Itō Jakuchū, White phoenix and old pine, 1765-1766, Tōkyō, Museum of Imperial collections, (San- nomaru Shōzōkan), Agence de la Maison impériale

When you walk into the large room of the ground floor of Petit  Palais which is lined with thirty huge silk fabric rolls, you are hit by a very special emotion. Painted at the end of the 18 th century by Ito Jakuchu, they are part of the Imperial collection of Sannomaru Shozokan and have only once travelled outside Japan,  to the National Art Gallery in Washington in 2012. They are presented in Paris for one month only, to celebrate the 160 th anniversary of Japanese French diplomatic relations. Do not miss this show.Read More

Nicolas Kugel explains the technique of Giuseppe Sarao’s art in Naples in 1730

Every year in September, theKugel brothers, Alexis and Nicolas, strike the Parisian scene with a fantastic exhibition of objects. This year, they introduced a rare series of boxes, tables and plates in tortoiseshell, incrusted whith mother-of-pearl and gold, made in Naples in 1730 to 1740. The art of “Piqué” was performed by “Tartarugari”, artisans specialized in this technique, and Giuseppe Sarao was their star. Read More

“Yo Picasso”, Paris, May or June 1901, private collection

I was a little worried on my way to Musée d’Orsay, to find a very flashy exhibition of well known Picasso paintings, for “The” show of the fall in Paris, “Picasso, blue and pink”,  has been announced with trumpets for a while. Instead, I discovered the most refined and varied group of chefs d’oeuvre, mostly from the blue period, painted by the master (1881-1973) in Paris and Barcelona between 1900 and 1906 when he was barely 25.Read More

Entering the Japanese art brut exhibition at La halle Saint Pierre

Montmartre is not devoted only to impressionist painters and turn of the century Bohême. It has a secret Musée d’Art Brut which specialists revere from all around the world. It is run by Martine Lusardy and has the originality and the diversity of an intimate building set in a former market. This fall, Japan has taken over with young and less young artists. It is a true discovery.Read More

The paintings are shown in horse stalls. Here Alfred James Munnings, The race at Belvoir Castle, 1920-1921

The new exhibition at Musée de la Chasse will again be a hit: “Country Life”, 41 chefs d’oeuvre from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Paul Mellon collection, is beautifully set in a decor of horse stables perfectly manicured, an idea based on Mellon’s Oak Spring stables, which came from Antoine Platteau, head of decors for Hermès. Only fifty visitors could enter the room at one time so the museum was pretty packed on opening night but Claude d’Anthenaise, the director, was there to chat to everyone. And in the 18 th century rooms,  the sculpture in glass of a deer, by Japanese artist Kohei Nawa, gave a little more electricity to the show.Read More