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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Paris apartment untouched for 70 years:Treasure trove seen after owner locked up & fled WWII
(Lots of pics)
Caked in dust and full of turn-of-the century treasures, this Paris apartment is like going back in time.
Having lain untouched for seven decades the abandoned home was discovered three years ago after its owner died aged 91.
The woman who owned the flat, a Mrs De Florian, had fled for the south of France before the outbreak of the Second World War.
She never returned and in the 70 years since, it looks like no-one had set foot inside.
<snip>
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323297/Inside-Paris-apartment-untouched-70-years-Treasure-trove-finally-revealed-owner-locked-fled-outbreak-WWII.html#ixzz2T5Bgp7Y3
What a trip in the Wayback Machine!
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)they always produce the best quality pictures.
Any one into an old French look check out The Provencal Faerie Hearth.
senseandsensibility
(17,037 posts)they do so in an interesting way, and take interesting (not gory or sensational) pictures of the accused home, etc. They also do good interviews with victims and witnesses and cover things the American media never touches.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)nt
pansypoo53219
(20,976 posts)they found pieces in the freezer. i still have flashbacks of the jars of canned mystery food in the basement. could have been fruit or vegies. that sale was so memorable.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Great Expectations. Thanks for the memories.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)It is gorgeous!
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Archae
(46,327 posts)Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)This style was inspired by Napolean and his keen interest in Egypt and the classic civilizations of Rome and Greece. Without a more thorough examination, it is hard to be definitive.
Clues to the piece can be found in the griffins on the legs and the medallion shaped mirror flanked by intricate laurel leaves.
Cheers!
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)Cheers!
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Of course, who knows if it was an original to its era.
I've been trying to think of why this woman would go poof! just like that and leave that fabulous apt. behind. I wonder if she was Jewish and changed her identity during the war and then just never went back to her old life...odd, isn't it?
randome
(34,845 posts)To have lived so long without the desire for change. What kind of a mind is it that insulates itself so completely? Did she notice how the things surrounding her began to age (i.e. deteriorate) or did her eyes only see them in their original state?
Did she live entirely within her own mind?
Fascinating.
On edit: whoops, seems I didn't read carefully enough. I thought it was the apartment of someone who still lived there. Oh, well...
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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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Bay Boy
(1,689 posts)...the war ended and that her side won?
Warpy
(111,257 posts)Since my grandparents were all born in the 1870s, their taste was definitely Victorian. While the Victorian stuff might look nice with the carvings, the upholstery was horse hair and it was incredibly uncomfortable to sit on.
That was by design since so many of the Victorians put on a show of sitting without ever leaning back and generally remaining uncomfortable in their whalebone and stiff shoes.
That whole flat looks like my grandmother's house in upstate NY. I recognize it well, even to the point that it looks like they left in a huge hurry.
I wonder why she never went back. Was she unhappy growing up there? Surely there would have been a few odds and ends she missed as she grew older and made her peace with the ghosts of an ugly childhood, if there was one. Or did she simply assume the Nazis had trashed the whole place and couldn't bear to look at what they'd done?
Neither would have deterred me but I've been poor most of my life. I suppose if you've closed the door on your early life and tried to nail it shut and have plenty of money to start a new one, it doesn't much matter what you left behind.
demwing
(16,916 posts)Why was the property not seized over delinquent property taxes?
Phentex
(16,334 posts)I didn't read the entire article but you'd think there would have been some reason to discover this before now!
spinbaby
(15,090 posts)Paid her rent but never went back.
demwing
(16,916 posts)PatSeg
(47,430 posts)to keep it in the family. It was when she died that they unlocked the door. The apartment was part of the estate that her descendants inherited.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)I know it is the Mail -- who Generally like as an aggregate source for pictures etc., but this story is almost word for word replica article from the Telegraph in 2010. (I know it has nothing to do with your post, TSS)
Check this out, the Mail:
But he said his heart missed a beat when he caught sight of a stunning tableau of a woman in a pink muslin evening dress.
The painting was by Boldini and the subject a beautiful Frenchwoman who turned out to be the artist's former muse and Mrs de Florians grandmother, Marthe de Florian, a beautiful French actress and socialite of the Belle Époque.
...
He finally found a reference to the work in a book by the artist's widow, which said it was painted in 1898 when Miss de Florian was 24.
The starting price for the painting was £253,000 but it rocketed as ten bidders vyed for the historic work. Finally it went under the hammer for £1.78million, a world record for the artist.
'It was a magic moment. One could see that the buyer loved the painting; he paid the price of passion,' said Mr Ottavi.
The Telegraph, 2010:
"There was a smell of old dust," said Olivier Choppin-Janvry, who made the discovery. Walking under high wooden ceilings, past an old wood stove and stone sink in the kitchen, he spotted a stuffed ostrich and a Mickey Mouse toy dating from before the war, as well as an exquisite dressing table.
But he said his heart missed a beat when he caught sight of a stunning tableau of a woman in a pink muslin evening dress.
The starting price for the painting was 300,000 but it rocketed as ten bidders vyed for the historic work. Finally it went under the hammer for 2.1 million, a world record for the artist.
...
He finally found a reference to the work in a book by the artist's widow, which said it was painted in 1898 when Miss de Florian was 24.
The starting price for the painting was 300,000 but it rocketed as ten bidders vyed for the historic work. Finally it went under the hammer for 2.1 million, a world record for the artist.
"It was a magic moment. One could see that the buyer loved the painting; he paid the price of passion," said Mr Ottavi.
Maybe a coincidence? Either way, strange.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Thanks for finding the original source.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Has anyone found the address? I'd love to know precisely where that is.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)...
As for the apartment, I could not find any paper trail of what happened to it presumably it sold or perhaps it may still be in the possession of the same family. The exact address has been kept private due to French civil law.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts) When the Kam Wah Chung building was reopened in the late 1960s after being boarded up for more than a decade, over 500 herbs and other medicines were discovered, one of the largest collections of traditional Chinese medicine in the United States."
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=5
Also reminds me of Los Angeles and the Original Spanish Kitchen which sat in stasis for years with tables set and owners absent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Spanish_Kitchen
vinny9698
(1,016 posts)Should have followed the German plan of occupation in Iraq.
DonRedwood
(4,359 posts)subterranean
(3,427 posts)It appeared in the Telegraph in 2010. I wonder why the Daily Mail is recycling it three years later.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8042281/Parisian-flat-containing-2.1-million-painting-lay-untouched-for-70-years.html
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)I didn't see anything about this. I don't live to repost old news. In reading the comments, it would seem that others were also unaware of it.
Since I don't have a direct line to the Daily Mail's editor, I have no idea why they printed the story again.
Shall I DM you before I post anything else to make sure it as not been seen by anyone at any time?
subterranean
(3,427 posts)That was definitely not my intention. When I searched for more information about the article you posted, I happened to notice that it was originally reported in 2010. I just thought it was odd that it was being reprinted three years later, that's all. Certainly not your fault! I appreciate you sharing this interesting story.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)How in the world is it no one entered the apt? There was no inspection for vermin, fire marshall, plumbing/electrical, or building codes? Amazing!