Heidi Ellison
Three Exhibitions
“Chat Polymorphe,” a sculpture by François-Xavier Lalanne with a bar hidden inside, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Here’s a feel-good show if there ever was one, full of works that are not only admirable but that also inevitably bring … Read More
William Kentridge: Five Themes
“Act III, Scene 9” (1996) from William Kentridge’s portfolio of eight etchings “Ubu Tells the Truth,” © 2010 William Kentridge. Photo: John Hodgkiss. The South African artist William Kentridge has made politics his theme ever since the era of apartheid, … Read More
Not for Sale
Anne Brunet’s “Olympia Forever,” an update of the famed painting “Olympia,” brings tears to the eyes of Manet’s proud courtesan. Many art dealers have personal art collections, but, being salespeople, they often have a hard time resisting an offer … Read More
HEY! Modern Art and Pop Culture
“Initiation, Cord” (2009), one of the inexplicable, dream-world images by Lin Shih-yung in the exhibition “HEY! Modern Art and Pop Culture. HEY! is an art magazine that specializes in a particular kind of art, which might be called the … Read More
Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye
“Weeping Woman” (1907) © Munch Museum/Munch-Ellingsen Group/BONO 2011 © Adagp, Paris 2011 Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” the artist’s best-known and most reproduced image, is nearly as iconic as Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa,” to the point where it … Favorite
Fra Angelico and the Masters of Light
Fra Angelico’s “The Coronation of the Virgin” (1434-1435). Uffizi Gallery © 2010. Photo Scala, Florence courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali For sheer visions of loveliness in heavenly, harmonious colors, the paintings of Fra Angelico (1387-1455) reign … Read More
Evento
One of Pascal Marthine Tayou’s “poupées” from his installation at the Musée d’Aquitaine. The city of Bordeaux’s biannual citywide contemporary art festival, Evento, took a sociopolitical turn this year under the artistic direction of Italian Arte … Favorite
Cézanne and Paris
Cézanne’s “Le Quartier du Four à Auvers-sur-Oise” (c. 1873). © Philadelphia Museum of Art Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), the painter recognized by the great artists of the early 20th century as “the father of us all,” is perhaps best known … Read More
Dance Your Life
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Totentanz der Mary Wigman” (1926-28). Wichtrach/Berne, Galerie Henze & Ketterer& Triebold Dance lovers will adore the new exhibition “Vivez la Danse” (“Dance Your Life”) at the Centre Pompidou, but even dance skeptics and the dance-indifferent will … Read More
Medieval and Renaissance Illuminations: Painting on the Page
The Boucicaut Master’s “Departure of Louis IX for the Crusade.” © RMN /Thierry Le Mage Numerous acts of vandalism have made possible the Louvre’s exhibition “Medieval and Renaissance Illuminations: Painting on the Page,” as the medieval scholar who … … Read More