He loved English and American culture and became an English teacher, but he also liked to play the guitar and to paint. Jef Aerosol decided in 2008 that he had taught long enough and became a full time artist. He started using stencil forty years ago in 1982 and is now one of France’s foremost street artist. His first experience … Read More
Bibliothèque Richelieu reopens with Palm trees
The main entrance of the Bibliothèque Nationale Richelieu (French public library) is now on rue Vivienne, facing Le Grand Colbert restaurant. And a large garden “Hortus Papyrifera” with palm trees and many “paper trees”, created by Gilles Clément, welcomes you instead of the more austere courtyard of rue de Richelieu. Once you walk inside, a modern staircase in aluminum and … Read More
Munch, a poem of life, love and death at Orsay
What we always remember about Edvard Munch‘s work is “The Scream“, his most famous painting which represents anguish. But the show at Musée d’Orsay is an exploration of the painter’s (1863-1944) 60 year long itinerary, with the connections and repeats of this iconic painting. It is both exhilarating with bright colors and very depressing at times. Munch’s anticipation of modern art, … Read More
To do and not to do this week
For some reason there are many galas this month at Musée d’Orsay in the Munch exhibition, at the Palais Royal for the Friends of Chantilly, at Cercle Carpeaux for the Académie de l’Opéra National de Paris, and they are all fun. “Les Amis du Louvre“, organized a screening of the wonderful film “l‘Ombre de Goya” (Goya’s shadow) in the Michel … Read More
Johann Heindrich Füssli, precursor of the Game of thrones
Shows are not always perfect at Musée Jacquemart André but this time, the “Realm of Dreams and the Fantastic” with Swiss painter Füssli is perfect for the size of the rooms and visiting the show with the witty and very knowledgeable Christopher Baker, director of European and Scottish art at the National Gallery of Scotland, was a real treat. He … Read More
Gérard Garouste, a giant at Centre Pompidou
We spent the summer waiting for this large retrospective of Gérard Garouste’s paintings and no one was disappointed at the opening at Centre Pompidou! Sophie Duplaix, the very discreet curator of the show, dialogued with the artist who seemed extremely happy in his elegant blazer, light pants and brown suede shoes. We talked about his decor at the Privilège in the … Read More
Cyril Duret has come a long way since Nancy
When we first met, Cyril Duret had just graduated from the University of Arts ENSAD in Nancy where his teacher, artist Etienne Pressager, had recommended that he contact me for his thesis. He has since exhibited his “Portraits mondains” in a few galleries, in Provence where he lives part of the time and his new show at Loeve&Co Marais is … Read More
Van Dongen in Deauville, a perfect match
Les Franciscaines, which I discovered last year in Deauville, is the new meeting place where one can browse through multiple exhibitions, a Mediatheque, and a library with comfortable reading space with all the magazines and daily newspapers. A perfect spot to visit on a rainy day in Normandie. I was there recently to see the new Kees Van Dongen exhibition, … Read More