Sarkozy, his father and beautiful women

 

President Sarkozy appears in this painting with his Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour hanging from his ear. It might appear too irreverent and garish to grace the Elysée Palace. But Sarko has it on the wall because it was painted by his dad.

Pal Sarkozy de Nagy Bocsa, a Hungarian aristocrat who arrived in Paris without a penny in 1948, offered it to his son after his election last year. The picture, along with others that have been on show in Madrid this month, tells you a little about the socialite father who was absent for much of Sarko's childhood. 

Sarko's consuming ambition is often put down to his unhappiness after Pal [pictured below] left Andrée Mallah and their three boys when Nicolas was three. Mrs Sarkozy qualified as a lawyer to earn her sons' keep in the absence of much help from the father. The President, 53, once recalled suffering in his childhood but said: "The need to fight for ourselves, which all three of us had to, proved to be a powerful boost in the end."

Sarko senior, an elegant charmer, pursued a successful career in advertising doing campaigns for Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden and others. He re-built a relationship with his sons when Nicolas was in his 20s and an apprentice politician. 

Nicolas' elevation has boosted to his father's late-blooming career as an artist. He has been selling his work quietly for years but he has just enjoyed wide publicity for his show of surrealist painting and computer-aided montage, produced jointly with Werner Hornung, a German artist and advertising colleague. After Madrid, the collection, full of erotic images of women, is due to open in Paris later this year, possibly at the Espace Cardin, behind the Elysée.

Sarko senior makes no bones about benefiting from his son's rank. "Nicolas's job helps me enormously," he told VSD magazine. He asked his permission before putting together the portrait-montage, which tells the story of his son with 80 photographs taken from family albums. "He was very happy. It's his life since infancy up to his election in 2007... I wanted him to have a gift in which he could see his life in a glance."   

Pal Sarkozy also talked of his love of women, whom he says are his chief inspiration and the dominant theme in his pictures. "There's nothing pornographic or sexist. I pay tribute to the female form;" he said.

He was asked what he had passed on to his sons: "Will-power. The sense of work and success. And the taste for beautiful women of course." Pal Sarkozy, who has married three times, greatly approves of Carla, Sarko's new, third wife. "She is adorable, but I am not close enough to her to paint her."

You could detect a note of regret in the interview. The distance seems still to be there. Pal Sarkozy says he talks to his son once a week and sees him a couple of times a month. But they never talk politics and he he has not been invited to visit during the summer holidays, which Sarko is spending at Fort Bregançon, the presidential retreat on the Mediterranean, and at Bruni's family villa nearby.

 

Comments

[dot king]

"Pal Sarkozy, who has married three times, greatly approves of Carla, Sarko's new, third wife. "She is adorable, but I am not close enough to her to paint her."
(CB article)

Hmmm, seems to run in the family, three marriages - a pattern - still there's time for more - someone on the radio this morning was predicting a future change of partner for Sarko - and it wasn't an astrologer.
As for Papapal not being close enough to Carla to paint her, well, he's said it now, publicly, so she knows, and time will tell . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz7DhC5_AvA

and weren't we talking about voices??

[rocket]

Now why did the father's painting of the son remind me suddenly of the holy ghost as soon as I saw it?

http://originaldo.com/l.-ron-hubbard-dianetics.jpg

[Fabienne]

Do you think this how he really sees his son?
Cos this looks to me very apocalyptic... may be Pal wants to send us a message.
Let's pray my friends!

[Joan Arles]

The father's portrait is a bit bizarre, isn't it. A bit like post-apocalypse French BD (graphic novel/comic strip). Old Pal/Pol is to be admired for his energy at his age, but if I were Sarko, I wouldn't want that picture on the palace wall.

[razatork]

who cares ?

Is this the cult of personality sarkozy has been trying to sell us again ?

Where he wants us to know all about his life, his vacations, his family, his vacations, his marital bliss, his vacations and pretend to be the kennedys or whatever.

We don't care about his family drama, this is all annoying as hell, him, his new wife, his old father, his very old "maman" :rolls_eyes: we don't care about you.

Can't he just focus on his job and stop pretending he is joseph stalin or something, the only person who seem to buy into this cult of personality is nicolas sarkozy himself, someone should tell him already.

M Bully went on to say irish they will have to vote again on HIS european treaty because mr Bully didn't like their vote the first time.
Isn't that bigger news ? The fact that he is absolutely inept at diplomacy and that his foreign policy for the last year has been a complete disaster.

Hello ?

