academicians that he has invited them to Venice, but also to Lacoste, to attend his summer festival.
He did not measure this investment when, at the end of the 1980s, a few relatives began to suggest that he apply.
Among its most fervent supporters are the art critic André Parinaud, and the composer, Marius Constant, himself a member of the Institute.
After a time of reflection, seduced by the idea, he begins the traditional course of the postulant, intended to allow those who will become, perhaps his future colleagues, to know him from every angle.
He sacrifices to visits to each other, to informal meetings, to telephone conversations, and to exchanges of letters.
He receives some of them in his workshops and makes them discover, in particular, the models and photos of green clothes that he has already made for Marcel Achard, René Clair and about twenty other immortals.
Everytime,
he explains his desire to work on cultural projects likely to contribute to the image of France.
His efforts are paying off.
He was elected in the first round, on February 12, 1992.
In the corridor leading to his office on avenue Marigny, a section of wall was occupied by a giant photo bringing together the Academicians of Fine Arts.
"
When I came back, I was the youngest, I became the dean
," he said a few months before leaving us.
According to his last wishes, he was buried with his green coat and his sword.
Another form of immortality.
SEE ALSO
- The great French couturier Thierry Mugler died at the age of 73
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