A talk with Jean-Pierre Blanc

Would you tell us about your career path? How did your passion for art develop and when did you realise you wanted to work in this field?

It’s a very long history. I began working 40 years ago now, in Hyères, where I started organizing the Fashion Festival – which is quite famous all over the world now. After two years, I became the Director of the Couture Fair of the town and, after that, I had the opportunity to work in this incredible house built during the XX century by Marie-Laure de Noailles.
Then, in 2002, we entered a competition to be in charge of the art centre. We won and we decided to bring Design Parade in this building in 2006. Now the festival celebrates 17 years and we have launched a new one in Toulon, focusing on interior architecture.

Do you remember a particular event that opened the way for your passion for art to develop?

One of the most important moments is my encounter with Karl Lagerfeld, in 1995. He came to Villa Noailles for the first time to do a photo-shooting and, after that, we worked a lot together. Karl became President of the jury of the Fashion Festival and, after that, Artistic Director of the history of the Fashion Festival. This year, in Toulon, we present the last project he had done around marble furniture. This is one of my best memories.
The second one: in 1998 we organized a small exhibition of vases with Ronan Bouroullec and, since this moment, we became friends and worked together very professionally.

What drives you in your practice? And how would you describe your personal approach?

I want to quote something that I really love, which I heard this morning in an interview of Massimo, where he was describing the policy of Mutina: We only work with people we like. It is the same for me. It is really important to have a sort of family around. Also, relationships between men and women are very important for me. And we have a very special purpose in our organization, which is to promote young designers and artists in fashion, design, interior, architecture and photography.

You became Director of Villa Noailles in 1989. What are the most significative changes that happened since you took the reins of the space?

I think it’s the entire transformation. You know, when I arrived at Villa Noailles it was completely destroyed. We begun from zero, and in 30 years we managed to build a history around the contemporary scene, which is also really close to the past of Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. They were important patrons of art, even before their private house became public. Now it is a house for the audience as well as for artists, with a special home feeling.

What’s the most exciting part of your job? And the most complex one?

It’s easy! The most important and exciting things are the artists and the public – artists first, of course. And the most complicated one is money. It’s the thing with which all the organizations in the world struggle the most.

In 2023, Villa Noailles celebrates one hundred years. What programme have you developed in honor of this great achievement? And what role do emerging artists play in it?

The town bought the villa on March 13th, 1973, exactly 50 years before we begun the celebration of the century. We did a lot for this incredibly special occasion!
The programme begun with an exhibition on architecture and the building of Villa Noailles, realised by young firms, and a collection of portraits of Marie-Laure de Noailles commissioned to emerging artists. We also asked French-American photographer Dominique Nabokov to do a project on the building. After that, we opened the Design Parade. During the festival, we did a special project with architect Pierre Yovanovitch and realised a tryptic of exhibitions with Ronan Bouroullec, our guest of honor. The first show was presented in March and it focused on his drawings. Now we are presenting one exhibition on ceramics, in Toulon, and one featuring his new products, in Hyères. Then, on July 31st, we will do a concert with the music commissioned by Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles to Nicolas Nabokov in 1932 and, between September 16th and 18th, we will do a special opera about the life of Charles and Marie Laure de Noailles.
We also commissioned French film maker Karim Zeriahen a special documentary about Marie-Laure de Noailles, which will be presented in October, during the opening of the Fashion Festival. And we are going to reprint one of the ten books written by Marie-Laure de Noailles, called La chambre des écureuils.
Furthermore, during the Fashion Festival, we are going to present a special garderobe of Marie Laure de Noailles with new designs. It will feature Chanel too, because it is the patron of our century at Villa Noailles.

What are your thoughts on the new generation of creatives?

Working with emerging artists is a real passion for me. I think that they bring energy everywhere, every time. It’s incredible and impressive to see how passionately they work in any condition, overcoming the difficulties through art, all over the world. And that is, maybe, one of the most important things.

How do aspects and issues of the modern era influence their works?

A negative aspect of our era is that it’s hard not to be influenced. I’ve noticed that young artists often stick to upcycling and gender freedom problems – which can be interesting and, of course, it’s important to speak about these issues –, but I would really prefear if they were the first to decide what they would dream and love to talk about. Not just diving into things because there are people all around the world who are speaking about those specific themes.

On the occasion of the Design Parade, Villa Noailles and the Galerie du Canon respectively house Productions récentes and Les Mains à l’Argile, a double ceramic exhibition by Ronan Bouroullec. The shows feature, among the many pieces, installations realised with the Bloc and Rombini collections and a complete set of Rombini Vases. How did the project develop? What kind of experience did you aim to create for the visitors?

To me, it was like a present for the anniversary of Villa Noailles. Ronan has been very generous: there are a lot of pieces in Toulon and very new creations in Hyères. We – Ronan, Massimo, Franck and me – developed the exhibition as friends working together on a project. That’s the best way to work for me. We took a lot of time to prepare, but we took a lot of time to celebrate too.
When you live out of big capitals, it’s crucial to bring really important things to people. That’s one of the statements of my job and I am very proud to invite the public of Hyères and Toulon to discover the last pieces of Ronan. I hope and I think that they will feel the good spirit inside these two shows.

What is ceramics to you? How would you describe your relationship with this material?

Ceramics is incredibly important for me. First of all, from a historical point of view, as Villa Noailles features several nice pieces bought by Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. It is also incredibly valuable for Hyères, where a lot of people used to work as potters during the Fifties and the Sixties. I think this was my first connection with ceramics, which has developed into different relationships.
Indeed, there are two very important companies close to the Villa: one is in a small village in the center of the Var, they do ceramics for floors since the XVI century and we have organized a show around their history; the second one is Poterie Ravel, a very old company in Aubagne, close to Marseille, with which we developed several projects.
Of course, we met Ronan through ceramics: he developed a special project with Claude Aiello during the Nineties and we presented it at Villa Noailles.

Do you remember the first time you got into contact with Mutina? What struck you the most about the company?

I discovered Mutina in 2017, during an exhibition by Inga Sempé. I didn’t know the company back then, but I immediately understood it was a collaboration of high-quality. What strikes me the most are the collaborations that the company permits, involving important names and amazing designers from all over the world, as well as their diversity. It’s really impressive.

Do you have a favourite Mutina collection? Why?

I really appreciate, of course, Ronan Bouroullec’s collections. I also love the projects by Nathalie Du Pasquier and Patricia Urquiola.

Is there a particular artist, past or present, you would like to work with?

That’s a very big and important question… Christian Bérard! For me, he is one of the most important artists of the XX century. I love his multidisciplinary approach, his ability to work in both fashion, interior design and painting… and I love his spirit. He collaborated with the most important artists during his life. It would be a dream for me to work with Christian Bérard.