Dear friends and readers,

Sorry for the delay, but my book on Jacques Villeglé is getting bigger and better.  In late July I spent a week interviewing Jacques in his studio in the Marais, then followed him around to his old bohemian haunts in Montparnasse. Starting in the rue Delambre, where he lived in 1949-54, he lead me around the corner to the Boulevard du Montparnasse. There he pointed to where he and his then collaborator Raymond Hains peeled their first great masterpiece, "Ach Alma Manetro" off a fence near the restaurant La Coupole in 1949. "We took it in 7 pieces and assembled it back at our apartment." It’s now in the collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou. 

From there we wandered into St. Germain-des-Prés where he nodded to a café. "That’s where Tristan Tzara used to play checkers with the old retirees...and over there’s the café where Alexander Calder hung out." Jacques turns 90 next March, but he was indefatigable. As for the book, we are now looking for a pub date in late April, and I think it’ll be worth the wait. 

Thanks for your patience! 

Barnaby