African art in vogue There can be no doubt that African contemporary artists are currently in vogue. This is generating a rapid promotion not just of those who are truly talented but also of painters who are repeating a tried and tested...
Ceramics and contemporary art: a love story
Contradictions Right now the art world is caught between two powerful cross-currents that are utterly contradictory. One the one hand there are artists seeking to explore what we’d describe as virtual realities through digital art, now often...
The story of a portrait long exhibited at a museum in Dresden now auctioned in New York
How to leverage flattery Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746) is a French painter who enjoyed huge success during his lifetime thanks to his portraits, in which he knew how to leverage flattery. La belle strasbourgeoise His body of work, spanning...
Bruno Latour’s Biennial, from Taiwan to Metz with artists who act as whistleblowers
Turning inwards In the art world, the most evident consequence of the public health crisis has been a geographical turning inwards. Sao Paulo Biennal While in the past, and for some time now, the flourishing of biennials has resulted in...
The Lee Ufan experience in Arles: “Death transformed by nature lives on discreetly”
https://youtu.be/ybfy9DPWkAg Van Gogh In 1888 Vincent Van Gogh brought his friend Paul Gauguin to Arles. He dreamed of creating a community there, a communion even, of artists captivated by the colours of the Camargue region. It was...
François Catroux: part of Yves Saint Laurent’s circle, the famous decorator’s collection is auctioned while the value of design skyrockets
Saint Laurent, Loulou de la Falaise, Betty Catroux Great creatives, who are so unique, tend to feel the need to create a close-knit circle around them. This is true of Yves Saint Laurent, whose two best friends became legendary muses: Loulou de...
Carsten Höller: in Lisbon inside the belly of the whale, the artist plays with light and science
https://youtu.be/ZWpomNj3mrQ Phytopathologist Carsten Höller is a man of experiences. That’s not to say he is particularly old, since the Swedish-Belgian-German artist – who speaks French very well – was born in 1961. But from his...
Pissarro, Signac: their major roles in the history of modern art are re-examined in Basel and Paris
Changing mind A good exhibition is one that enables you to change your mind about an artist. Pissarro There are all sorts of reasons why this should happen at the show staged by the Kunstmuseum in Basel dedicated to Camille Pissarro...
Anselm Kiefer: forever in search of the ideal painting
https://youtu.be/yQS91FsimQ4 The same painting Across kilometres and kilometres, since the very beginning, or almost, Anselm Kiefer (born in 1945) has been making the same painting. This is not to say that he’s repeating himself, that...
Edvard Munch in Oslo: the new XXL museum showcasing the extraordinary modern painter
Oslofjord On the banks of the Oslofjord in the all-new cultural district of Bjorvika, located in a former container port set amid the maritime landscape that was so beloved by the famous Norwegian native Edvard Munch (1863-1944), there’s a...
Jeff Koons and David Beckham: the unexpected encounter in Doha
Soft power In the early French Renaissance when King Francis I assembled the greatest artists of the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci, in the West, or closer to the present day during the postwar period when the United States extended its...
Art Basel Miami Beach: the spectacular success of artists from the African diaspora
Josephine Baker As the Pantheon in Paris – the inner sanctum of the French Republic – saw the entrance of Josephine Baker, a black woman, former music-hall dancer, activist and patriot of American origin, Miami saw the inauguration of the...