We are in 1800 in France, the Revolution is over and slavery has been abolished since 1794. Black people can become visible again and Parisian artists have their say in putting them in the light of society. This is what the exhibition at Musée d’Orsay, “The Black Model, from Géricault to Matisse” is trying to tell us with magnificent paintings … Read More
Jean Francis Auburtin and Claude Monet meet again in Giverny
You probably have never heard of Jean Francis Auburtin and neither had I until I was lured to the Musée des Impressionnismes in Giverny by an old friend who lives nearby. The Museum opened ten years ago, succeeding the very pretty American Museum built by the Terra Foundation in 1992, and it is now run by Musée d’Orsay. It is … Read More
Forgotten Hittite kingdoms at the Louvre
It is very humbling to enter an exhibition at the Louvre and realize that you don’t know anything about the topic and have to look up most words in the dictionary. This is what happened to me last week at the opening of “Royaumes oubliés, de l’Empire Hittite aux Araméens“. I looked around to see if I was the only … Read More
The moon and other dreams at Grand Palais
The first time I went to see the exhibition “La Lune” at Grand Palais I was slightly irritated. Irritated at the excuse of celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the first step on the moon on July 21, 1969. Frustrated by the small size of the exhibition which leaves you hungry for more. Unhappy about the staging which is very … Read More
Picasso and the war, at the Invalides
Pablo Picasso was always involved politically in his times and the exhibition at Musée de l’Armée in the Invalides is both original and instructive in how artists can change people’s mentalities. “Picasso et la Guerre” starts with drawings of medieval soldiers drawn by Picasso in 1895, when he was 14. It is an ink on paper representing with a precise … Read More
Last chance to see the Caravaggio for sale
Kamel Mennour is not only a successful art dealer, he also is very inventive and showing “Judith and Holofernes” by Caravaggio in his small gallery of 6 rue du Pont de Lodi with “Pyramidal” by Daniel Buren is a true find. One goes downstairs, entering a dark tomblike room, and the two works of art face each other in a … Read More
Galerie Mitterrand celebrates 30 years…
Jean Gabriel Mitterrand started in 1975 with Artcurial, which at the time was a wonderful shop on Avenue Matignon where you could buy artists’ jewelry, sculptures and prints. The Lalanne, César, Arman, Mitoraj, Takis were discovered by many amateurs in this happy place. It was partly funded by L’Oréal and had an original spot in the art market. Later JGM … Read More
Spheres, the Earth and the Universe at BNF
It is an extraordinary exhibition that is presented at Bibliothèque Nationale de France after the Louvre Abu Dhabi. 2 500 years of representations of the atmosphere and the Earth from Antiquity to today. Two hundred pieces restitute all its nobility to the quest of discovering the universe which was started by Ptolemaeus with the first globes. The evolution of our … Read More