The greatest painters are those who have paid very close attention to their predecessors. Just look at Picasso, steeped in knowledge from a very young age thanks to his father who was an art teacher. Similarly, these days a major artist such as Scottish painter Peter...
Ever since that mythical day when the serpent tricked the original couple into taking a bite from the apple, the desire for domination has been a common human sentiment. It takes various forms, which have been illustrated by artists down the ages. Not long ago, the...
It’s the major event in Paris: the opening of Lafayette Anticipations, the Galeries Lafayette foundation at 9 rue de Plâtre in Le Marais. I was granted an exclusive visit to the impressive old building last autumn, which has been hollowed out and completely renovated...
The artist Sheila Hicks is exceptional for several reasons. Firstly because she was born in 1934 yet she is one of the most well-known artists currently on the international contemporary art circuit, which has a long given preference to young artists. She is exhibited...
With its international exhibitions programme led by the Franco-Italian curator Chiara Parisi, the Villa Medici is well on its way to becoming a firm fixture in the international calendar of major contemporary art exhibitions. Following the experience of grandiose...
It may sound surprising, but if you can’t make a trip to Japan today and want to bathe in the country’s creative atmosphere, the best solution the West has to offer is to take the TGV 1 hour and 15 minutes from Paris to the Centre Pompidou-Metz, where even the...
She’s a mythical creature in the history of cinema. Marlene Dietrich, actress turned singer, German turned American, sometimes feminine sometimes androgynous, invented the image of a multifaceted and liberated woman. Her endless legs, those fingers elongated by a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqtRGAW_yLQ In these times when extreme nationalism is sweeping the globe it is good to remember that the greatest art is always the fruit of multiple influences of disparate origins. In his “Introduction to the History of...
Gisèle Vienne: "Crowd" While Anne Imhof was staging dark, aesthetically pretentious performances on the theme of gutter punks, which resemble photoshoots for Nordic fashion magazines and for which she was unfortunately awarded the Golden Lion at the 2017 Venice...
Since time immemorial, mankind has wanted to be at the centre of things. In ancient times, for example, the centre of the world for Westerners was Athens followed by Rome, each of which was proud of its status as the central seat of power, whereas elsewhere, in the...
The art public adores suffering artists. They live badly, they die young, they’re ill, but every now and then they produce extraordinary things. In the rankings of this type of artist the gold medal goes to Vincent Van Gogh, but just behind him there is the Italian...
How to give expression to that great human obsession: love? While music and literature are filled with languishing heroes and heroines who desire, kiss and embrace one another, the depiction of love in painting and sculpture is not only rarer, but also an altogether...