Profound change If the world is undergoing profound change, it is not only in fields related to artificial intelligence or geopolitics. On a far more modest and, of course, less turbulent level, art history too is in the midst of major upheaval. Its impact should not...
Viral image This image went around the world. In November 2017, Christie’s sold a remarkably rare painting by Leonardo da Vinci, a Salvator Mundi painted around 1500, for $450 million, making it the most expensive work ever sold at auction. The fact that this...
Immense ambitions The Louvre once had immense ambitions. Then came the controversies — the resignation of its president, water leaks, strikes, and even a spectacular burglary — that buried the world’s largest museum under a mountain of problems. As early as 2000, the...
Mood of war When the mood is one of war, it is hardly one for buying art. The contemporary art fair Art Dubai was scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19, 2026, in the tourist hub of the United Arab Emirates. On March 2, just two days after the outbreak of the...
https://youtu.be/hG2aeMRSEFo?si=4JkmJpGKLTyJefgA Inner Strength It takes uncommon inner strength to turn a resounding failure into a model success. It takes a rare spiritual stamina to transform the story of a science-fiction film boasting the most extraordinary cast...
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...