https://youtu.be/cucsu8EMJ6k?si=tOD37TZHBwCoANT2 Between painting and cinema In the 1970s, when photography had yet to be seen as a “noble” art, he invented a new kind of artwork. The Canadian photographer Jeff Wall (born in 1946)...
The orgiastic resurrection of Sardanapale at the Louvre
https://youtu.be/FDUOWldmgQU?si=Lwc7SW9QhY7oQPUA Feeling of ecstasy Among the lush and extraordinary offerings from exhibitions this October in Paris, there is one place that could easily be overlooked yet which, through the sight of a single...
Josefowitz: the man who created a market for some major figures of Post Impressionism
https://youtu.be/0yobqHVEOKE?si=yH5hdC0msvJRzg7j The Jeff Bezos of his time “He was a bit like the Jeff Bezos of his time. Samuel Josefowitz created a mail order company that sold records and then books. He went on to sell his business in order...
The largest private museum in Shanghai is selling off works by Modigliani, Zao Wou Ki, Harold Ancart… “It represents a tiny part of our collections”
https://youtu.be/iqzhNu_sHNA?si=UAoYTe1bUHZxBks3 Soft power In China, the story of private museums is only just beginning. Art collections on display to the public, spearheading a new kind of soft power, are encouraged by the government. These...
Pablo/Gertrude, Picasso/Stein: the invention of cubism in shapes and words
https://youtu.be/6nAnfg8Vqmg?si=R9gfzCgicK5dfzRo Friendship and art history In 1905, a story of friendship lay at the origin of one of the key episodes in modern art. The eccentric and visionary collector Gertrude Stein lived in Paris, at 27...
Nicolas de Staël: for his sublime landscapes
https://youtu.be/W0FSOKi7xPk?si=rnDD5Nrcc6aRXtEq Born in Russia As chance would have it, among the Parisian museums there are two flagship exhibitions this season dedicated to two 20th-century painters, both born in Russia and both émigrés, who...
Seoul: the new driving force for the art market in Asia
Soft power Power struggles in Asia have never been as significant as they are today in matters of soft power. More specifically, in the current art market the question is to know what city will be next in line to shine the brightest. Two...
Leonor Fini: the great rediscovery of the exuberant surrealist artist
https://youtu.be/QLPXvwrO9G0?si=g1RFq-Xr1MC8WKDV Free and creative She was free, unique, exuberant, original, creative and prolific. The Italian painter Leonor Fini (1907-1996) who moved to Paris in 1930 and would spend the rest of her life...
Theaster Gates creates social sculptures and sentimental readymades. From Chicago to Arles
https://youtu.be/kEz-PYdAB0c Imbibing what is happening Like everyone, I arrive at an exhibition and I wonder what there is to see. In certain cases, an opinion forms immediately. Photos, sculptures, paintings, installations and films allow...
Kapwani Kiwanga has created a blue labyrinth in one of the most beautiful museums in France
France's colonial past France’s colonial past is a subject that haunts artists across national borders. In Venice in 2021, for example, one of the most visited pavilions, belonging to the United States, was occupied by Simone Leigh who created...
Carrie Mae Weems at the Luma foundation: “Democracy is under threat”
https://youtu.be/nVonVjYHG9w New York, London and Arles In every impactful artistic work, it is the form and content that makes it. In Arles, Luma is hosting a large-scale, spectacular exhibition of the work of American artist Carrie Mae...
David Hammons: the documentary. “The more he says ‘fuck off’ to the art world the more they want him”
https://youtu.be/7qy3KJRXkS0 Strange and glorious The American artist David Hammons (born in 1943) is a strange and glorious figure, frequently absent, yet always seeming to appear where he’s least expected. He isn’t affiliated with any one...