Contradictions Right now the art world is caught between two powerful cross-currents that are utterly contradictory. One the one hand there are artists seeking to explore what we’d describe as virtual realities through digital art, now often...
Contradictions Right now the art world is caught between two powerful cross-currents that are utterly contradictory. One the one hand there are artists seeking to explore what we’d describe as virtual realities through digital art, now often...
How to leverage flattery Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746) is a French painter who enjoyed huge success during his lifetime thanks to his portraits, in which he knew how to leverage flattery. La belle strasbourgeoise His body of work, spanning...
Turning inwards In the art world, the most evident consequence of the public health crisis has been a geographical turning inwards. Sao Paulo Biennal While in the past, and for some time now, the flourishing of biennials has resulted in...
Changing mind A good exhibition is one that enables you to change your mind about an artist. Pissarro There are all sorts of reasons why this should happen at the show staged by the Kunstmuseum in Basel dedicated to Camille Pissarro...
Soft power In the early French Renaissance when King Francis I assembled the greatest artists of the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci, in the West, or closer to the present day during the postwar period when the United States extended its...
Josephine Baker As the Pantheon in Paris – the inner sanctum of the French Republic – saw the entrance of Josephine Baker, a black woman, former music-hall dancer, activist and patriot of American origin, Miami saw the inauguration of the...
https://youtu.be/C0KMkaN-qx4 More open to change The public health crisis has made people more open to change and has led to a growing awareness of the importance of physical experiences (meeting friends, listening to live music)...
France filters In his introduction to the history of French art, the historian André Chastel writes: “France filters. It receives and it sifts.” The best demonstration of this is one of the most talented Spaniards of the 20th century, who the...
Place de la Concorde To travel through time all you have to do is go to Paris to the Place de la Concorde. You will first arrive in the 18th century, visiting the building designed by the King’s architect, Gabriel, sumptuously restored by...
https://youtu.be/eLoob9CzooM Recognition in Art can be belated. It was only in 2012, at Documenta in Kassel, that Etel Adnan(born in 1925) was honoured. Since then this woman warrior whose weapons were poetry and painting, this woman of magnificent sensibility...
https://youtu.be/WxPCbbmzXOM The Art Basel of photography “Paris Photo is to photography what Art Basel is to contemporary art. You can find the whole world there.” The largest fair in the world dedicated to photography is taking place...
https://youtu.be/hpLbQbGgiR8 The fascinating Duchess of Alba There exists not one but two Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828). He has gone down in collective memory as a portraitist to the Spanish royal family, where he...