In Paris, a stone’s throw from the Boulevard Saint Germain, an exceptional new show has just opened that looks into the creative process behind Dutch masterpieces of 17th century. It involved a police-like investigation of history to locate the drawings that helped to...
At a time when the world has been shaken by a series of catastrophic election results, France is growing increasingly nervous about the approaching presidential contest in April. Running counter to these trends is the Tefaf antiques fair in Maastricht, taking place...
This exhibition is the first of its kind. It doesn't just tell the history of an art dealer but also the history of art, the history of a family and plain History with a capital H, filled with the blood and tears of the Second World War. ‘21 rue La Boétie’ is the...
The lady in question is one of the most influential ever bestowed to us by the history of art. Nobody has painted anything more touching or arguably more beautiful since. As of 1659, this woman from a humble background, in a dress cut from a coarse cloth which can be...
On 16 April of last year I posted an article about a fabulous exhibition by the Greek artist Jannis Kounellis at La Monnaie in Paris. He has just died at the age of 80. Here is a homage to an artist who created harmonious works from the most thankless raw materials....
True connoisseurs of Picasso will already know it well. In the village of Gisors, an hour outside Paris, the Boisgeloup studio is whispered about in hushed tones and is central to the work of the Spanish artist. It’s where he created a collection of exceptional...
Edgar Degas (1834-1917), a major artist from the dawn of modernism, both as a painter and a sculptor, died exactly 100 years ago this year. A hundred years is how long it took for a forgotten box containing 55 unseen drawings by this exceptional artist to appear on...
When uncertainty reigns, everyone tries to protect themselves, and the art market is no exception. ‘For some time now, there has been a strong trend towards contemporary artists with recognised careers and a place in history. Serious collectors who previously showed...
The greatest artists present us with endless opportunities to discover new sides to their work. A perfect example is at the Beyeler Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, where 62 paintings by Claude Monet are currently on display. The thematic hanging and the choice of...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-53EMSOgRQ Anyone who has visited Naoshima and Teshima, the art islands in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan which have been transformed by the visionary businessman Soichiro Fukutake into spaces that marry beauty and nature,...
It is not unheard of for museums, through their programming schedules, to inadvertently reprise entire chapters of art history. As I write, on one side of the Channel, in Paris, at Pompidou Center, is the fabulous Cy Twombly retrospective, showing until 24 April. (...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-M22rhuLA Have you ever noticed how all the creative activities are these days described as artistic? Can hairdressers be artists? Are fashion designers artists?  The question becomes even more pressing, and omnipresent, when...