A very personal and subjective view of Paris life for all of you who are curious of what's going on in France

Paul Gauguin, Vase with Leda and the swan, winter 1887-1888 © Collection particulière

It is a bewildering show that Grand Palais is offering us again, with « Paul Gauguin, the Alchemist. » which has just arrived in Paris from the Art Institute in Chicago. We know him as a painter of « vahinés », in Tahiti, and as a fervent painter of Britain and Pont Aven’s young peasants. But his passion for ceramics, furniture and decorative arts in general is less well known. Just as his Maison du Jouir, Hiva Oa, which he built at the end of his life in the Marquesas Islands.Read More

Maurice Rapin, “L’Ecole du sourire”, (school of smile) 1977-78

Born in 1927 in his grandfather’s foundry in Paris, Maurice Rapin became a mathematician and a painter at the same time. He taught at a lycée in Versailles and came home to his studio nearby in Chaville. His artistic life was discreet and he always resented exhibiting his work. This is why seventeen years after his death, Sabine Bayasli, is partiuclarly proud to exhibit a collection of his works in her two galleries Detais of rue Notre Dame de Lorrette.Read More

The chess players from l’hôtel de la Bessée, Villefranche-sur-Saône, XVth century © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny–musée national du Moyen-Âge) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Musée de Cluny is such a discreet place that I had to rely on Australian friends to find out about one of the most magical exhibitions of the moment : ” Inventiveness in glass in the Middle Ages “. It covers all aspects of glass from stained windows in Saint Denis Cathedral to spectacles, house windows and drinking glasses. It shows what a science it is to make glass and no wonder Saint Gobain is the sponsor of the show.Read More

This old Boro, made of mended cloth and stitches is an abstract work of art

It is an extraordinary space for art that Italian artist Beatrice Caracciolo has opened on rue Jules Chaplain, taking great care in the architecture of the gallery. In the heart of Montparnasse and next door to a lovely Arts et Essais cinema, she exhibits artists that she loves. A show of Boro fabrics from Japan has just opened and it promises to be one of the most beautiful exhibitions of the month.Read More

“Our daily bread”, 1886, watercolor on paper, Zorn’s grandmother cooks potatoes for lunch

There is a specific charm to Northern painters and Anders Zorn, one of the most famous Swedish painters of the turn of the century (1860-1920), is no exception. Famous in America and in France at the time, he had totally disappeared from the Paris scene until Christophe Leribault resurrected him at Petit Palais. The exhibition which runs until December 17, is a moment of grace.Read More