https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxZ4qd07O1Y The Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie, in Midnight’s Children,the book which launched his career, tells the fascinating story of a young Indian doctor who is summoned each week to the bedside of a young woman who he...
This story was written after a trip to Saint Petersburg and Moscow The history of modern art, in its great sweep, has been punctuated by miraculous tales of wealthy patrons who were more than just far-sighted, they were enormously generous towards artists who, thanks...
There is a new very good space in France for international contemporary art – the Van Gogh Foundation in Arles. You can look for all the similarities you want between Vincent Van Gogh, who is almost the adoptive son of this region, and the artists programmed here (Yan...
With or without Brexit, London is a major focal point for the international art market. The decision of the British people in June to leave the European community has not had the impact on the art community we might have predicted. In fact, in same the week as the two...
The reigning king of Antwerp since the 17th century was an absolute genius when it came to painting, but also ambitious, dishonest and filthy rich. We’re talking, of course, about Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). In his hometown, the studio where he worked is...
Approaching his 72nd birthday, Rem Koolhaas is a global star of architecture. He’s the winner of the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel” of architecture, the Praemium Imperiale, awarded to him by the Japanese emperor in 2003, the Golden Lion at the 2010 Venice Architecture...
‘This is not a pipe’. It appears on t-shirts, mugs, and in advertising slogans and has become the biggest cliché of modern art. René Magritte (1898-1967), who painted the pipe in 1929 accompanied by the famous line ‘ceci n’est pas...’ or 'this is not...' has earned...
Twice a year, the city of Berlin organises events in the domain of contemporary art. In spring it’s the successful Gallery Weekend when local galleries open their doors, a format recently replicated by Paris. Then, in autumn it is the turn of Berlin Art Week – from...
There is one school of contemporary art, going back to Marcel Duchamp, that involves playing pranks and ridiculing everything encountered in this absurd world of ours. You could be led to believe, on first appearances, that Scandinavian artists Elmgreen and Dragset,...
Auction houses love to make us dream by creating stories about the objects on sale and the personalities who owned them. You might say it has become their core marketing strategy. The forthcoming auction of the contents of Robert de Balkany’s private hotel particulier...
In this cynical and individualistic world we live in, acts of generosity always cause surprise. The gift in question is worth 6 million euros according to insurers. It came into existence last year when the Potanin Foundation, belonging to Russian oligarch Vladimir...
It begins with small talk and ends up with art and intimate confessions. I first met Parker Ito last year at a chic Parisian dinner hosted by the Friends of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. I was seated at a table with the president of the society,...