https://youtu.be/GOtDyacawwA Christian aesthetic What strikes you almost immediately when visiting the retrospective devoted to Tracey Emin (born in 1963)—the major London event of the season, on view at the Tate Modern through August 31—is that her artistic vision...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4IYK3URyr0 Invention of a genre On December 6, 2025, the English photographer Martin Parr died at the age of 73. It is fair to say — and this is rare in contemporary photography — that he invented a genre of his own, with his garish,...
https://youtu.be/Yqoq3XCoCD4?si=KADWYDLOiLYmxhgi All black Every color has its virtues. Black, when applied uniformly, unlike other hues, curiously gives relief to things. The great French figure of abstract painting, Pierre Soulages, understood this well when, at the...
Absurd and poetic The world is uncertain. The art market is unsettled. And yet, amid a pervasive sense of insecurity, one artist’s market performance stands out for its strength. Quietly but steadily, his prices continue to rise, reaching colossal sums. His success...
https://youtu.be/zpbrtj6R_Lw?si=0NWKIFRn3LnPRcv0 By tradition By tradition, the English people have long harbored a visceral love for their countryside. For years, the archetype of this attachment was embodied by a sovereign—headscarf tied,...
https://youtu.be/MDXcOQHUZUU?si=o2_H36IULqhswmBQ Big effects The Californian Doug Aitken is what is usually described, somewhat vaguely, as a “multidisciplinary artist.” His mode of operation, however, is anything but vague. He deftly deploys every means at his...
Geostrategic tensions Beyond the acute geostrategic tensions currently undermining the climate across Middle Eastern countries, another, more subterranean conflict is also playing out locally. Its aim is to generate happiness without causing...
Homage to Marian Goodman At the time of the interview, Marian Goodman, Nairy Baghramian’s longtime gallerist, had just passed away. The artist asked me to dedicate this article to her. “She was not an artist, but she sculpted my life.”...
https://youtu.be/pbMMtJaGkEE?si=UV37tnEARM3b_ewu Rare privilege A substantial exhibition devoted to Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) is always a major event. The colossal force of the Aixois master’s work rarely disappoints. So having the opportunity...
https://youtu.be/zekRFFxbzN0?si=ff5Rg3Z-Zgd2TEnI A temptation worth €825,000 “I can resist everything except temptation.” When the legendary Irish man of letters Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) coined this famous witticism in the dialogue of one of his...
Quietly wise young man Painting has a kind of magic: it can open onto other senses. This is the case with the canvases of Yu Nishimura (born in 1982), which almost always evoke silence—or sometimes the crackling of old screens that distort...
https://youtu.be/_RXKYlw-rB8?si=KFONA8qg-OgYqWnS La Boheme At the beginning of the 20th century, Montmartre was a territory of poverty and bohemia, filled with shantytowns, inhabited by street performers, circus people, "grisettes" and other...