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...
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,...
One should be wary of the vocabulary employed by auction houses. The use of superlatives is all too common (the most beautiful artwork, the most beautiful collection etc…) and the sole objective is to push up prices. An example that comes to mind is the sale in 2015...
It’s nothing new: the contemporary art market consists of several strata, the most visible of which focuses on a small group of artists displayed by the most powerful galleries. This phenomenon tends to present a certain geographical unity: the majority of these kind...
Those who take great delight in the treasures of art history and its curiosities know that there is only one fair in the world that displays such an array of offerings: the Tefaf in Maastricht. 280 galleries with works ranging from antiquity to contemporary art...
In terms of current artistic creation, ever since the 1970s France has been seen as a nation weighed down by its old traditions – a view particularly prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic – and therefore with little capacity for producing innovative artists. But...
Contemporary African art. This concept, which is far too broad for such a large continent, seems at first glance to be as absurd as the concept of European art. What does German art have in common with Spanish art? About the same as art from South Africa has with art...
People often talk about a Bilbao effect, which consists of linking the name of a prestigious museum (the Guggenheim) with an exceptional piece of architecture (by Frank Gehry) and thus changing the identity of a city (Bilbao). The new Louvre Abu Dhabi...
Until 3 March, one of the best photography galleries in the United States, Fraenkel in San Francisco, is staging an unconventional exhibition. It is comprised of a display of 264 vinyl sleeves designed by artists. This collection belongs to a French bookseller,...
At a time when Facebook’s algorithms are blocking users who post Courbet’s “L’origine du monde” on their wall, despite it being visible to all at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; at a time when visitors to the Metropolitan Museum in New York are calling for the removal of...
While Geneva may be a relatively small city in terms of the number of inhabitants (450 000 people), it is ultra-powerful in terms of its financial clout, thanks to the presence of numerous large international fortunes but also a great many private banking...
In the art world we often talk about the Guggenheim in Bilbao effect, or how a museum managed to transform the image of a city through its exhibitions and architecture. Perhaps we should henceforth be talking about the ABMB effect on Miami. The Florida city is best...