Théodore Rousseau: The Voice of the Forest
Planting the Radical Idea of Forest Preservation
It’s hard to imagine a painter of trees and other manifestations of nature being considered a wild-eyed radical, but back in 1830 the idea of painting a landscape just for the sake of painting a landscape was academic-art-world heresy. Being … Read More
Constant Pape: La Banlieue Post-impressionniste
Around and About Paris
The Paris Olympics and Paralympics this summer will shine a new light on the city’s suburbs, especially those in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, where most events will be held and where the Olympic and Paralympic Village is located. In the runup … Read More
Antony Gormley: Critical Mass
About Time: Gormley Meets Rodin
It seems like such a felicitous pairing that one wonders why British sculptor Anthony Gormley has never before made an appearance at the Musée Rodin in Paris. The two have finally been brought together there for the exhibition “Critical Mass,” … Read More
Demain Est Annulé
Activist Art
With all the ongoing attacks by climate activists on famous artworks – the most recent, the notorious (pumpkin?) soup-bombing of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre last week, which made headlines around the globe – the art world is finding … Read More
Picasso: Endlessly Drawing
Picasso Again and Again
The year of the “Picasso Celebration” is drawing to an end, so this may be the last you hear about the dozens of exhibitions around the world commemorating the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death. Some, however, are spilling over … Read More
Julia Margaret Cameron: Capturing Beauty
Queen of Victorian Photography
Love her or loath her, Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) is an integral part of the history of photography, and Paris’s Jeu de Paume is giving her her due in the retrospective “Julia Margaret Cameron: Capturer la Beauté (Capturing Beauty).” When … Read More
Sophie Calle: À Toi de Faire, Ma Mignonne
The Stuff of Her Life
Sophie Calle has invaded and taken over the entire Picasso Museum in Paris for the exhibition “À Toi de Faire, Ma Mignonne,” part of an ongoing tribute to the master on the 50th anniversary of his death. Visitors can still … Read More
Nicolas de Staël
Cathartic Art
Nicolas de Staël (1914-55) ended his own life at the youthful age of 41, but he managed to pack a lot of living, loving, painting and traveling into those short years on Earth: though he only worked for a period … Read More
Mark Rothko
Rothko's Mysterious Recesses
Paris has an amazing lineup of exhibitions this fall. Among the most exciting are “Mark Rothko” at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, “Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months” at the Musée d’Orsay, “Nicolas de Staẽl” at the Musée d’Art Moderne … Read More
Viva Varda!
She Did It Her Way
“Viva Varda!,” at the Cinémathèque Française, represents yet another first for the late, beloved French filmmaker Agnès Varda (1928–2019): this is the first exhibition the Cinémathèque has devoted to the work of a woman filmmaker (the first solo show on … Read More