Doing a Philippe Katerine in nature in Paris, March 2022.
I love Philippe Katerine’s painting of the blond girl, on a swing, in a pink frou-frou skirt, in the woods, kicking off her red pom-pom shoe. What freedom! What March madness on a spring day.
It is a reference to the original 1767 painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, a famous 18th century French Rococo painter. The painting was called The Happy Chance of the Swing – and was rather risqué for its time.
I imitate the feeling by going for nature walks in Paris, and once, I even saw a little girl in a pink frou-frou skirt amongst the pink petals of cherry blossoms in the Luxembourg Garden. Just like the Katerine painting, she was doing a Philippe Katerine in nature in Paris!
French singer-songwriter, actor, author Philippe Katerine is really Philippe Blanchard (1968-). He has used the surname Katerine since beginning his professional career in 1992 at the age of 24.
His current works, created during the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, are called Le Mignonisme – “Cute-ism” – with the pink symbol Monsieur Rose – Mr Pink. His philosophy is:
‘simply open your eyes: you can always find something cute somewhere, it’s just a matter of perception.’
