Until the 7^th June 2011, the French Riviera town of St Tropez is holding two exhibitions and displaying six large sculptures made by Stefan Szczesny, in celebration of the German artist’s impending 60^th birthday.

Stefan Szczesny is a painter, sculptor and draughtsman, who has also dappled in graphics, photography and fashion design.

He is best known for organizing the “Rndschau Deutschland” in 1981 and co-founding of the Junge Wilde movement. Two of the artist’s most famous works are The Living Planet, which Szczesny created for Expo 2000, and the Mainau Island, produced in 2007.

To accompany the exhibitions and set of sculptures, until 31^st of October 2011, the Hotel Chateau de la Messardiere in St Tropez will be exhibiting an additional selection of Szczensy’s works including ceramics, sculptures and paintings.

The Stefan Szczesny project in St Tropez is known as “Shadows in the Sea” and is sponsored by the Germen division of the British car manufacturing company, Jaguar.

The “Shadows in the Sea” is one of three different sets of the artist’s black silhouette statues, aimed to represent Szczesny’s views of the classical depiction of Eve as the ‘embodiment of the eternal female’, which are separately being exhibited around Europe, appearing in only the most exquisite, exclusive and stunning of regions.

Earlier in the year, the Swiss town of St Moritz exhibited Szczesny’s “Shadows in the Snow” exhibition, a show which was said to enchant the art lovers of St. Moritz.

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Jane Fonda (not) showing her age. The 73 (yes 73!) year old actress looked stunning on the red carpet in a fitted white Emilio Pucci maxi dress complete with revealing  sheer panels. It would have been breath-taking on a woman half her age.

Cheryl Cole (nearly a third of Jane Fonda’s age at 27) also stole the show with another revealing creation. This time a Stephane Rolland dress, in white with a plunging neckline.

The notoriously elusive Terrence Malick’s ‘Tree of Life’ is as big as its two male stars, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. Early reviews show this is ‘cinema thinking big’, an epic on ‘an unashamedly huge scale’.

Ooops! Not so great for Keith Allen’s ‘Unlawful killing’, a documentary about the death of Princess Diana. Critics, rather than praising the film, are simply just walking out of screenings.

Cannes 2011 gigs have been a real success. Jesse J, Jamie Cullum, Kanye West and Lady Gaga have all, so far, performed.

Maybe they should have stopped at three? ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ is not getting the best of reviews.

Jodie Foster’s ‘Beaver’ is also generating huge interest. With the bold move of casting Mel Gibson in the lead role, Foster has taken a risk following Gibson’s recent ‘indiscretions’. However, early reports suggest that Jodie foster just may have rescued Mel Gibson’s career.

Interestingly, current reports from Cannes show 2 ‘Beaver’ tickets are being swapped for 1 ‘Tree of Life’ ticket.

We will bring you a full report of Cannes 2011 shortly.

On the 16^th May, the Faconnable Taxi made its debut at Cannes 2011.

The Audi Q5 SUV has been given the Faconnable treatment, and the result is sleek and sporty.

Featuring Faconnable’s Côte d’Azur-inspired 2011 Spring-Summer advertising campaign, it fits right into the glamour of this international event.

The Taxi represents everything great about both Cannes 2011 and Faconnable, sophisticated style, excitement and star quality.

The perfect way to arrive at the red carpet.

The Musee de l’ Annonciade in St Tropez on the French Riviera has gained a remarkable edition to its expanding collection.

A painting titled ‘La jeune femme assise sur les rivages d’Agay’ painted by the highly influential late 19th century and early 20^th century French artist, Louis Valtat, has been luring an influx of visitors into the museum.

The painting  is of a young and beautiful lady standing on the shores of Agay, a small fishing village not far from St Raphael, and is one of 20 produced by the artist in a series titled ‘Notations d’Agay 1899’.

After spending the winter in Agay in 1897, Louis Valtat became captivated by the Cote d’Azur and himself and his wife made regular visits to the area, cycling over the Esterel hills, where Valtat would be artistically inspired.

The Musee de l’Annonciade’s curator, Jean-Paul Monery wanted to buy the Valtat painting as a way of complimenting Agay and L’Esterel. The painting is the latest piece of artwork bought by the museum to reflect the region’s unique beauty and identity.

Musee de l’Annonciade is internationally renowned for housing some impressive art collections by some of the world’s most famous artists, including Raoul Dufy, Pierre Bonnard and Paul Signac.

In 2010, a painting by Dufy of St Tropez’s port titled, ‘Le port de St Tropez’, joined L’Annonciade’s collection, as well as a painting by Chambaud titled, ‘Les joueurs de boules’, and a piece by Henri Person, named ‘Pont de Pierre a Bordeaux’.

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In celebration of an artist whose influence has been as great as his reputation.

Until Monday 16 May 2011, an exhibition of ceramics is being held at the Musee National Fernand Leger. The exhibition is in celebration of the ceramics Fernand Leger created during the last years of his life.

Fernand Leger was a French sculptor, painter and filmmaker of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The French artist became most famous for his role in the development of Cubism, which he managed to craft into a more populist style, and in doing so, became regarded as being a forerunner of Pop Art.

Despite the artist’s multi-faceted artistic career, where his involvement in painting, printmaking and film making, saw that Leger was involved in the Tubism, Cubism and Modernism movements, the High in Colour exhibition focuses solely on the ceramics Leger created during the latter years of his life.

A visit to the Musee National Fernand Leger is an experience in itself. Located in Chernin du Val de Pome near the town of Biot, the museum is covered in stunning stained glass mosaic, created by H. Melano of Biot. This beautiful museum was originally founded by Fernande Leger as a ceramics studio in 1950, which in 1957 became the Leger Museum. In 1967 it was opened as a national museum in the presence of Pablo Picasso, George Braque and Marc Chagall. Its location is obviously deliberate, given Biot’s notoriety for its bubble-filled glasswork and its poetry.

Leger himself had a passion for mosaic, and from 1946 – 1949, he worked on a mosaic for the façade of the church of Assy, produced tapestries and windows for the church at Ardincourt and the University of Caracas.

The exhibition is open Wednesday to Monday, 10.00 – 17.00 (18.00 from 2 May 2011).

For more information on the Musee Nacional Fernand Leger and the ‘High in Colour’ exhibition visit the website.