Jeff Koons: "I like the optimism of the avant-garde and of surrealist Dali"

Seated in the bright office of Michel Bernardaud, CEO of the Bernardaud company, Jeff Koons , 70 years old and with an ascetic figure, possesses the curiosity of a child discovering everything. He admires the aerial photograph of the small 19th ^-century family château, destined to become an Institute of Tableware Arts. He is fascinated by the radiant and flamboyant Gothic style of Limoges Cathedral. He is captivated by the cloisonné enamels of Limoges, a name this collector of Fragonard and Courbet knows well, pronounces with an American accent, and would love to see in the collections of the Limoges Museum of Fine Arts and the Louvre.

This Pennsylvania native has just visited the Bernardaud workshops and met the artisans who crafted his porcelain Lobster , a kind of contemporary extravaganza that challenged the highly specialized techniques of this manufacturer and required years of adjustments. This notorious perfectionist was left with a state of bliss reminiscent of Christmas mornings. He was both composed and smiling like a Hollywood pro…