Anyone interested in what he is actually doing with this country or do we have to suffer the magazines full of M Sarkozy at the beach, doing his jogging, cooking with his new wife, being a model parent, being a forgiving son, bla bla bla...

post scriptum:
I voted for him last year, i wouldn't vote for him today, this being said, i wouldn't vote for the other idiot either.

Note to CB: this is not personally directed at you, i'm just sick and tired of the media coverage of his personal life as a whole, and how it distracts from his actions as a head of state.

[Lily]

with that finger pointing to his temple a good caption would read
"I need to have my head examined".

[Francois D]

I have impression that one is more in "innate that in asset" (plus dans l'inné que dans l'acquis).
NS is advised not to present Carla...

Interesting wikipedia (in french)about family:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy

(I am very happy not to be a public personnage)

His father, seems to have been in the Foreign Legion (he may not have got french nationality by this mean because you must have finish your time in the Legion for that, but one must recognize good political reasons for getting it)...

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/l%25C3%25A9gionnaire%2Bpiaf/video/x2kkb1_marie-dubas-mon-legionnaire-english_music

(subtitles in english)

If you prefer by Piaf:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=5anspVoBb3Q

I wouldn't hang that monstrosity in my house. It's giving my computer a headache.

As for Pal, he should hang his held in shame for abandoning his family.

[Lex Stevens]

I was thinking today about the cult of the personality and the modern politician.

The idea of the man being irrevocably tied to the idea and the action -- such as Saddam Hussein or Robert Mugabe or Joseph Stalin -- is alien to me, because there is always a term limit with the Presidents of the United States.

There have been attempts in the US to keep the man-idea continuum alive -- Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan being notable examples, but it has never really worked. One died, and the other became dotty. Americans just can't get their heads around this ancestor worship thing, nor can we truly admire the mentally infirm, unless they are currently holding high office.

Yet, as I understand it, those three dictators had to resort to, or felt they had to resort to, some type of 'celebrity' to keep themselves in power. After all, aren't Hello Magazine and Paris Match and their ilk just some sort of private sector propaganda? Or real propaganda, if the palace is scheduling the photo shoots and/or releasing the photos.

Guy Debord & Raoul Vaneigem probably had something to say about this. I'll have to check.

Anyway....my point is that what Sarkozy is doing is what we would call in the US "behavior unbecoming to the office of the President of the United States." Doing all of this celebrity stuff is cheapening the office of the President of the Republic of France.

Whether that is important or not is debatable, I'm sure, but in a modern, democratic nation, the office holder is simply the steward and leader for a short while. The institution must survive, and it would be better if the office holder left it in as good a shape, if not better, than they found it. Bill Clinton and G. W. Bush, take note.

In the end, I think that Sarko is using this celebrity spin to cover up the fact that he doesn't seem to be getting much done.

Well, that's my half-baked idea for the day.

[Don]

What happened to the idea that
the French have such good taste? That portrait is pure kitsch. Embarrassing, really. All that is missing is a fleur-de-lys tattoo on his cheek.

[Mary Fernandez]

It reminds me of a joke by Patsy (or Eds?, one of them) on AbFab:

"It looks like he swallowed the 60's and then vomitted them up."

I think, after having been abandoned by his father, Sarko must be savoring every moment of having Pal fawn over him now. Both because I think Nicolas still longs for Dad's love but also because he relishes the 'see look at me' revenge.

And that's my free sarkonalysis du jour.

[Romain]

The portrait looks very much like a Hungarian Goulasch.

[dot king]

"What happened to the idea that
the French have such good taste? That portrait is pure kitsch."
(DON)

Having seen a Gascon farmhouse gutted and "restored" by an aristocratic Hungarian intellectual, nothing surprises me any more.
But there is "kitsch" and there is "Kitsch", the latter has a certain "in yer face" style, which the farmhouse had, but the portrait doesn't.

Papapal is not French, unless by naturalisation (that always amuses me as "naturalisé" also means having had a "treatment" by the taxidermist), same goes for his son, which explains lamentable lack of French chic.
(Sorry to any Hungarians reading, no offense meant, but all that marble in a Gascon farmhouse, and the "classical" fresco complete with garlands and cherubs painted on the ceiling, left a deep and lasting impression :)).

[dot king]

"She is adorable, but I am not close enough to her to paint her."
(Papapal on Carla)

And how will Nicolas introduce her? I think the family tradition has been established:
"Bonne chance, mon papa."

[Mauvezin]

And how will Nicolas introduce her?
******************
"Introduce " humm!
Il ne faut jamais "pénétrer" dans la vie privée de quelqu'un ! ;-))

[Mauvezin]

unless by naturalisation (that always amuses me as "naturalisé" also means having had a "treatment" by the taxidermist),
*******************
En effet !
C'est tres amusant. ;-))
Je n'y avais jamais porté attention.

