https://youtu.be/giE0LqylYOA Heroes who die young In art history, posterity favours misfortune and heroes who die young. We love Van Gogh, who died at 37 without having sold a single artwork. We love Nicolas de Staël, who killed himself due to...
Matisse: the most anticipated exhibition in Paris is disappointing despite the sublime artworks
https://youtu.be/qeah722Q5Ew Genius Henri Matisse is, without doubt, a painter of genius and an endless source of visual surprises and delight. The exhibition at the Centre Pompidou celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth was...
Palazzo Butera: one of the most beautiful palaces in Sicily is all about Art and … immigration
City of migration Palermo is a fascinating city, and one that’s sparked a lot of conversation in recent years. Firstly, this is due to its current international relevance as it’s one of the major sites of migration from Africa to Italy, where its mayor Leoluca...
Le Petit Palais in Paris: the far-reaching project of a private collection of French drawings
Drawing specialist Louis-Antoine Prat is a drawing specialist who happens to be very French. Firstly because the Parisian taught the subject of French drawings at the École du Louvre for no less than 40 years. And secondly because he decided...
Centre Pompidou: Why did Christo wrap things?
Thanks a to a hairdresser There are many smaller stories within the larger sweep of history. Christo, the Bulgarian-born artist who died on 31 May 2020, famous for his gigantic wrapping works at the scale of Paris’s Pont Neuf in 1985 and the...
The Palais du Facteur Cheval: an art brut marvel rediscovered by André Breton
https://youtu.be/Y73YWHsMoc8 Absolute masterpiece It’s a small museum that contains an absolute masterpiece. Located at Hauterives, in a commune of 2,000 inhabitants not far from Lyon, Saint Etienne and Valence, it is home to a complete...
The Old Masters market: why would artworks that have stood the test of time be affected by the coronavirus?
Established for many centuries When talking about the art market there’s a tendency to immediately think of 20th-century art, which attracts the most fans and the highest figures. However, at a time when values are being called into question,...
The world afterwards (4) Lee Ufan: “the coronavirus is sending us a message of hope”
In Japan The Korean artist Lee Ufan (born in 1936), has lived in Japan since he was 20 years old. He has been the subject of various major exhibitions, such as the Guggenheim in New York in 2011 and the park at the Château de Versailles in...
Tribute to Germano Celant, major theoretician of 20th-century art
A Living encyclopedia of 20th century art The art historian and curator Germano Celant(1940-2020) has passed away on 29 April 2020, after contracting the coronavirus . He was one of the most fascinating figures in 20th-century art, which he...
The art market during the Second World War: fake bargains and overlooked promising values
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1LdRmFZdnU War War. Economists and politicians alike are readily comparing the impact of the coronavirus to that of a military conflict. The 20th century’s most devastating and traumatising conflict was the...
Vida Americana at the Whitney Museum: The anti-Trump art history exhibition is also on the net
American inferiority complex For a long time the United States suffered from an inferiority complex with regards to its painting. This was because despite America’s status as an economic powerhouse, up until the Second World War it was Paris –...
Art market: Lessons from previous crises, from an unpaid for Van Gogh to the resurgence of young artists…
Crises comes and go Crises in the art market come and go, and no two are quite alike, but they can help us to understand how market values may be called into question. The crisis sweeping the world today and affecting the economy and the art...