The Clementine Caper

The Paris Apartment, Part X

This is a sad little story with a happy ending.

Quite a while ago, when the idea of owning a Paris apartment was just the germ of a dream, we received the most gorgeous painting at the gallery by Nancy Franke, called Study of Clementine. As we unveiled it and gasped our collective “Ooooh’s”, I announced confidently to everyone present that if I ever owned a Paris apartment, this would be my very first purchase. I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t sell, and I pursued my dream of finding the perfect apartment. Meg even went so far as to put a hold sticker on Clementine, during my lengthy negotiation process with Parisian “notaires.”

Interestingly, Clementine got a lot of attention and everyone loved the painting. It even spurred on several other commissions for Nancy Franke, including this beauty below.

But nobody bought Clementine, and I felt comfortably assured that at the right time, this beautiful painting would be mine. I calmly and confidently waited for it to be the elegant star of my future Parisian pied-a-terre.

And then a terrible thing happened. The hold sign mysteriously came off, and a lovely client (who had actually eyed the painting for over a year, it turns out), came in and bought it. Clementine was gone and although I put up a good face, I was completely devastated.

It took me weeks to get over the loss and I still think about Clementine, happy that I got to enjoy her for those many months at the gallery. And I know she’s in a happy home. But the funny thing is, I let it happen again!

A few weeks after Clementine left the gallery, Nancy Franke brought in a little study of a French girl called “La Jeune Fille.” We all uttered the same collective gasp and everyone said to me, “OK – here’s your new Clementine.” Although I loved the painting, the apartment wasn’t mine yet, and I didn’t want to jinx it, so I took my chances and waited – just a little too long. And once again there were tears of sorrow and disbelief among my co-workers that I could have let two paintings slip by uncontrollably.

Then something wonderful and unexpected happened. We Huffingtons decided to blog about our favorite little paintings in the gallery, and I selected a small jewel by Nancy Franke, called “In the Spotlight.” I loved it from the minute it arrived at the gallery – partially because of the translucence of the colors and partially because it reminds me of my husband and me, and so I enthusiastically blogged about it.

And then Nancy did something extraordinarily generous and totally unexpected: She gave it to me! This was just around the time that we actually did sign the papers on the apartment. So with infinite gratitude, I accepted the painting and the sign that this little jewel would be the cornerstone of the Paris apartment.

We love it when art sets the tone for interior design, instead of the other way around. So it was quite natural for this painting, “In the Spotlight” to be the inspiration for the colors in Paris, as you can see in the sneak peek at one of our bedrooms. And it’s no coincidence that the painting actually works beautifully in every single room! As we say at the gallery, when you collect what you love, it all works together.

I was a grateful and happy camper and going to leave it at that. And then my daughter, just about to graduate from high school, told me one day that she loved the photo of herself holding a flower that I’ve had on my bedside table. It's a photo that was taken when she was five years old and it's always been a favorite. I've watched my daughter come in to the room, pick up the photo, and look at it wistfully. So something occurred to me: Wouldn’t it be the best graduation present ever to have a this picture painted by Nancy Franke? After losing Clementine and “Jeune Fille,” it was undeniable that I still wanted my own beautiful, elusive Nancy Franke figure. And so I commissioned it. And held my breath ...

Imagine the collective gasp when this gorgeous, thoughtful, luminous and sweet painting arrived at the gallery! I couldn't be happier. My daughter hasn’t seen it yet, and I'm carefully planning the perfect time to give it to her. Of course there may be one little catch …

It’s yours, darling, but can it please go to Paris? You can visit it any time!

Ta ta,

AH

PS Many thanks to Nancy Franke, whose work inspires the collective gasp in us every day! And I'm only kidding (sort of) about stealing the painting back from my daughter.