[rockinred]

What a ghastly piece of crap the so-called portrait is - a vivid example of how Photoshop persuades the visually illiterate that 'anyone can be an artist'. Ugh.

[paul]

To change the subject. Charles, how about a word or two about SINE? HE represents a whole strand of French life for the last fifty years.
[Yes I wanted to write about him, but I've been tied up interviewing Bernard Kouchner today (for Monday's paper) and writing about the Tour de France for tomorrow's paper.
Also done a video blog which I'll post tomorrow. I agree that Sine is a good subject. I was around when it was Hara Kiri. CB]

[dot king]

Mauvezin: yet more French linguistic traps: présenter, introduire, pénétrer, naturaliser . . . ;D

endless hours of fun with those!

[Daisy]

He sells this stuff? Who buys it?

[Mary Fernandez]

Separated at birth?

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (opening the new Islamic Museum with Sarko):

http://www.daylife.com/photo/04rl5uNfz816M/Nicolas_Sarkozy

Fr. Guido Sarducci from SNL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Guido_Sarducci

[dot king]

Mary - the resemblance is striking!

But what a strange collection of photos - like amateur family photos with half a head missing - my fave is the one captioned (paraphrase) "Nicolas Sarkozy kisses his wife before the 14th July parade, to her left is the wife of the Egyptian president (unseen)".
You need to be the Top Secret Service Photographer to take pictures of "unseen" dignitaries - and get them published! I wonder if you get more $ for a visible one?
Great job though, keep it up! ;D

[dot king]

Judging by the painting behing Papapal in the photo, perhaps he already HAS painted Carla.
If it's not her, well, it could be, and the way it's painted really proves his "love" of women.

BTW has anyone else noticed the OTHER CD that's getting promoted (much too) BIG TIME?
An escapee of the 2003 Killer Canicule, name of Christophe. Less voice than Carla (if 'twere possible) and missing the notes in about the same proportion. a miserable oeuvre if ever there was one.

http://www.christophe-lesite.com/

(or just google in "christophe")

The album title is "aimer ce que nous sommes" and you could put his and Carla's together and make: "aimer ce que nous sommes comme si ne rien était". Neat, huh?

[Doremi ( still not Dot)]

I kind of like it.
A cross beetween a Dali and a Star Wars film poster.
Reminds me of the "art" I see dans certaines échoppes de Pézenas that I can only visit after copious amount of Picpoul.

[Thiha HB]

Oh Please stop that MAN from any activities:

I am very disturb to hear any news which are related to sarkozy and all of his related family drama. Why don't he focus to serve for his own country rather than paying more time on his personal family matter?. Please stop him to show up any family matters from today onward. We all human being have a lot of things and news to discover to save human being from this old wicked systems which is almost controlling in every corner of the World.
Thanks You!

[Mauvezin]

comme si ne rien était".
****************
Tss! tss!
"comme si de rien n'était" ;-)

[Mauvezin]

endless hours of fun with those!
***********************
Les poules du couvent couvent leurs oeufs ;-))

[dot king]

Tss! tss!
"comme si de rien n'était" ;-)

Mauvezin, thanks - can't even claim the n and the d are next to each other on the keyboard for that one!

Nice saying: "les poules du couvent couvent etc" - that'll come in handy one day :)

[dot king]

"Oh Please stop that MAN from any activities:"
THIHA HB

Do you have in mind the grandfather, the father, or the son?

[Mauvezin]

that'll come in handy one day :)
********************
Il ne faut jurer de rien :)

[Mauvezin]

All that is missing is a fleur-de-lys tattoo on his cheek.
*************
The right or left one !?

[Helen]

I do have reproductions of surrealist drawings which I find beautiful, but that one reminds me of the kind of jigsaw puzzles which feature horses running on the beach in the moonlight, etc.
I guess people buy this sort of stuff out of 'snobisme'.

[Romain]

Like Mauvezin, I've tried 24 years to get into Paris:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=kZqP9agqcB0&feature=related

[delia]

Carla Bruni Sarkozy: " he's my first husband"...

[Anna]

Hallo
I am reading all this nasty letters about President Sarkozy.It seam to me that President cannot do right.I am supporter of Sarkozy and I do believe that he will deliver what he promissed.As for Carla Bruni I do admire her greatly,she is fantastic and she is doing great job.This is a new approach with fun, to do good serious job for the country.I like it.
Anna