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...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mAt6S_zdWY Imagine an artist who would become a legend within the first decade of his career. What would he do with the rest of his life? In the contemporary period, we could say that Damien Hirst (born in 1965), who was...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The veteran Pop painter Alex Katz, aged 91, has a bewildering dynamism. The day I meet him, having just been with his London gallerist Timothy Taylor and wearing a fluorescent jacket and pink trainers, he’s in a hurry. And it shows. He rushes through answers, skips...
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...
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...
The scene takes place in Amsterdam’s red-light district. In the old alleyways thronging with groups of pimply teenagers doing the kind of window shopping that would be impossible anywhere else, somewhere amid these old, narrow streets where sailors once used to go to...