Pick of the week

This year, the Salon du Dessin and Drawing Now fairs in Paris are working in tandem, at the Palais Brongniart and the Carreau du Temple (May 18–23). I shall report after visiting, but, in the meantime, I must flag up this watercolour by Johann Heinrich Luttringhausen (1783–1857), which shows the garden front of the Hôtel de Charost in about 1826.

From 1814, when it was bought from Princess Pauline Borghese by the Duke of Wellington, this has been the official residence of Britain’s ambassador to France in the rue du Faubourg St-honoré. Ironically, the Princess passed the money to her brother, so Wellington actually financed Napoleon’s return from Elba. This should be bought from the Galerie Terrades by the British Government.