From the Bench to the Sketchbook

At The French Library Get Directions

About this Discussion

Please join us February 13 at 5:00 PM at the Center for a unique opportunity to meet and dialogue with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Justice Breyer will give us the great honor of sharing his exceptional experience and his fascination for the work of famous courtroom artist Noëlle Herrenschmidt.

In her recently released book, Dans les coulisses de la loi, Mrs. Herrenschmidt addresses the intricacies of the law in France. This sets the ground for a fascinating conversation and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear directly from America's most distinguished and experienced legal scholar.

The talk will be followed by a book signing of Justice Breyer's latest book, The Court and the World as well as Noëlle Herrenschmidt's book Dans les Coulisses de la Loi.

The talk will be moderated by Holger Spamann, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

The event is sold out, please register to our waiting list, we will contact you directly if we are able to accommodate you. If we do not contact you please understand that we are not able to accommodate you.
Language: Conversation in French with simultaneous English translation (headphones available).

For members

$30

For non-members

$50

About Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

00_Elodie_Nourrigat_credit_Leslie_Verdet-CROP

Stephen Breyer, born in San Francisco in 1938, is a graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He taught law for many years as a professor at Harvard Law School and at the Kennedy School of Government. He has also worked as a Supreme Court law clerk (for Justice Arthur Goldberg), a Justice Department lawyer (antitrust division), an Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, and Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In 1980 he was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit by President Carter, becoming Chief Judge in 1990. In 1994 he was appointed a Supreme Court Justice by President Clinton. He has written books and articles about administrative law, economic regulation, and, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View, a book about the Constitution. His most recent book is entitled The Court and the World. His wife, Joanna, was born in Great Britain and is a retired clinical psychologist. They have three children (Chloe, Nell, and Michael) and five grandchildren.

About Noëlle Herrenschmidt

Noëlle Herrenschmidt was born in 1940 and started drawing in 1971 for the French group: Bayard Presse. She was introduced to the reportage genre in 1980 in Calcutta with Mother Teresa, then in Hong Kong and Vietnam in 1990. It was there that she opened for the first time her box of watercolors, which will never leave her side. She delved into the judicial world in 1987 with the Barbie trial, then the Touvier trial for the newspaper La Croix. From 1997 onward, as a courtroom sketch artist, she followed famous trials such as the Papon trial, the contaminated blood trial, the Dumas trial, the Clearstream trial…

For the past 30 years, she has also explored enclosed places, jails and hospitals, in order to discover, thanks to drawings and testimonies, the inner workings of these places and how men and women live and work there.

Book after book, she has portrayed an image of our society and its key institutions: justice, health, religion, and, today, politics. From 2010 to 2016, she immersed herself in the political world in order to explain the backstage of the elaboration of law in France.

Find out more about the artist

About the Moderator

Holger Spamann

Holger Spamann is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches corporate law and corporate finance. His research focuses on the law and economics of corporate governance and financial markets, judicial behavior, and comparative law. Before embarking on his academic career, he practiced with Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and clerked for two years in Europe. He holds too many degrees, among them a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a Maîtrise en Droit from the Université de Paris I.

Through the Lens

Through the Lens: A Multilateral Perspective on Today's World is a series of events inviting artists, journalists, and experts in politics, economy and ethics from both sides of the Atlantic to share their analyses and participate in debates about some of today’s most pressing issues. Organized by the French Library in partnership with local and international partners, the series will take place from September 22nd, 2016 through May 2nd, 2017 in the Center’s historic brownstone. Through the Lens includes panel discussions, art exhibits, a film screening, workshops, and a stage reading on a variety of themes ranging from the upcoming presidential elections in France and the United States, to freedom of speech in the post-Charlie Hebdo era, to protection of journalists’ autonomy and security and some of the XXIst century’s most memorable trials.

Upcoming Events

See All Upcoming Events

Author Talk

Café Philo: Down to Earth by Bruno Latour

Led by Pierre-Laurent Boulanger

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Explore how philosophy and ecology help us rethink life on a shared planet.

In-Person Event

Making Your Move to France: Visas, Life & Buying Property

In-Person Discussion in English with the Franceformation team

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Have you dreamed of moving to France but have no idea where to start? During this talk, Allison Grant Lounes will provide you with great tips on how to smoothly plan your move from the States to France!

In-Person Event

Seeing Others: Challenges to Recognition in a Changing World

A Talk by Professor Michèle Lamont

Thursday, February 26, 2026

How we recognize others shapes our communities. In this timely talk, Professor Michèle Lamont reflects on dignity, respect, and what helps us live better together.

See All