There is nothing more pleasant than going up and down the hill of Montmartre in search of its historical painters and studios. Musée de Montmartre which is now run by a dynamic young lady, Fanny de Lépinau (who spent ten years at Musée du quai Branly), is trying to surf on the wave of mass tourism around the place du … Read More
Animal painters can also do people!
I am not particularly interested in animal sculptures and paintings although Antoine Louis Barye and Jean Baptiste Oudry have always fascinated me at Château de Chantilly. But I was curious to find out at Atelier Grognard, in Rueil Malmaison, if there were good animal artists today. The new show nextdoor to Joséphine de Beauharnais’ house, was inspired by Danielle Beck … Read More
Private collections at Musée Marmottan, a true dream!
The new exhibition at Musée Marmottan Monet is a pure delight of Impressionist to Fauve paintings. The sixty two chefs d’oeuvre have been borrowed from private collections in Europe, the United States and Mexico and Monet’s “Red Chrysanthemums”, one of his rare still life painting, had never been seen in public since 1882, just before his fellow painter Gustave Caillebotte … Read More
Florence Lehmann, lights up jewelry
Naïla de Montbrison has a tiny jewelry gallery on rue de Bourgogne with a huge aura. And for the first time she is showing Florence Lehmann, an artist from Strasburg, who creates phosphorescent jewelry in resin: this inlcudes rings for the little finger only, large necklaces and magnetic broaches. She teaches at Strasburg School of Decorative arts and conceives jewels … Read More
Jakuchu, a treasure from Japan at Petit Palais
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, … Read More
At galerie J. Kugel, tortoiseshell and gold in a royal setting
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 … Read More
Picasso, blue and pink at Musée d’Orsay
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 … Read More
Japanese art brut at 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 … Read More