Impressionnist and modern On 26 and 27 February in London, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will be presenting during the evening sales 126 impressionist and modern artworks with a total estimate of 290 million euros. These are the first significant sales of 2019 in this...
Vanished Leonardo After a little over a year in existence and with over a million visitors, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has shown itself to be a force to be reckoned with in the museum world. To do so it wasn’t necessary to acquire an overly restored Leonardo da Vinci...
About colonialism The issues surrounding African tribal art have never been so pressing. This is because as time has passed and awareness has grown, people have realized the extent of the damage inflicted by the colonial project on culture in these countries, once...
Environmentalism There was a time when environmentalism wasn’t really talked about, except in relation to a few dishevelled and clearsighted hippies sporting yellow badges with the slogan “Nuclear Power? No Thanks”. There was a time when housewives didn’t worry about...
The legendary counterculture figure Jonas Mekas died on 22 January 2019. We are republishing a tribute to this magnificent underground filmmaker, whom I interviewed in 2018 and who inspired Andy Warhol, among others, during the 1960s. Ever curious about new filming...
Ever since Marcel Duchamp presented an upside-down urinal which he called “Fountain” and the artistic community decided this was an act of significance, ever since artists began distorting silhouettes to imprint upon them their personal feelings and impressions while...
Paul Cézanne father of all “Everything in nature is modelled on the sphere, the cone and the cylinder. One has to learn to paint from these simple shapes”. It’s 1904 and the artist writing these words, the Aix-born Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), has been doing a lot...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTJYVDMXfow The French language is facetious. In order to provide an emphatic and worthy name for amateur artists, for those who practise a hobby, it has found a unique description that’s even entered international usage:...
Mr and Mrs… There are certain artists like that, especially when it comes to women, who are always presented as a couple. Take Sonia Delaunay, who is systematically associated with Robert, her guru. Take Sophie Taeuber-Arp, the other half of sculptor Jean Arp… We’re...
Certain figures take their place in the art history pantheon because they’ve invented something new. These rare artists have looked at the world with unusual acuteness and have been bold enough to convey a new message through their art. Within this hall of fame...
The world of African art collecting has been rocked by an announcement made by Emmanuel Macron on 23 November. Following the submission of a report on the restitution of artworks to Africa, the president of the French Republic has decided to return 26 works requested...
In Japan, the designation of “national treasure” is the highest honour to convey the exceptional value accorded to cultural property of universal significance. In Paris, with relatively little publicity, there are currently no less than six Japanese national treasures...