On Friday 8 June, Christie’s is auctioning a group of 62 artworks estimated at 800,000 euros owned by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. They all share the distinguishing feature of having once belonged to a Milanese dealer, Arturo Schwarz (born in 1924). Schwarz has now...
“I don’t want to dishearten you, but there will inevitably be a serious and lengthy crash caused by the large number of exhibitions and the weariness the public will feel towards contemporary painting. The crash may take place tomorrow or in ten years’ time, I don’t...
The south of France, with its quality of light and its natural beauty, has long fostered the spirit of sharing in private collectors keen to reveal their treasures to the public. We could mention the Maeght Foundation, which opened in 1964 in Saint-Paul de Vence and...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBHxf2FvTyQ On the big international art show circuit, Kader Attia (born in 1970) is everywhere. He was exhibited at the penultimate Documenta in Kassel in 2012. One of his large-scale works was exhibited as part of the...
Over the past 3 months and up until 9 May the glorious central spiral of the Guggenheim in New York was occupied by the artist Danh Vo (born in 1975 in Vietnam raised in Denmark). He will be succeeded by Alberto Giacometti in June. Which just goes to show… But in my...
Being a homosexual and a successful writer at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries could lead to dangerous situations. In France it wasn’t until 1982 that homosexuality was decriminalized. In England one of the most skilled wordsmiths in the land, Oscar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz4Bht6Ft3M The Centre Pompidou continues to multiply. Following the opening of a new branch in the East of France in Metz, an outpost in Malaga, and in anticipation of next year’s opening in Shanghai of a new Asian...
Millions of dollars are again going to be raining down. At the end of a week of sales dedicated to the impressive Rockefeller collection (cf. the Report) in which the first night of auctions alone brought in 646 million dollars and record prices for Monet, Matisse,...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPR0ZxmoiZY It certainly isn’t politically correct to say so but artists that are categorized as “African American” are in fashion right now. Their work isn’t all of the same quality, but in the United States in particular...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiYqoZrZJ8E An exhibition doesn’t need to be large for it to be sublime. Right now, the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris is staging an exhibition of this kind. It is in this institution, the setting for what could be called...
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew”. The danger when one possesses many artworks lies in wanting to display them all, in seeking to make a show of strength. In contemporary art, taking into account the diversity of forms and the scale of the artworks, ultimately...
He is always slightly grouchy. His slow manner of speaking is characterized by a strong Belgian accent and his physique has remained the same all the time I have known him. He is Sylvio Perlstein, a true character, an atypical collector who is rather wild by nature,...